Appletell

If you’re in need of a new notebook and are considering the Macbook Air, then you should probably consider some key points first. Is the Air worth spending your money on? Should you go for a cheaper alternative such as the Macbook? And just what could the future bring for the Macbook Air?

The Macbook Air is the newest addition to Apple’s notebook line, and it’s arguably the best looking, but there are many reasons why a Macbook Air probably isn’t right for you…yet.

Reasons after the break.

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More evidence continues to pour in regarding the rumored “MacBook Air” name.

MacDailyNews reports that MacBookAir.net, MacBookAir.org, MacBookAir.us, MacBookAir.info, and MacBookAir.biz have all been registered by MarkMonitor, a corporate registrar. The billing information is to a John Donald, who uses an apple.com email address. The evidence, however, isn’t rock-solid, as MarkMonitor provides automated registration of domains that maybe infringing on a company’s copyright. MacBookAir.com was hopped upon by spammers earlier in the week, and it is highly possible that MarkMonitor is just grabbing up the rest so that spammers don’t divert traffic from unsuspecting browsers trying to get to apple.com.

Yesterday, we reported on the Adium usage logs revealing that someone with a computer named “MacBook Air” had been using Adium.

It is possible that this is all a hoax that Apple is perpetrating to lead rumors sites off the scent. Even if it isn’t originated from Apple, this is a good one because there is no definitive evidence, and a whole lot of disbelief surronding the name “MacBook Air.“ The MacBook Air name only got started when Apple unveiled the Macworld banners, and was most likely heavily influenced by the “Something in the air” tagline on the banners.

Appletell will be providing live coverage of the Macworld 2008 keynote Tuesday January 15th starting at 8:45 AM PST. There will be live updates in a variety of mediums, including live blogging, and SMS via Twitter.  Check out and bookmark our dedicated Macworld page at macworld.appletell.com.

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Image by Gizmodo

Well, though Apple pulled a fast one and released them early, Appletell’s predictions were spot on in the case of the new Mac Pros.

Our Prediction:

Penryn processors up to 8-core 3.2 GHz[...] Apple will most likely tout a 32 GB RAM ability as a new feature, even though the current Mac Pros can handle 32 GB of RAM since the introduction of 4 GB RAM Modules. Hard Drive Space will most likely be expanded to a 4 TB Max.

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Mac Rumors picked up on the fact that Apple has patented a Docking Device that looks strikingly similar to an iMac. As seen in the picture above, you would take your notebook, slide it into your iDock, and have a desktop computer. It is unclear whether the Dock has a display built in, or if this is designed for a tablet-like device so that the tablet’s screen would face out through the display area of the iDock.

I actually really like this product on a few conditions: First, the chin must go. It has no practicality here. The chin going will take care of this mostly, but it needs to ditch the iMac resemblance. It needs to be made unique. And lastly, it could be really completely awesome if this thing came with the rumored ultra-portable at MacWorld. And even cooler if this was bundled with the Mac Tablet, so that it becomes a multi-touch desktop in essence.

Read [Mac Rumors] Via [Infinite Loop]

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• Gadgetell Review: Ditch costly laptop docks with this

Let’s start with the newest rumor to the game: the iMac-like docking station. Here, flickr user macbooktouchmebaby has posted his/her mockup of the MacBook Nano and the Docking Station. MacBooktouchmebaby shows the MacBook as a tablet, though if it were in fact a tablet it is more likely that the tablet’s screen would serve as the desktop screen as well, with the iMac shell as more of a holder.

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The Apple-net is all abuzz with rumors of an ultra-portable MacBook Pro. And I don’t get it.

Sure, I’m all for having the thinnest notebook possible, but I don’t like the price. First of all, how much work can possibly be done on a 13.3” (or smaller) screen? At best, your regular email checking, web browsing, iPhoto and extremely light video editing. Sure you CAN do more, but do you want to? And buying an external screen nullifies the entire “portable” thing.

Now, the lack of an optical drive. Ok, I don’t use mine that much, but all my big software titles (Including my OS) are on some form of CD or DVD. And what if you want to burn a CD while your only computer nearby is your ultra-portable? Oops, too bad.

Worst of all is the lack of hard drive space and the likely RAM ceiling. Hard Drive space will be limited to 128 GB at best. most likely there will be a 64 GB standard with an expensive BTO 128 GB option. The OS itself takes up 5 GBs at a bare-bones install. And the RAM will likely be 2 GB no more no less. I don’t imagine that these notebooks will be easy to get into, so no real upgrade path there.

All this lack of expandability, space, screen real estate, or a half an inch less thickness and a $1500 pricetag? No thanks, Apple.

• New MacBooks and MacBook Pros require HDCP for some iTunes videos
• AT&T branded Nokia E71 spotted in-the-wild
• Rumor: Palm Treo Pro coming to Sprint this January

There’s been plenty of rumors in the past regarding an ultraportable notebook from Apple, but CrunchGear seems to have some new details. According to a “trusted source”, the new MacBooks are supposed to be half the thickness of the current MacBook; this puts the new notebook at around half-an-inch.

As for materials, it will reportedly be made of new plastics, similar to the next generation iMac. The source cited a launch between September and October, which coincides with the start of the new school year. No news about the iMac was mentioned.

CrunchGear also said that the new MacBooks will feature updates to “speeds and feeds”. I’ve got no idea what it means so your guess is as good as mine.

Read [CrunchGear]

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• AT&T branded Nokia E71 spotted in-the-wild
• Rumor: Palm Treo Pro coming to Sprint this January