Apple’s poised to kick off its special event at 6pm UK time. This page is where you’ll see the latest news coming out of Cupertino, so bookmark it, come back just before six o’clock, and then keep your finger on the refresh button to be first in the know!
19:05: That’s it! Show’s over!
19:04: Last question is about touchscreens. So far, Steve says it doesn’t make sense to put a touchscreen in a notebook.
19:03: When will Apple launch a netbook? Steve says it’s “a market that’s just getting started.” Note, there’s no denial there.
19:02: There’s a question about manufacturing costs. Steve’s keeping quiet, but is optimistic that Apple will announce drastic reductions in cost soon.
19:02: There’s a question about the lack of matte options for the screen. Steve says: “We’re going for straight glass. A few of our customers prefer matte screens, but a vast majority prefer glass because of brighter colors.”
19:00: What’s the size and weight change with the new models? MacBook was 1.08 inches, and is now 0.95 inches. The MacBook Pro is also 0.95 inches. The new MacBook is 4.5 lbs and the new MacBook Pro is 5.5 lbs.
19:00: Is the MacBook going to steal demand from the high end to the mid-range? Steve says “we’ll see”…
18:58: Seems the 17 inch MacBook Pro is being refreshed today too… it just wasn’t part of the main presentation.
18:56: Why isn’t HDMI in there? Answer: HDMI can’t drive a 30-inch display. Question also asked why Blu-Ray wasn’t an option. Steve says Blu-Ray is “A bag of hurt. It’s great to watch the movies, but licensing is so complex, we’re waiting until things settle down and Blu-ray takes off.”
18:55: Apple doesn’t have exclusive rights to the new Nvidia chip, but they’re the first to bring it to market.
18:54: Jobs is back on stage for a Q&A… he has a quick slide, showing his blood pressure, as a tongue in cheek answer to his latest health scares.
18:53: The new MacBook Pro is less than an inch thick. The LED screen means colours are brighter, but it uses less power, and switches on immediately.
18:51: Apple’s video says the team “worked for months” on the right texture for the glass trackpad, and to make it work properly as a button.
18:49: Jonny Ive is in the video. “In many ways I think it’s more beautiful internally than it is externally” he says, as the film shows Apple’s new manufacturing process in action.
18:48: The video is explaining how these are really green machines. Since the aluminium that’s stripped away can be re-used to make another machine.
18:46: Jobs is showing a video about the new MacBooks and their construction.
18:44: The new MacBook ships today, will be in stores tomorrow.
18:43: There’s a second model, with faster processor, more hard disk space and a backlit keyboard. All for $1599.
18:42: It’ll cost $1299. It’s also using the Nvidia 9400M and squeezes out 5 hours of battery life.
18:42: The new aluminium MacBook will sell alongside the traditional white one. The white one will cost $999… but the aluminium one?
18:40: Wow. It looks just like a mini MacBook Pro. It’s getting the multitouch glass trackpad too….
18:40: The MacBook is being updated. “We’ve heard people want a metal enclosure, faster graphics, and LED displays… so, we figured out a way…” says Steve.
18:39: There’s “one more thing”
18:39: The new monitor has an iSight camera and speakers built in too… it’s an iMac, but without the guts inside.
18:37: Apple Cinema Displays are being updated too. It’s the first with LED backlighting. The cable has 3 connectors, including a MagSafe lead, so you can power an Apple laptop. There’s a USB cable and Display Port cable too.
18:36: The MacBook Air’s getting an upgrade too. A 120GB hard drive, with 128GB SSD as an option. It’s also getting a mini display port.
18:34: The new MacBook Pros will start shipping today, and are in stores tomorrow. $1999 for the 15 inch model with 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA 9400 and 9600. There’s a second version for $2499. Faster processor, double the cache, 4GB of RAM, double the graphics memory and a roomy 320GB hard disk.
18:33: The new MacBook Pro has a slot loading super drive, a magsafe connector, Ethernet, firewire 800, two USB sockets and a mini display port. There’s also the option to use a solid state drive. You can access it by lifting up the battery so it’s easy to replace or upgrade.
18:30: There’ll be a choice in graphics chips. NVIDIA GeForce 9400M or the 9600M GT. The latter will use up more juice, meaning a four hour battery life compared to five hours with the 9400M.
18:27: There’s a mini display port connector on the side to connect external monitors. That’ll soon be standard on all Macs.
18:26: The screen itself looks wafer thin.
18:25: The screen is LED backlit, and it uses a magnetic latch, like the current generation MacBook.
18:24: The new MacBook Pro looks just like the leaked spy pictures. All the connectors are down one side. It looks pretty thin!
18:24: The new trackpad supports one, two, three and four finger gestures. Expose and all the other Mac OS functions can be triggered with one hand.
18:23: There’s no trackpad button – the trackpad is the button. Steve says they’ve “optimised the friction” on the glass… whatever that means, but it means a 39% increase in trackpad area. You can set multi- button support in the software.
18:22: There’s a new trackpad too. Yep, it’s multi-touch, and made of glass!
18:21: The chipset and GPU are all in one component. It’s 5x faster than current MacBook graphics processors.
18:20: Jobs is back on stage. He says Nvidia came to see him with the Nvidia GeForce 9400M….
18:19: The process starts with a 2.5 pound piece of aluminium. The end result is just a quarter of a pound. That’s a lot of material taken away, but Ive says it’s all collected, cleaned and recycled. These are very green notebooks.
18:16: Yep – Jonny’s describing the much-rumoured Brick manufacturing process. “If we started with a thick piece of aluminum,” he says, “we could make a lighter and stronger, so we make it from a solid piece of aluminum.”
18:15: “We’ve found a new way” says Ive. He explains that the MacBook Air was built in a special way “we couldn’t build something that thin and light the old way.”
18:12: Jonny Ive’s being brought on stage to explain the construction of MacBooks. It’s a rare public appearance for him. He’s saying that making MacBooks thin, light and strong is very difficult….. Can we sense The Brick around the corner?
18:11: Tim is off stage. Steve is back.
18:09: An amazing stat here: 1 in every 3 dollars spent is spent on a Mac. “What a difference a few years makes,” says Tim Cook.
18:07: Now on to retail stores. 400,000 customers come to Apple stores every day, and 50% of purchasers are new to Mac.
18:06: Now a Mac and PC ad… the PC’s wearing a crown and sat on a throne. The Mac’s there to unseat him.
18:05: Tim also says Vista has helped the Mac do well. It’s failed to live up to expectations and given Apple “a door in”.
18:03: The software’s better too… iLife, iWork and Bootcamp, making Macs ultra-compatible… Hmm. We’re not sure about compatible…You still have to boot in and out of Windows.
18:02: 2.5 million Macs were sold last quarter. The quality of the Apple Mac is improving. “We’ve been making better computers” says Cook.
18:00: Steve’s on stage. Right on queue. Explaining everyone knows that today is about laptops, there’ll be new ones, but first Tim Cook is going to talk through the “state of the Mac.”
17:58: Seats are being taken. The stage is set. It’s a very small stage. This is an event in Apple Town Hall after all.
17:56: Just a few more minutes to go. What’re you hoping for? Give us a shout in the comments section below.
17:50: Apple says the event will begin in 10 minutes. Industrial design boss Jonnathan Ive is in the audience, as is head marketing man, Phil Schiller.
17:23: The event’s due to kick off in just over half an hour’s time. Keep it here for updates.
17:10: Apple’s backroom elves are hard at work preparing for the new products… in case you were in any doubt there’s something new coming, the Apple Store website is now offline.
Wondering what to expect while you wait? Check out the latest rumours below.
Apple to unveil iLife and iWork 09 tonight?
Fresh MacBook Pro spy shots leak: no sign of glass trackpads
New MacBook to be docked in monitors?
Fresh MacBook spy pics show mystery socket
Blu-Ray MacBooks to debut on Tuesday?
Apple prepping own-brand networked TVs
