The MacBook is the best-selling computer in the history of the company. It introduced many of the features we take for granted in today’s high-end MacBook Pro machines. The MagSafe connector and latchless lids might be expected of Apple’s laptops these days, but they originally debuted in the diminutive MacBooks more than three years ago.

The report claims that the MacBooks were slated to be discontinued, but that at a redesign the company will “solidify them at the base of the Mac maker’s notebook offerings for the foreseeable future.”

There is no news as to what the redesigned MacBook might look like, but if Apple is to position the machine as a low-cost, entry-level device while keeping it distinct enough from its 13-inch MacBook Pro cousin, it seems unlikely it will be made using the same unibody extrusion process.

A carbon fiber composite would make sense, given this 2006 patent application filed by Apple. It describes a method for producing a carbon fiber composite used as an exterior shell for electronic devices. Of particular note is mention of a “scrim” layer designed to improve the cosmetic finish of the material.

Furthermore, there was talk last year of Apple planning to replace at least part of the MacBook Air’s aircraft-grade aluminum body — specifically, the bottom cover — with the tough-but-light carbon fiber material. While the latest updates to the Air continue to use an all-aluminum body, it is conceivable the carbon fiber plans will see the light of day in the new MacBook.

As for the refreshed internals, there’s only speculation, guided by the assumption Apple will want to position the new MacBook as an affordable (read “cheap”) machine:

Apple is expected to achieve these markdowns through largely existing tactics, such as using lower-end components and previous-generation Core 2 Duo chips and architectures from Intel Corp. Battery life should receive a boost from cutting-edge technology that recently found its way into the company’s other notebook offerings, while high-end legacy features like FireWire connectivity are likely to be sacrificed in the tradeoff.

[Apple] toyed with the prospect of throwing an Intel Atom processor into the existing white MacBook enclosure as [an] interim solution aimed at delivering a low-cost Mac portable for those consumers eying a Mac but hit hard by the recession.

Interestingly, Jade explains that this idea was dropped earlier in the year right around the time when Apple “solidified the forthcoming Newton web tablet for a first-quarter 2010 rollout”.

If Apple prices the new MacBook around the same $999 mark as the current machine — which it most probably will — what will that mean for the price of the tablet? Whatever the outcome, it sounds as though Apple has a clearly defined product/feature differentiation in mind for these devices, despite their similar price points.

It’s all just speculation, of course. But it’s nice to see that Apple is potentially breathing new life into an old and trusted friend.

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Carbon fiber is an extremely strong, lightweight and very expensive composite material — a species of fiber-reinforced plastic analogically similar to familiar glass-reinforced plastic (“fiberglass”). Carbon fibers themselves are only one component of the material’s composite matrix, the other being some sort of plastic resin such as epoxy, polyester, vinyl ester or nylon. Some nominal “carbon fiber” composites also contain other fibers like kevlar, aluminum, polypropylene, or glass fiber reinforcement.

Amazingly Strong

Carbon fiber itself (a tip of the hat to Wikipedia here) consists of extremely thin fibers about 0.0002–0.0004 inches (0.005–0.010 mm) in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms bonded together in microscopic crystals which are roughly aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber. This crystal alignment makes the fiber incredibly strong for its bulk and weight. Several thousand carbon fibers are twisted together to form a yarn, which may be used by itself or woven into a fabric of extremely high strength-to-weight ratio material.

This combination of qualities has made carbon fiber composites a popular, albeit expensive, choice for use in aerospace, sailboat, sporting, musical instrument, consumer products, motor racing and motorcycle industries, where it’s been incorporated in everything from aircraft parts and laptop computers to bicycle frames and drum shells.

Full-Size Laptop — Subcompact Weight

Apple would certainly not be the first to use carbon fiber (or more accurately Carbon fiber reinforced plastic — CFRP or CRP) in the fabrication of laptop computer enclosures. Sony’s VAIO TX series notebooks have housings made of carbon fiber. MPC’s U1000, which debuted more than two years ago, is also made with carbon fiber — a traditional-sized laptop in a subcompact 4 pound package — lighter than either the unibody 13″ MacBook or the erstwhile 12″ PowerBook.

Drawing perhaps on its association with the 2008 World Constructors’ Champion Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 motor racing team, which it sponsors, Acer’s gorgeous (at least to my sense of aesthetics) series of Ferrari 1000, Ferrari 1100, Ferrari 4000, and Ferrari 5000 PC laptops all incorporate carbon fiber in their enclosures. The Acer Ferrari 4000 was claimed to be the first notebook to employ a carbon fiber casing. Voodoo PC’s M:50 and Envy 133 laptops also use carbon fiber in their chassis.

For a visualization of what a carbon fiber MacBook might look like, check out this Gizmodo report. It’s faux carbon fiber, but emulates the look.

High-Tech Materials Bragging Right Motivation?

Kasper Jade cites unnamed sources familiar with Apple’s R&D efforts saying the likelihood would be that Cupertino would replace the Air’s lower aluminum case, or bottom cover, with one constructed from carbon fiber, which would raise production costs but shave upwards of a 100 grams off the notebook, dropping its weight from a hair over 3 pounds to approximately 2.78 pounds. Not a radical weight reduction, but it would also give Apple another high-tech materials bragging right, which we can speculate may be a big part of the motivation. Jade also suggests that while this is still strictly a rumor, it’s believed a MacBook Air carbon fiber bottom is far enough along in development that it could appear in the Air’s next revision, which in the usual scheme of things would be in the spring of 2009.

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Microsoft, what are you thinking? Seriously.

Crispin Porter, the agency behind Microsoft’s seemingly failed ad campaign (and if not “failed”, then certainly “confusing”), has been kept on board for “phase two” of Microsoft’s $300 million ad campaign. The angle they are taking for phase two is a direct response to Apple’s successful Get A Mac ad campaign that features John Hodgman as “PC Guy”. In fact, the ad even has a lookalike.

Reportedly, the ads will feature real-life Windows users who proclaim their love for Windows-running computers after the Microsoft “PC Guy” states “Hello, I’m a PC, and I’ve been made into a stereotype.”

On top of that, starting this evening, users can go to windows.com and upload videos and photos of themselves proclaiming the fact that they, too, are PC’s. Seems Microsoft has already forgotten that Apple has created the persona that “PC Guy” isn’t who users should want to be.

Honestly, this just feels childish. Apple, being the one with less market share, launched their Get A Mac campaign to convince people to switch. Microsoft, instead of coming up with an original ad that actually touts some reasons people would want to stick with Windows, can only come up with an ad campaign that effectively says “No fair!”

Microsoft is just trying too hard. While Apple’s ads do indeed take jabs at Microsoft, they also clearly and concisely give you reasons you’d want to get a Mac. If there’s anything Microsoft should take out of Apple’s playbook, it’s the value of quick, simple, and clear communication. Quit making your message overly complex and unoriginal and just tell people the answer to the ominous “Why?”.

Why on earth Seinfeld is getting the axe and not Crispin Porter is beyond me.

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