Apple Discontinues the $999 White MacBook

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Five years after it was launched, the white MacBook has been cut from Apple's line up.

Though everyone seems to be talking about Lion and the new Sandy Bridge MacBook Pros, it seems there was something missing when the Apple store came back online this morning. While it was present prior to the site going down, the regular MacBook was not listed when the Apple store came back online earlier today. Engagdet also noticed the omission and reports that it received confirmation from Apple that the white notebook has been discontinued. 

With the white MacBook out, the 11.6-inch MacBook Air now serves as the entry level MacBook, priced at the same $999 as the white MacBook. As far as processing power is concerned, the 11.6-inch MacBook Air just got bumped to the 1.6Ghz Core i5, so if you were saving for a white MacBook with a 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo, you're likely not too upset with the change. However, if you were looking for a 13-inch notebook instead of an 11-inch, your only option now is the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which retails for $1,299.

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Jane McEntegart

Jane McEntegart works in marketing communications at Intel and was previously Manager of Content Marketing at ASUS North America. Before that, she worked for more than seven years at Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware, holding such roles as Contributing Editor and Senior News Editor and writing about everything from smartphones to tablets and games consoles.

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29 Comments Comment from the forums
  • azz156
    woo the changed from a notebook u could sorta upgrade (HDD & ram) to one you cant do shit with.
    Reply
  • potatolord
    "However, if you were looking for a 13-inch notebook instead of an 11-inch, your only option now is the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which retails for $1,299."

    That's not really true. There are lots of options if you are happy to look at other brands and OS.
    Reply
  • stingstang
    So the entry-level is a grand? Holy hell! That's like buying your first car, but it has to be a new BMW.
    (Ugh, I just compared an Apple product to a BMW. I'm going to be sick)
    Reply
  • tsnorquist
    stingstangSo the entry-level is a grand? Holy hell! That's like buying your first car, but it has to be a new BMW.(Ugh, I just compared an Apple product to a BMW. I'm going to be sick)
    You should really compare them to VW or hybrid cars. For some reason, that brand and those vehicles always stand out to me as Apple users' mode of transportation. Not sure why...
    Reply
  • spookyman
    for 1299 I can get a really nice Dell laptop too. At least will will come with a better warranty and service plan.
    Reply
  • stingstang
    spookymanfor 1299 I can get a really nice Dell laptop too. At least will will come with a better warranty and service plan.And twice the cores, DDR3 RAM, and probably double the hard drive capacity.
    Reply
  • saintjimmy
    spookymanfor 1299 I can get a really nice Dell laptop too. At least will will come with a better warranty and service plan.
    I just bought an HP dv7-6195us for $1140 (Sandy Bridge i7-2630QM, 8 GB of RAM, 1 TB of hard drive, AMD 6770M), and it'll do WAY more stuff than any Mac within $500 of that.
    Reply
  • gti88
    tsnorquistYou should really compare them to VW or hybrid cars. For some reason, that brand and those vehicles always stand out to me as Apple users' mode of transportation. Not sure why...The only apple user that I know, rides Nissan x-trail.
    Reply
  • superkillrobot
    As someone looking to buy a MacBook in the near future, this came as a disappointment. Granted, the new MacBook Air out preforms it, $999 is too much for something with such limited hdd space and no optical drive. I would have liked to see an update with an i3-23XXM or even a new AMD APU. Apple's unwillingness to provide a true entry-level notebook solution just seems selfish and greedy at this point.
    Reply
  • jryan388
    Comeon haters, don't try to deny the power of unix.

    People don't buy macs for the hardware. Hasn't that always been clear?
    (Although I'd rather have a mac that rarely breaks to a dell laptop in which the screen, hard drive, and mother board all go bad within a couple years; personal experience).
    Reply