Predictions for Macworld Expo San Francisco 2009: MacBook

Yes, you read that right. I predict that Apple will announce a new MacBook at Macworld 2009. I know, I know; Apple just introduced new MacBooks a couple of months ago. But missing from that announcement was a base, sub-$1000 model, for the niche the old white MacBook currently occupies.

Courtesy of Apple

Apple is most likely running out of existing stock of the old white MacBook, and isn’t likely to order a new production run. At the same time, Apple wants at least one MacBook in the sub-$1000 price range, a goal that’s fueling rumors about a NetBook.

I think the NetBook rumors are wrong, and that what we’ll see instead is a low-end MacBook to replace the current white MacBook. The new MacBook will be equipped with the same NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics as the current MacBooks and 2 GB of RAM, but will have a smaller hard drive, perhaps 120 GB, and a less powerful processor, perhaps one running at 1.8 GHz.