MacBook 2012: white plastic and optical drive gone

Two pieces of information have started circulating about Apple’s laptop computers, with one being official and the other rumour at this time.

The first concerns MacBook’s with white plastic cases. Having not been available to the general public since the summer of 2011, these were still available for educational purposes, as they were cheaper to buy. They have now been definitively declared end of life by Apple. Students who want to get one will therefore have to hurry, as once stocks are gone the only way to get one will be on the second hand market.

The second piece of information is related to MacBook Pro computers. These will no longer come with an optical drive, with their SuperDrive DVD burner being removed to make the machines thinner. This doesn’t signal the end of the MacBook Pro range in favour of the MacBook Air though, even though this was a rumour that was circulating at the end of 2011. The MacBook devices are mainly differentiated by their more powerful graphics cards and a hard drive or paired hard drive SSD solution instead of the original SSD configuration.

Apple is still looking to develop these laptop computers, with the company filing patents in relation to them. This is despite the combustible battery issues which hit the company last December. It shouldn’t be forgotten that Apple recently cut the head of a rumour that was doing the rounds: that the MacBook Air currently based on ARM processors, would see the iOS ecosystem extended to them.

The white MacBook and 15 inch MacBook Pro 2011