With Apple’s special event just nine hours away a huge flurry of last minute rumours and speculation have hit the internet.

MacBook Pro

Engadget has published an image (pictured left) from the same source that leaked an authentic image of the fourth generation iPod nano prior to its release last month.

The image shows a 15-inch MacBook Pro with a aluminium enclosure with the display framed by a black bezel, similar to the current generation iMac.

15-inch MacBook Pro
John Gruber over at Daring Fireball who originally pinpointed October 14 as the date the notebooks would arrive has also chimed in with some last minute information. Gruber notes that the new 15-inch MacBook Pro has no latch and also confirms the black border around the display.

Gruber goes onto talk about the trackpad which as noted in the image posted by Engadget appears to have no trackpad button.

The new trackpad is similar to the Air’s, in that it is bigger and supports additional multi-touch gestures. But unlike the Air’s, the MacBook Pro’s new trackpad is made of glass, and is a button itself. You just press and it clicks. This is not like the current software option where you can enable “Tap to Click” in the trackpad preferences, but instead a glass trackpad that acts as a physical button, with a click you can feel. Sounds odd, but I hear it’s very cool in practice.

Gruber also writes that due to the glass bezel around the display, there will be no matte display version available. Interestingly Gruber speculates that the 17-inch MacBook Pro may be in the process of being phased out, claiming that we’ll only see an announcement related to the 15-inch MacBook Pro today. He does note that the 17-inch MacBook Pro will remain on sale for the time being and will also receive a minor increase in specs today featuring a larger 320GB hard drive and bumping the RAM from 2GB to 4GB. AppleInsider disagrees to an extent reporting that although the 17-inch MacBook Pro is unlikely to surface today, one does “exist in the labs”.

AppleInsider is also offering added information about the new MacBook Pro, the rumour site writes that the new notebook will feature two NVIDIA graphics cards; an integrated GPU for normal use and a dedicated GPU (a NVIDIA 9400M GT) when more power is required.

The two chips will reportedly feature Hybrid SLI, a NVIDIA technology where by the integrated graphics chip would assist the dedicated chip when plugged into a power source while the dedicated chip would shut down when on battery power. For this reason AppleInsider’s source claims that Apple is “touting some ’sick’ battery claims”.

Finally the CPUs in the MacBook Pro is expected to stay the same at 2.4GHz and 2.53GHz.

MacBook

13-inch MacBook
Much less information has appeared regarding the MacBook except that lower end Apple notebook will feature a NVIDIA 9400M, NVIDIAs alternative to Intel’s integrated graphics chips. This chip is reportedly considerably faster than the current offerings from Intel and is capable of driving a 3-inch display.

MacBook Air

Reports are emerging that the MacBook Air will also receive a minor increase in specifications, the new configurations which will be shipping by the end of the week will feature 120GB HDD and 128GB SSD, the Air will also receive the new NVIDIA 9400M integrated GPU.

New 24-inch Display

Several tipsters have noted to mulitple sites that Apple is also expected to unveil a new 24-inch display featuring DisplayPort and MagSafe power connectors. The display which is said to resemble the current generation iMac without the “chin”. It is expected that this new display will roll in at $899.

Mac Rumors adds that the display is expected to have LED backlighting.

DisplayPort

It is still very likely that the new MacBook and MacBook Pro will feature a mini-DVI connector, AppleInsider has noted on its blog section that Apple is manufacturing a DisplayPort to mini-DVI cable.

Pricing

  • New 24-inch LED backlit display - $899.

MacBook Air

  • MB543LL/A $1,799.00 (M96) - MacBook Air / 13-inch / 1.6GHz / 2GB RAM / NVIDIA 9400M / 120GB HDD
  • MB940LL/A $2,499.00 (M96) - MacBook Air / 13-inch / 1.8GHz / 2GB RAM / NVIDIA 9400M / 128GB SSD

MacBook

  • Current white MacBook 2.1GHz will remain in lineup at $999
  • MB466LL/A $1,299.00 (M97) - MacBook / 13-inch / 2.0GHz / 2GB RAM / NIVIDA 9400M / 160GB HDD
  • MB467LL/A $1,499.00 (M97) - MacBook / 13-inch / 2.4GHz / 2GB RAM / NIVIDA 9400M / 250GB HDD

MacBook Pro

  • MB470LL/A $1,999.00 (M98) - MacBook Pro / 15-inch / 2.4GHz / 2GB RAM / NIVIDA 9400M GT (Dedicated)
  • MB471LL/A $2,499.00 (M98) - MacBook Pro / 15-inch / 2.53GHz / 2GB RAM / NIVIDA 9400M GT (Dedicated)