Once again, Gruber called it (aside, I wish I had his sources); the naming distinctions between the unibody 13" MacBook and the 15" MacBook Pro are now gone: say hello to the 13" MacBook Pro. Complete with a lower price (starts at $1199 and goes to $1499 in stock configurations), and more features (SD card slot, FireWire 800, 7-hour battery), the 13" MacBook Pro will likely continue to be Apple's best selling laptop.

This is an interesting reversal of branding. When the unibody MacBooks were released last fall, they appeared nearly identical to the larger, "Pro" labeled companion. The two big differences (aside from screen size) were the video card configurations (integrated for the MacBook, as opposed to integrated and discrete in the MBP) and the lack of a FireWire on the "amateur" edition. Many of us speculated that the removal of FireWire was done primarily to distinguish between the two lines and try to move consumers up to a pricier model.

There was a lively debate in the posts about FireWire's exodus from the unibody MacBook about what constitutes a "pro" machine from something that shares the same design but is smaller in size. Without rehashing the whole debate, it pretty much mirrored those "my dad is richer than your dad" fights that always seemed to break out at high school parties in my district. In my experience, when arguments essentially become "you're only a pro if the label says so," the real-world distinction is gone.

At 1:30am, Ken Brinkman awoke to the smell of burning plastic. His unibody MacBook Pro was on fire. As he details in his Mac-Forums post,

"Smoke was pouring out the seam between the unibody and bottom enclosure. I actually burned my hand pretty badly ripping the adapter out. Oh man. This is reallllly scary because what if I didn't wake up? It could of burned my house down."

Ken e-mailed us this morning, understandably freaking out. Two weeks ago, Mel reported on a San Jose lawsuit alleging that the MagSafe power cables Apple uses for its portable computers are a fire hazard. We've seen Flickr evidence of melted or scorched MagSafe adapters in the past, but Ken's pictures take that to another level.

Ken's primary concern, after his safety, of course, is what Apple will do about the problem. Personally, I think a new computer is a given -- though I would also want some sort of assurance that Apple is testing its MagSafe cables for consistency. No one wants to wake up to find this on their desk.

As usual, the fine folks at iFixIt immediately took apart the newest piece of Apple hardware to arrive at their offices, a unibody 17" MacBook Pro. The whole process was detailed with step-by-step photos, some of which reveal an internal battery roughly the size of a baby dolphin.

In case you're curious, and we know you are, that's a 7.3V 95Wh (12820 mAh) battery, Apple model #A1309. It contains no mercury (Hg) and weighs in at 1.5 pounds (0.7 kg)! The folks at iFixIt note, "It's only a matter of time until you'll be able to buy this battery online from companies like us."

It reminds me of the battery that came in the clamshell iBooks (in size at least). It sure looks easy to replace...

[Via Ars]

If you've been waiting by the mailbox for that slightly oversized package to arrive... the wait just got a bit longer. Our correspondents have been sending in the news this afternoon that the expected ship date on the 17" unibody MacBook Pro has been pushed to February 19 -- the original ship date was supposed to be Tuesday 2/3, so this is a big drag if you had plans for that big screen on Valentine's Day.

The complete email below:

To Our Valued Apple Customer:

Thank you again for your order!

Wrapping up the new 17-inch MacBook Pro is taking a few days longer

than we projected.

As a result, we will be unable to ship your 17-inch MacBook Pro

until February 19, 2009.

If you don't want to wait, you may cancel your order and receive a

prompt refund by calling our toll-free customer service number at

800-676-2775 or by visiting our online order status website at

http://www.apple.com/orderstatus.

If we do not hear from you before we ship the 17-inch MacBook Pro to

you, we will assume that you have agreed to this shipment delay. In

that event, a shipment notification with tracking information will be

emailed to you as soon as your order is shipped.

Again, there is no need to contact us unless you wish to cancel

your order.

We appreciate your business and apologize for any inconvenience this

delay may have caused you.

Thank you for shopping at the Apple Online Store!

Sincerely,

The Apple Online Store

Yesterday, as soon as the Expo doors opened, I bum-rushed the Apple booth, trying to get access to the new 17" unibody MacBook Pros.

The decision to have a non-user replaceable battery is sure to be unpopular with some users -- at least in theory. Aside from the whole international flight issue, what effect does an 8 hour built-in battery have on heat? Having spent a few minutes with the new 17", I can say it is the coolest 17" notebook I have ever felt.

The 8 hour battery life is impressive. Obviously, we'll have to wait for the reviews to see how accurate that lifespan actually is, but it certainly sounds impressive. The touted 1000 cycle lifespan of the battery is significantly longer than any other laptop battery on the market. Even excessive recharging would yield 5 years of life (if you do 200 cycles a year).

I was most impressed with the screen. It's huge, it's gorgeous, and it has 1920 x 1200 resolution. I use my MacBook with an external monitor, but I could see using the 17" as just a main computer. Which is pretty much the point.

Check out the video:

Both 9to5Mac and AppleInsider are reporting on rumors that a 17-inch, unibody MacBook Pro will debut at this week's Macworld Expo. Most interesting is the rumor about the machine's battery.

Specifically, the alleged laptop's battery would be non-removable, very slim (consider the MacBook Air's battery) and able to run "...much longer" than the current model. The announcement of a new 17 inch MacBook Pro wouldn't be a very big surprise, but a non-removable battery would. People like removable batteries for obvious reasons.

Mike Rose guessed that we'd see a new 17 inch laptop when we all listed our predictions. We'll all see what happens in just a couple of days.

For full Macworld Expo coverage, bookmark the TUAW Macworld Expo 2009 landing page.

[Via Engadget]

Lucky enough to have purchased one of those shiny new unibody MacBooks? If you happen to be in the market for a RAM upgrade you may want to hold off for a little while. It seems the latest MacBooks are a little more fickle about the RAM they support than previous models.

Users on the Apple Support Discussion forums are reporting problems with third-party RAM upgrades, noting system instability and lock-ups. Even users who have purchased RAM from providers that pride themselves on Mac compatibility such as Crucial and OWC are seeing the same issues. It seems that the only solution is to take out the third-party RAM and use Apple-branded RAM. International users with no access to an Apple store are currently out of luck.

Of course, Apple will only officially support their own branded RAM from Samsung; upgrade kits of this sort are apparently working without issue. Unfortunately for many, however, acquiring these modules has become somewhat of an act of futility as Apple's online store says the upgrade kits are unavailable for owners of the 2.0 and 2.4 GHz MacBook.

Many are guessing-slash-hoping that the problem is caused by the newness of the DD3 spec. modules in Apple's line of notebooks. Until the situation gets clarified, users are having to swap RAM repeatedly in search of a kit that will work. Hopefully Apple will shed some light on the problem and everyone can go back to getting RAM from third-party sources. Had any luck (good or bad) upgrading RAM in your new MacBook? Let us know in the comments!

[via jkOnTheRun]

Apple made a concerted effort today to highlight the reduced impact its new products have on the environment.

This effort all started with Steve Jobs' open letter in 2007, A Greener Apple, announcing a long-term plan to "protect the environment and make our business more sustainable." The letter was released partly in response to a Greenpeace campaign, encouraging Apple to reduce the amount of toxic chemicals in its products and improve its recycling programs.

Today, the star of the show was Apple's new "unibody," a single, complex chassis for new MacBook and MacBook Pro units fabricated from a single brick of aluminum. In a video posted on its website, Apple noted that as a result of the new fabrication process, fewer parts in the laptop means a reduction in weight, size, and the amount of other material necessary to hold the device together.