Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/04/04/asus_macbook_contract/
Asus to make 13.3in widescreen MacBook - report
As per June 2005 allegations
4th April 2006 20:12 GMT
Asus has reportedly won the contract to manufacture Apple's upcoming Intel-based iBook - aka the MacBook - which will be the first consumer-oriented notebook from the vendor to incorporate a widescreen display.
So claimed Chinese-language newspaper the Commercial Times today, according to the AFX news service. The report suggests Apple will ship the product in June - a year on from its announcement of the move from PowerPC processors to Intel chips, incidentally. The notebook will sport a 13.3in display.
Rumours that Apple was planning such a machine surfaced in December 2005, though at the time it was expected to debut early this year. It was alleged the 13.3in model (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/12/intel_ibook_rumour_latest/) will replace the current 14.1in iBook. The 12.1in iBook will evolve into a 12.1in MacBook. The 13.3in screen was said to have a native resolution of 1,280 x 720 - sufficient for 720p HD content.
Widescreen iBooks first hopped on the rumour mill in April 2005, when Taiwanese industry insiders claimed Quanta had won (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/08/apple_widescreen_ibook/) the manufacturing deal. The following June, it was claimed by Taiwan's Chinese-language newspaper the Economic Daily News that Asus - aka Asustek - had be given the contract (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/06/20/apple_widescreen_ibook_deal/).
A 17in MacBook Pro will also be announced in June, according to reports (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/02/20/apple_17in_macbookpro_debut/) earlier this year. ®