There has been a lot of speculation as to what Apple has up its sleeve in time for Christmas, and recent rumours resurrect the idea that we will very soon be seeing an ultra-portable laptop that dispenses with optical drives in favour of light, compact form factor.




Charlie Sorrel writes for Wired that:

"The long expected upon Apple ultra-portables are seeing some rumor action today. The increasingly speculative AppleInsider says the new notebooks will have black and aluminum finishes, lose the optical drive and gain NAND flash memory to supplement the hard drive.

The new kid on the rumor block, 9to5Mac (who brought us the original Fat Nano story), also reports a slimline, DVD free aluminum MacBooks. The screen bezel is much thinner, so the LED backlit screen will almost reach the edge of the enclosure, they'll be cheap, light and, the site reports somewhat cryptically, "There is something strange about the touchpad (more on this to come)"

It certainly seems in keeping with Apple's previous surprises, although whether dumping optical media altogether is such a great idea remains to be seen. Either way we should find out next month, when a big announcement is expected from camp Apple.