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$899 Notebook, New Model or Entry Level Macbook?

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) sent out invitations on Thursday, October 9th with the tagline “the spotlight turns to notebooks,” inviting members of the media to a special event which will take place tomorrow morning at 10am PST. CNBC’s Jim Goldman expects the company to go “nuclear” while unveiling a new $899 laptop. Whether or not the new less-expensive notebook will be a new product, or simply the entry level Macbook is unconfirmed.

“I’m expecting an $899 MacBook model, based on the sources I’m talking to,” Goldman explains. Which consequently directly goes against other analyst’s beliefs that Apple won’t be introducing new models at tomorrow’s event. Golman expects tomorrows announcements to have an explosive “nuclear” impact on the PC market. He predicts Apple to unveil “A device not too expensive that it alienates an ever more skittish consumer; not too cheap, ala sub-$500, that it soils the aspirational brand that Apple has become; but a high-end, slick device with the Apple bloodline priced just right that a big chunk of the market goes for it whether its mildly uncomfortable doing so or not. The Goldilocks price point.”

Mockup via Cult of Mac via oobject.com

Adversely, Gene Munster thinks $899 refers to the lowest priced Macbook, not a new product introduction. ““We expect the new MacBooks to be cheaper. However, it is likely that the new MacBooks will be a more premium product (with new aluminum casing and gesture-based touchpad),” he wrote. “In other words, we expect the new MacBooks to be a meaningful upgrade with an average selling price 9 percent to 18 percent lower [than today's models],” Munster explains.

Goldman explains that although he has spoken to several people both inside and outside Apple, nobody will go on record about what’s expected at tomorrow’s event. But Goldman does explain that they are all “telling him the same thing” which is that Apple is ready to play in sub-$1k.

While the introduction of lower priced notebooks is expected, it is unclear whether Apple’s new sub-$1,000 notebook going to be a new model, or simply the entry level Macbook at a lowered price point. Apple shares are rallying back this morning and the company is releasing fourth quarter earnings results a week from tomorrow on Tuesday, October 21st. Tomorrow’s notebook event has been years in the making and the industry should expect to see some major innovation come out of Cupertino.