MacBook Air Notebook (almost) Confirmed?

At the top of everyone’s Macworld 2008 prediction lists was the unveiling of a new small form factor notebook. Most rumors center on the machine being cast in aluminum like a MacBook Pro, very slim with a 13.3″ display, and utilizing some type of flash based memory (maybe something like the new 1.8″ SSD hard drives shown at last week’s CES08). Further rumors suggest some type of HD capable reader/writer, possibly an external Bluray drive, but I think that’s maybe just conjecture. If you remember, many major media outlets like The Guardian hinted at Apple’s subnotebook sans optical drive last November.

The new machine was also said to include a large multi-function new trackpad which was described in a recent Apple patent as “…having the capabilities of conventional computer mouse devices, such as the ability to point, drag, tap and double tap objects on a graphical user interface, as well as more general purposes such as scrolling, panning, zooming, and rotating images on display screen.” Another recent patent suggests the possibility of collapsable external ports. Rounding out the outlandish claims there is yet another patent pointing to Apple’s desire to use induction to power its future devices. Yep that’s A/C over the airwaves if you’re not paying attention.

Still further rumors surfaced on whether the machine supported the new wireless technology WiMax. The quoted source at Valleywag only gave it a “60 percent chance” but jeez that would be damn innovative of Apple to do this. It might also explain the usage of the phrase ‘There’s something in the air‘ a bit more clearly. Still this one is a bit unlikely in my opinion.

Alright so we can guess at specs all we like but how do we know this sexy new laptop isn’t either a red herring or simply just vapor? Well amazingly a commenter at 9to5mac, Jon Cotton, found a reference in Google’s cache to ‘MacBook Air‘ in the machine type usage logs for the app Adium. Amazingly this reference to the Macbook Air was made prior to the ‘There’s something in the air’ banners appearing around Moscone Center. So as Cleve Nettles at 9to5mac correctly points out:

1. The MacBook Air is real - our details may be off slightly but the name is real.

2. Either Apple or someone with knowledge of the Macworld 2008 There is something in the air slogan 2 weeks ago sent the rumor sites false info and went to a few websites with public logs with a browser hacked to show “MacBookAir” as machine-type.

Check out 9to5mac for a really great list of speculation and facts on what could possibly be a great new notebook from Apple revealed tomorrow. Or not!

*Editor: Image above is not a REAL product from Apple but an artists rendering. Original from AppleSfera.