“Once rumored for extinction, Apple’s entry-level polycarbonate MacBooks are on the verge of a refresh that will solidify them at the base of the Mac maker’s notebook offerings for the foreseeable future,” Kasper Jade reports for AppleInsider.

“People familiar with Cupertino-based company’s plans say the 13-inch portables are presently undergoing an industrial design overhaul that will see them reemerge in the coming months with a slimmer, lighter enclosure and restructured internal architecture to boot,” Jade reports.

“Earlier this spring, Apple restructured its notebook offerings by repositioning its aluminum unibody MacBooks as premium offerings under the MacBook Pro moniker, adding long-requested features such as FireWire and higher-quality displays. This left the company with just a single MacBook offering, a white polycarbonate model that retails for $999 but sticks out like a sore thumb when positioned alongside its peers,” Jade reports. “Still, sales of the sub-$1000 system have remained surprisingly brisk amid the economic crunch, leaving management little choice but to allocate R&D expenses in its favor.”

Jade reports, “It’s believed that Apple is well-positioned to begin offering a model at considerable discount to the $999 entry-level model that exists today, further narrowing the gap with its Windows-based competitors.”

Much more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Peter T." for the heads up.]