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Did Apple leak a new MacBook on 60 Minutes? Probably not

Apple was careful in highlighting its attention to detail to secrecy in its 60 Minutes segment, but the Apple web forums are currently ablaze with speculation about a potential leak in one of the clips. Behind Bruce Sewell, Apple SVP and General Counsel, is what appears to be a new kind of MacBook. From the image, it looks to be larger than a 12-inch Retina MacBook and with a different screen aspect ratio. This has fueled speculation that this is a pre-release glimpse at an upcoming redesigned MacBook Pro.

It certainly is a compelling theory. The MacBook name is not visible, the edges of the MacBook do not seem as curved as the shipping MacBook or MacBook Pro, and the aspect ratio itself seems different. However, it is hard to believe that Apple would make such a fundamental mistake as to leave secret products in the open for TV cameras to spot them. The idea of Apple intentionally leaking a new laptop also seems farfetched to me, although the whole point of the 60 Minutes spotlight is to hype Apple …

However, the biggest tell that this is just the 12-inch MacBook is the keyboard. It is clearly going edge-to-edge in that image. Unless Apple is planning on making the keyboard substantially larger, with uncomfortably-sized jumbo keycaps, the overall laptop dimensions would have to be almost identical to the current 12-inch MacBook. It could be a variant of the 12-inch MacBook or a pre-production prototype of the shipping model, but it’s most likely nothing actually ‘new’.

For what it’s worth, we’ve asked for Apple to comment and clarify what is going on here. What do you think? Is it a leak of a new Apple product or just a weird camera trick? For the record, at least one 9to5Mac editor with a 12-inch MacBook thinks it does look like something else and not camera trickery.

Here’s the 12-inch MacBook next to the iPad Pro for comparison:

Remember when Apple ‘leaked’ a new iPad — that furore was clear-cut: it was just a MacBook display.

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Comments

  1. rnc - 8 years ago

    The proportions don’t look like a 12″ MacBook…

    Looks like a 15″ laptop…

  2. atokosch - 8 years ago

    I was wondering what it was when I watched the video but where the shot took place was in the meeting room and in that room they had products that were all currently being sold by Apple, it honestly looks like a surface so I’m going to go with a laptop or the iPad Pro. The corners just look a little square and not rounded like usual but that could be because it is out of focus.

  3. Moz (@moz1234) - 8 years ago

    The Question really is why is the legal guy getting the prototype new Macbook (if it is that) :-)

  4. Dafty Punk - 8 years ago

    Looks to me like an iPad Pro on a keyboard stand of some sort.

  5. airmanchairman - 8 years ago

    Return of the 17″ Pro, in Retina? Let it be, please let it be…

  6. iwrotethisdown - 8 years ago

    Ingenious – Leak a product on national TV so millions of people will subliminally see it as a familiar product when it officially launches and want to buy it.

  7. Doesn’t stop Apple from showing white Classic Buckle on promo photo http://www.apple.com/business/mac/

  8. juancastim135 - 8 years ago

    The MacBook redesign moved the speaker to the top, which in a new MacBook Pro 15 inch would be simply a bigger retina MacBook. This new design would help apple make a smaller and lighter 15 inch laptop. The photo is a totally new product.

  9. Farid El Nasire - 8 years ago

    That sure looks like today’s 12″ Macbook with a 15″ screen.

  10. mhannigan - 8 years ago

    It’s onviously the new Microsoft Surface Book.

  11. MK (@MathiasMK84) - 8 years ago

    It is not an iPad Pro of course, too small bezels. It also seems larger than the 12″ MacBook, but we don’t really have a scale, do we? The corner radii seem smaller too. So… Maybe not even an Apple product?
    But I do hope the new 15″ MBP will look just like it.

  12. SKR Imaging - 8 years ago

    it looks like a 15 inch Macbook Pro Retina display with a kickass new body.. this was essentially what I was hoping for.

  13. What about his watch? Is he wearing the new iWatch? Oh and these glasses look like they’re hiding something as well ;)

  14. Definitely not an iPad Pro. The bezel is too consistent and thin.

  15. Theo Levey (@TheoJLevey) - 8 years ago

    Made a mockup of a 15 inch MacBook with the new design language and I think this is where the Pros are headed.
    http://imgur.com/KXublLR

  16. ericisking - 8 years ago

    It’s the 12-inch MacBook. The screen is tilted at an unusual angle, which makes it look unfamiliar and ‘different’. Our brain is then tricked (by the camera focus, lighting and reflection) into thinking that it’s larger than it actually is. The keyboard is the giveaway. There’s no way that the keyboard of a 15-inch laptop could go edge-to-edge, without it being a ridiculous keyboard.

  17. freediverx - 8 years ago

    It’s just a 12″ Macbook. Its proportions are distorted by the angle of the shot.

  18. distressedcactus - 8 years ago

    I doubt they’d show an actual prototype, but it is an interesting idea. Perhaps it’s not a MBP, but in fact, a 15″ MacBook.

  19. mytawalbeh - 8 years ago

    Limited edition of 15″ MacBook for the SVP .. it could be

Author

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.