Apple Computer may soon release its MacBook notebooks, a series of computers set to substitute the current iBook lineup. The new laptops will be small and compact, yet, will have wide-screen displays, and will be based on processors from Intel Corp., as the company is in process of transition to the x86 architecture chips.

The long-awaited MacBook laptop is expected to feature 13” wide-screen display, whereas its predecessors – iBook systems – featured 12.1” and 14.1” screens. The weight of the MacBook 13” is also not certain at this point: the predecessors weighed 2.2 – 2.6 kilograms depending on the model, but for a small notebook such weight is too high these days.

Technical features of the MacBook machine are also not clear at this point, however, it is highly likely that it would be based on Intel Core Duo or Intel Core Solo chips. Usually iBook machines were equipped with wireless network controllers, Bluetooth controllers, CD/DVD drives, standalone graphics accelerators and so on.

A coding glitch with Apple’s web site has all but confirmed the MacBook moniker for the new consumer laptop, reported ThinkSecret web-site The error began cropping up late Thursday evening and was still present intermittently Friday morning and resulted in Apple's iPod homepage being replaced by an empty page sporting a navigation hierarchy reading “Home > Hardware > MacBook”.

There are different opinions concerning release date of the MacBook products, but numerous sources named Tuesday, May 9^th as the launch date.

According to the web-site, MacBook will be thinner than current iBooks, will be available in both black and white configurations, and will likely cost slightly more than previous iBook models.

Apple Computer did not comment on the news-story.