Apple netbook images/specs leak – concept or reality?

Now this may be a bit early for April Fools, but a number of images of a supposed Apple ‘Macbook Mini’ have leaked through a Russian publication. It is hard to take the images very seriously given they appear to have been photoshopped. Despite this, and given the reaction already seen, it seems that a design like this would go down very well with punters.

The magazine claims that the Apple Macbook Mini will have a 10.4-inch (1280 x768) LED backlit display. Looking at the pics, it seems there is hardly any space for any ports. The publication claims the unit will have just one USB port (similar to the Macbook Air) and will be powered by a 1.83GHz Z740 Atom CPU, 2GB RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics. It also lists a 64GB solid-state drive for storage.

Other specs include Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, WiFi (a,b,g,n) and a Mini DisplayPort socket. The battery is rated at 5,100mAh and the whole thing measures 267 x 195 x 4-19.4mm and weighs 1.03kg. The report claims the Apple netbook will launch this year at a $899 price point.

I have always thought that if Apple does release a netbook it would do something that redefines the segment. Now these pictures point to a very sexy device but all of the previous (and perhaps more credible) rumours we have heard point to a 10-inch OLED touchscreen model. Saying that though, the function key line of this render contains 12 keys, whilst the Air has 13. If somebody was working off the Macbook Air design, would they really think to take off a single Fn key? Either way, we’ll keep you informed. Check out the pictures after the break.