News: Apple to Stop Selling White MacBook

Much like the eMac, original white MacBook, and the education iMac of recent times, it looks like the current “unibody” plastic MacBook will be discontinued in the education market, much like it has in the consumer market.

The news should come as no surprise, as Apple made it an educational institution exclusive back in July. Still, not much more information has become available:

As noted by MacRumors, Apple informed resellers of the product EOL on Wednesday, saying they had ended the educational distribution channel for the machine. It’s unlikely that Apple has been actively manufacturing white MacBooks up to this point, either — it’s not public how long the company did manufacture it (if at all) past last July, but its cancellation this week was likely due to the end of whatever remaining supply was available.

Still, there’s about three other products that could be blamed—the MacBook Air, the 13″ MacBook Pro, and the iPad. Depending on how much a school wants to spend and what they need, we’re sure the iPads really put a dent in sales of Apple’s sole plastic Mac.

Let the speculation begin—will the MacBook name be used by itself at all in the future, or will we only have MacBook derivates (Air, Pro) for sale?

Update: Apple will be selling a special stripped-down 13″ MacBook Air for educational institutions. It’s going to be available in bundles and has specs similar to the 11″ MacBook Air:

The new EDU-only 13″ MacBook Air essentially matches internal specs with the current entry-level 11″ MacBook Air, as noted by MacRumors. It comes with a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 2GB of non-upgradeable RAM, and a 64GB SSD. However, it comes equipped with a 13.3″ 1440×900 pixel display. Apple offers the machine in a five-pack for $4,995, or in 10- or 20-packs that come with a laptop cart and an AirPort Extreme base station ($11,399 or $21,599, respectively).