Apple announced an invitation-only event at the company’s Town Hall in Cupertino, for October 14th. You guessed it, that’s a Tuesday! Here’s the event invitation showing what appears to be a metallic Mac notebook.

The big news expected from this event is new pricing, with lower-end models starting at $799, and a new manufacturing process where the case is carved out of a single aluminum “brick.” The process is said to use high pressure water jets and lasers! Cool!

Also, there’s a rumor that the replacement for the aging MacBook Pro may be dockable and share the same keyboard, with the chick-let keys, that comes with desktop macs. The other big feature will be a MacBook Air style Multi-Touch trackpad that will undoubtedly support Touch gestures. 

Is this photo real? Look at the Touch Pad on the right!

Here are some more images…

Apple Analysts Disagree
So what would you expect out of the Gartner camp about anything Mac-related? Something less than enthusiastic? You got it. Gartner anal-ist Van Baker doesn’t think we’ll see a sub-$1000 notebook, rather just a thinner design and more powerful.

In the other camp, where we have true Mac aficionados, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, expects price points starting at $899. He also think the new MacBook Pro replacement will start at $1,899. Mr Munster is not looking for ground-breaking features other than adding the Touch Pad across all notebooks, and some minor updates to the MacBook Air.

Is There a New Laptop Coming?
According to the Inquisitor a very reliable source reports an expanded price point list, where the current lineup of laptops includes 8 price points; 3 MacBooks, 3 MacBook Pros, and 2 MacBook Airs, then new model list has 12 price points. So, are these four additional price points an indication of an entirely new model?