It’s unlikely that the white MacBook will be greatly missed. The iPad is a more economical solution for education users, and the MacBook Air is a more than worthy replacement for those who continue to prefer a clamshell laptop form factor. However, the MacBook’s termination does mark the end of the era of plastic-bodied Apple notebooks, which extends back to the original PowerBook 100 in 1991.

Although the MacBook has been dead since last July for consumers, it remained available as a cheap option for educational institutions…until now. Apple has just completely killed off the old Mac model. The company has now classified the white MacBook as “End of Life,” indicating it will no longer be produced or sold whatsoever. It is likely production for the MacBook stopped a while ago, and Apple made the move to only sell the MacBook to educational institutions in order to rid itself of the extra inventory.

Apple has announced it will be celebrating the upcoming release of Paul McCartney’s new album, entitled “Kisses on the Bottom,” by streaming a live concert of the artist for free via iTunes and Apple TV. The concert will be taking place at Capitol Studios on Thursday, February 9th at 7:00 pm PST and the live stream can be accessed via iTunes or on your Apple TV through “iTunes Live” within the Internet menu.

Apple has just released three new EFI Firmware Updates, all of which are meant to benefit 2010 models of the iMac, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. The main purpose of the updates is to add Lion Internet Recovery to these Mac models. Lion Internet Recovery, a feature introduced into OS X with the release of Lion, allows users to re-download the entire operating system from Apple’s servers without having to go through the Mac App Store.

Best Buy has sent out a customer survey asking customers about their opinions of a potential Apple iTV or HDTV and whether they would be interested in purchasing one. The description of the Apple HDTV Best Buy gives seems to be a combination of the current Apple TV and a large-screen television.

Apple has rolled out a new feature for Apple TV users. Owners of the media streaming device will now find a new option called Genius under Movies and TV Shows. The Mac version of the iTunes Store has had Genius recommendations for quite some time, but the feature has been absent from Apple TV until now. The Genius feature recommends iTunes content to watch based on your purchase history.

The original 13″ aluminum unibody MacBook Pro form factor, which debuted as a plain MacBook in October 2008, is getting a bit long in the tooth. But sometimes they get things right on the first try. I would argue that the 13″ aluminum unibody is one of the best, if not the best, all-round Apple laptop design(s) ever. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

Facebook is many things to many people. To families, it’s a connection to siblings and parents far away. To schoolmates, it’s a time machine to a time long past. To friends, it’s the destroyer of all things good. But what it’s always been is simply software. Until now. Violet has now turned your Facebook connection into hardware…and a vegetable rabbit, at that.

At Macworld | iWorld 2012, there were speakers for every taste and budget, headphones for active lifestyles, and even a few apps designed to work with your music library and listening setup to enhance the listening experience. Here is our roundup of some of the best audio products demonstrated by several companies.

Apple has released two new versions of its AirPort Utility software: version 5.6 and version 6.0. The former is merely a minor update that aims to resolve an issue with network passwords stored in the Keychain, while the latter is a complete redesign of the software to match its iOS counterpart. The reason behind the release of both versions is that AirPort Utility 5.6 is able to support older 802.11g-only base stations, while the more advanced 6.0 version is not.