With the news of its latest offering of the MacBook Air, Apple quietly gave the heave-ho to the white MacBook.

What started out as the iBook back in 1999, the company is closing the top on this notebook for good as of Wednesday. The product is no longer available on Apple’s website, nor will you see it on shelves in the store.

The iBook was sold by Apple Computer from 1999 to 2006 and targeted the consumer and education markets, with lower specifications and prices than the PowerBook, Apple's higher-end line of laptop computers. Over time, the iBook evolved into the MacBook back in 2006 as Apple transitioned to Intel processors.

Of course, as Apple quietly pushed the white MacBook off its site under the fanfare of its new MacBook Air, there has been no word as to why the notebook was discontinued. In true Apple fashion, one can only assume it’s legacy equipment at this point.

Perhaps there isn’t much to miss, as Apple is busy touting the latest from its line of laptops.

Philip Schiller, SVP of worldwide product marketing at Apple said, “MacBook Air features our most advanced technology and is an ideal match for Lion, especially with its new Multi-Touch gestures, full-screen apps, Mission Control and Mac App Store.”

The new devices come equipped with OS X Lion, which is the “the world's most advanced operating system,” says Apple, and its Macbook Air has up to twice the performance of the previous model.

Other additions to the wafer thin laptop include Thunderbolt I/O technology, a glass Multi-Touch trackpad and the keyboard is now backlit. Models are still the 11 in. and 13 in. sizes as before, with Intel HD Graphics 3000 and up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM.

The white, plastic MacBook line is being replaced by these new MacBook Airs. No need to fret about a price jump, though. The Air's starting price is the same as the old MacBooks, at $999.

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