Macosrumors.com has recently published an article to add to the fevered pre-Macworld rumor mill this time of year.

The article, which cites sources strong but anonymous sources in both Cupertino and southeast Asia, discusses a "MacBook Thin" portable model which may be en route for the new year.

Since the introduction of Apple's Intel-based hardware and laptops, an ultra-thin 12" laptop has been in demand, especially given the fact that the consumer-level MacBook features a 13" monitor - something which had never been done in previous generations of entry-level/consumer models for Apple laptops.

According to the article, the key goals of the "Thin" project were to scale down the features of the MacBook Pro without compromising them for the smaller size of the unit. The new "MacBook Thin" is expected to be a variant of the MacBook Pro family yet contain many of the pro-grade ports such as Firewire 800, ExpressCard expansion slot and a higher-end ATI graphics card.

To date, the final shipping name of the "MacBook Thin" is unconfirmed, but the purported specs are as follows:
-12-inch widescreen display, 1280x800 resolution.
-2.16 or 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors
-1GB of DDR2-667 memory standard. Max. capacity 3GB.
-Standard "Pro" ports: USB2, Firewire 400 & 800, Gigabit Ethernet, Digital/Analog Audio minijack I/O ports.
-ExpressCard expansion slot (believed to be /34 type)
-Similar storage to "Pro": 2.5in SATA HDDs at 120GB & up, 'Combo' or 'Super' optical drive.
-ATI Radeon Mobility X1600 or nVIDIA GeForce GO 7600 graphics systems with 256MB of VRAM.
-Mini-DVI display connector with full second display capabilities
-Built-in iSight, stereo microphone, Airport Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR.
-Battery life is expected to be "best in class" at about 6.5 hours real-world, some reports have suggested up to 8 hours is possible.

As of now expectations for Macworld Expo run high and given that an iPhone and iTV products as well as a new preview version of Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" operating system and several software updates are expected, the "MacBook Thin" will probably see a later release date.

Please let us know your comments, ideas and whether you've heard anything to this end.