It may not be the second coming, but among The Apple Faithful, Tuesday's planned announcement about laptops is just as good.

There's no official word from cult headquarters in Cupertino, California, but it appears Apple (AAPL) is preparing to jump into the fast-growing market for inexpensive laptop computers.

Apple has sent out press invitations to analysts and the press for an event scheduled for October 14th at the company's headquarters.

Apple isn't talking, but the bet is the company will unveil new versions of its MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook computers. For the first time, Apple is likely to offer a model priced below $1,000. Some models may be less than $800 compared with $1,099 now.

Dell (DELL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and other competitors are aggressively cutting prices. In August, Dell introduced new notebook computers with longer battery life pitched to business users. Dell also introduced a slimmer laptop weighing 2.2 pounds after HP introduced a similar model in June. Dell looks to overseas markets to boost sales.

Apple's planned announcement may give investors reason to cheer. The company's stock has lost about 25% since September 26th on fears that economic slowdowns in North America and Europe will crimp sales.

Like most Apple events, Tuesday's shindig is preceded by a cryptic announcement from headquarters and a crescendo of speculation on websites devoted to the company. The folks at Apple are smart cookies and know how to feed the media monster.

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