Apple is next week expected to unveil new notebook computers, perhaps even a laptop with an $800 (£475) price tag.

The company has sent out invitations to reporters and analysts for an event next Tuesday with the message: "The spotlight turns to notebooks".

The tech community has been buzzing as rumours of a new manufacturing process called "brick" have gained attention. It is thought this might refer to a new aluminium casing for the new range.

The event will be held at the at company's headquarters in Cupertino, Silicon Valley. Apple executives have hinted at a new range of laptops but Apple, as usual, is not commenting before the event.

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Cheaper notebooks have fast been gaining market share as competitors have launched compact, durable models priced well below £400. Some analysts are expecting the new Apple laptops to start at less than $800, compared with $1,099 (£650) now.

It remains unclear whether the new laptop range includes an ultra-portable version or will be a tweak to the current Macbook range.

Gene Munster, of the influential Piper Jaffray financial analyst group, said he expected a range of new lower-priced MacBooks. He said they would be clad in in a new aluminium case with a gesture-based touchpad and would sell for $899 to $999 (£535 to £595).

“In other words, we expect the new MacBooks to be a meaningful upgrade with an average sales price 9 per cent to 18 per cent lower.”

He expects Apple also to introduce redesigned MacBook Pros at the same or slightly lower price. The design of the current MacBook Pro – Apple’s premium laptop – was introduced almost three years ago at $1,999 (£1,185). The new machines, he said in a note to clients, are likely to be thinner and include a more-sophisticated, gesture-based trackpad. He estimated they will start at $1,899 (£1130).

But the analyst said the new range was unlikely to include a touchscreen Mac, despite the success of the touchscreen iPhone.

If Apple unveils more affordable laptops, it could give investors much needed confidence in the stock, which has recently fallen sharply. The stock has shed about 25 per cent of its value since September 26 due to worries that slowdowns in the world economy are beginning to affect even Apple.

Macintosh computers are still crucial to the company's business. In the quarter ended in June, computer revenue grew 43 per cent from the previous year to $3.6 billion (£2.1 billion). Notebook sales accounted for 61 per cent of that, growing 42 per cent from a year earlier.

Macs remain a distant second place to world-dominating PCs based on Windows operating systems from Microsoft but have been gaining market share.

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