No, and if anybody who does even hints about it, they'd better hope their lawyers are a match for the legal beagles of One Infinite Loop.

Besides, Apple have all but given up releasing revisions on special dates, because people were starting to get savvy and wait. Now they release revisions & bump-models whenever they feel like it, as was the case with the recent boost the MacBook Pro had to C2D. Totally unexpected, it just appeared one morning on the Apple site.

I will go to my grave believing that the PowerBook Firewire (aka the Pismo) was the best laptop released by any company, anywhere. Bar none. The G4 laptops had zero style, the iBooks even less, and the current range of Inthell *spit* machines look like they fell out of an Ikea catalogue. BOOOORING.

Unlikely in either case.

Taking the MacBook Pro to Core 2 Duo and leaving the MacBooks with Core helps to more rigidly define the 'Pro' models, and also makes the premium 'Pro' pricing more justifiable.

Apple are also totally un-interested in making the graphics subsystem in the laptops modular -- it goes against their marketing strategies. If you want powerful graphics, says Steve, you buy a Mac Pro and pay the ludicrous premium for the high end card. The graphics chips chosen to go into the laptops can handle Core Video well enough, and that's all that really matters as far as Steve is concerned.

You're not going to see another metal Mac (apart from the Mac Pro tower) for a long long time. Fabbing metal enclosures is a lot more expensive for starters, Apple's manufacturer Quanta *spit* are geared for all-plastic construction, and thirdly the current plastic enclosures conform to the "image" of an Apple product, be it MacBook, iMac, Mini or iPod.


Brains

I had a G3 FW PB and it was an excellent machine (my sister is still happily using it with OS X 10.3) but I'm afraid it wasn't that good. I currently drive a G4 AL PB and it's even better than my old G3. Better KB, better screen, much better speakers, ports on either side instead of at the rear, all round it's just better than the G3 PB. Style is a personal thing, but I really like the G4 PB shell. ,Now that Apple have hopefully recovered from the shock of the Intel conversion and corrected the mistakes they made with the first gen Intel laptops I'm keen to get my hands on a new MacBook Pro. I also still have a G3 white iBook which unfortunately suffered from the dreaded "video failure" problem that plagued both the G3 and the G4 versions. This rather spoilt the joy of this machine for me (though it hasn't missed a beat since the MB was replaced under warranty 3 years ago). Still it's been a good computer, but sadly not a great computer, and once again has good style. The G3 PB looks and feels quite old fashioned, retro even, when I use it nowadays, solid but old fashioned (and so slow...)

C2D MacBooks are inevitable - Intel's going to stop producing CD chips sooner rather than later (the future is 64-bit) and C2Ds are already around the same price. The only question is when a C2D MacBook will appear. Sometime next year looks most likely now, I'd guess by May '07, perhaps even by March.

I agree it's unlikely Apple will move the MacBook to separate graphics cards - particularly as Intel are working on new chipsets to replace the current MacBook version with considerably better integrated graphics. They'll be good enough for consumer machines to run 10.5 and, along with slower C2D processors and other differences, will provide the required "feature gap" from the Pro machines.

Hi halledise
Play.com in the UK has alreadly listed a Core 2 Duo MB (not that they are reliable). And stocks of the old MBs are running low in some European stockists. If you sniff around the comments other Mac fora have posted about these facts, you may come to your own conclusion about a date for the new MBs. If you were Apple, would you risk low Xmas sales?
robo

@halledise

With ya on many things there, awaiting a revised MB, hanging on to my rev-D 12" PB (IMO the best of the smallest Apple portables ever).

The rev-B MB is likely to be released later this month....or MacWorld @ the latest. It will be C2D but it won't have dedicated graphics.

Down the track, Apple will have to add dedicated graphics (even as an option) OR release a 13" MBP if they truly want to complete the line-up and fill the void left by the discontinued 12" PB. Realistically I don't see either of these things happening in the short-term.

Huh? Have you ever used a MacBoook? They are seriously fast for nearly every task. There isn't that much difference between the CD to C2D for these sorts of tasks.

Geez - Everyone was saying how close the gap is to MB and MBP was compared to the old iBook to PB gap now after one update there is a gaping hole? I think not....

Why would Apple wait to update the MacBook compared to the MBP? Cos its selling more they can build - You will see an update before Christmas surely in the next few weeks so Apple can stockpile new models for the expected rush over Christmas.

I think you'll be in for a wait. They'll be really pushing the MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo's ahead of the mac book. The problem is that, the range is starting to become like the iBook and PowerBook previous. There was no gap, like in recent times.

When Apple had an 800mhz G4 Powerbook, it had a G3 500mhz iBook - that was a distinct product line between kiddie book and pro book. I think they'll try and keep the gap a while longer!

otherwise it defeats the purpose of "budget notebook" as opposed to a "pro notebook"

I have to totaly disagree with you. The white iBooks are astheticly the most beautiful laptops in the world. Nearly every other company in the world has ripped off designs from them. The are simplistic and friendly to look at. The new intell laptops look even better

yes I have used a MacBook - albeit the 'slow' 1.83ghz model.
there have been some most informative comments to this thread, all of which have helped me heaps - I need all the help i can get!

my main beef - or nutloaf burger for the vegans - is that Apple appear to have abandoned the professional PBook users who value the 12" model with a dismissive 'you can use a plastic jumped up iBook because you don't fit into our world of Pro users anymore.'
I know a number of photojournalists and travelling lecturers who prize the power, the speed and smallness of the 12" as they like to travel light.
Sure the 13" MB fills the bill there but if you want 'real grunt' then it's come up to the 15.4" or 17" me lad where us big boys play and pay a hefty premium for it too.
Windows addicts scratch their heads in bemusement also.

True.

My photographer mate who travels the world uses a 12" PB. He's waiting on the new MBP 12". I told him he'll have to keep waiting, or get a Dell.

pipsqeek

to which we all said: "bugger"

the white ibooks were good, nice robust machines. I still think the earlier iBooks were better, especially for kids, I mean a handle for a laptop is a brilliant idea, especially when the bulk of your market was kids at school... who handle laptops like they're 20 cents worth of candy - especially since news reports indicate insurance companies are pulling out of insuring school laptops.

The MacBook is perfectly adequate for the market they're aimed at. If you're a pro user who needs the pro features, a 12" screen is useless. A photographer using 1028x768? You've got to be joking. The weight difference between the 12" PB and 15" PB is minimal (400grams or so). If you don't like how the white looks a bit toy-ish, go for the black MacBook

Apple has split the product well in my opinion and a decent gap needs to be maintained to provide that. The 12" PB was nothing more than a glorified iBook anyways.

This is nonsense. I know many people in the IT industry who love their 12" Powerbooks. Are they "pros"? Of course they are, they're just not photographers. These people need the bit of extra grunt occasionally (they're software developers). When they need more screen real estate they just plug in an external screen.

I think that the reason that there's no 12" MBP is technical and not market driven.

Steve C.