New Macbook (and MBP?) updates likely to be delayed a few months

[aphex]

LINK

Intel Corp. has confirmed that it will delay volume shipments of its upcoming "Montevina" Centrino 2 mobile platform by as much as two months, which will push a release of Apple's redesigned MacBook notebooks to late summer at the earliest.

The world's largest chipmaker said it now anticipates launching some of its new chipsets and Core 2 Extreme processors in July, rather than early June. However, volume shipments will not commence until sometime in early August.

At issue were two problems, according to Intel spokesman Bill Kircos. The first was a minor problem with the new integrated graphic chipset, which has since been corrected. The other was a clerical error on Intel's part when filing certification paperwork for the chipset's wi-fi component, which has delayed FCC approval.

"Both of these led us to establishing a launch date for our mobile processors and discrete chipsets of the week of July 14th, and taking a couple of weeks to get the right readiness and volume for the rest of our components," Kircos said. "We're looking at early August for that."

As a result, Apple and other mainstream notebook makers are unlikely to begin volume shipments of Centrino 2-based notebook designs until the tail end of the back-to-school buying season.

For its part, Apple has planed to introduce the first major redesigns of its MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook lines this summer alongside models that will sport Core 2 Duo processors from the Centrino 2 platform.

As AppleInsider reported earlier this year, those notebook families will see their industrial designs update to more closely resemble Apple's iMac and MacBook Air, both of which recently adopted aluminum enclosures with matte black highlights.

Both notebook families will use second-gen mobile Penryn chips debuting as part of the Centrino 2 platform, which will boast a 1066MHz front-side bus and clock between 2.26GHz and 2.8GHz, according to Intel documents.

 

[LtPage1]

I hope they'll be out in time for the school year- my brother will be in the market, and I've been advising him to hold out for the revision.

 

[slugg]

damnit

i want it now

 

[Megatomic]

I saw that on DailyTech earlier. I wonder how much of an update that will be over my Santa Rosa model Macbook? If it's gonna be big, I might get one and roll this one down to the kids. They like it alot more than the Toshiba Vista monstrosity they're using now.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
I saw that on DailyTech earlier. I wonder how much of an update that will be over my Santa Rosa model Macbook? If it's gonna be big, I might get one and roll this one down to the kids. They like it alot more than the Toshiba Vista monstrosity they're using now.

Well, the graphics are getting a fairly decent update, there are rumors that it will be LED backlit, and further rumors say that it will be a whole new chassis design, one with MacBook Air design pinnings.

Plus, they are supposed to run cooler, faster and with better battery life, but that is basically the norm.

 

[Megatomic]

Cooler eh? Dang, the one I've got now is cool as a cucumber. A graphics update would be welcome to be sure. But if it looks like a MBA I might have to pass on it. I for one don't like the MBA very much.

 

[Kmax82]

Hmm.. this sucks, but I can wait. My Macbook Pro is running beautifully right now, I just get ancy for upgrades. Heh..

 

[sourceninja]

I just got a new macbook pro about 2 weeks ago. 2.5ghz 2 gigs ram, etc. I love it. My work just gave me a new work notebook from dell. 2.5 giz 4 gigs of ram, etc. It is a clunky junker compared to my macbook. The only feature it has that I wish my macbook has is a docking station and full drive encryption via truecrypt.

 

[bigben2wardpitt]

i was going to wait for this too, but i took the plunge and bought my MBP two weeks ago (my high school graduation present) - and i love it!!!

 

[Koing]

Hmmmmmmm....I want a laptop now as my pc is messed and I haven't turned it on in 6months...not checking mail at home is annoying but I get my gmail via my iPhone.

2-3months is quite a wait...seriously thinking about purchashing a MB or MBP...the local store did not have one in stock and if it did I'd have popped in to get one. I'll see if the store at Waterloo has one.

Koing

 

[bearxor]

We'll get a spec refresh on the MBP by the end of August. New MacBooks at MW2009. Newly redesigned MBP's at a special event between MW '09 and WWDC '09 - probably close to the launch of 10.6 and FCS3. New MacPro's at NAB '09. Next WDC will focus exclusively on the transition to 64-bit apps and multi-threaded coding.

Also an iPod event sometime before the end of the year.

 

[Kmax82]

Originally posted by: bearxor
We'll get a spec refresh on the MBP by the end of August. New MacBooks at MW2009. Newly redesigned MBP's at a special event between MW '09 and WWDC '09 - probably close to the launch of 10.6 and FCS3. New MacPro's at NAB '09. Next WDC will focus exclusively on the transition to 64-bit apps and multi-threaded coding.

Also an iPod event sometime before the end of the year.

That sounds like a sound timeline. I'm happy with my Santa Rosa model, so I'll stick with it until they refresh the design, unless this spec bump in August is just phenomenal. hah!

 

[sourceninja]

My wife actually told me to wait, she wants to redo the landscaping, so probably I'll get a new macbook pro when they refresh them and she will take my current one. Which is fine by me, landscaping is much cheaper then computers.

 

[Koing]

Hmmmmm....I'll get one then. I can't wait that long for one.

Koing

 

[bearxor]

Originally posted by: Kmax82
That sounds like a sound timeline. I'm happy with my Santa Rosa model, so I'll stick with it until they refresh the design, unless this spec bump in August is just phenomenal. hah!

Nope - Just switching out the Santa Rosa platform for Montevina. Same Penryn processors in current models. Might get a processor bump. It's entirely possible this could be a very silent upgrade. Montevina doesn't bring much. Support for DDR2-800, DDR3-800/1066/1333 is included, but I don't see Apple switching from DDR2 to DDR3 on this model. The Intel WiFi card included with Centrino 2 support WiMax, but Apple doesn't use the Intel WiFi cards now and likely won't start anytime soon. The big upgrade will come for MacBook users, the graphics core is slightly improved, though not significantly.

While I don't think it will happen, I wouldn't be SURPRISED to see Apple let the current MacBook Pro with Santa Rosa ride until a new MBP next year with only slightly upgrading the processor. The benefits for MBP users is pretty slim by switching to Montevina and might not justify the cost of reworking and remanufacturing the boards.

Remember, that for the next year, engineers will be reworking the MBP motherboard for Calpella and Nehalem. This is what we want. It's a very significant upgrade. No more FSB, integrated memory controller, hyperthreading and a new socket. This will REQUIRE the MBP board to be significantly changed, instead of the minor updates they've been able to do to it for the past couple of years. Seems a perfect time to also introduce a case redesign to handle the slightly higher TDP of the processor as well.

Time frame for Calpella and Nehalem is Q2 '09 - which puts it after MW but before WWDC, which is why I think there will be a separate event for a new MBP launch.

 

[randomlinh]

well, I was waiting to see what would happen since my sis needs a laptop for school. Will be a bit bummed if they redesigned it right then... but then again, I really need to stop getting the first generation of redesigns.... ha. I guess i'll be ordering the macbook soon for her, as she'll need month to get used to OS X too... didn't want her to have to deal w/ going in cold AND freshmen in college.

 

[JJChicken]

Is there going to be a re-design of the chassis?