When can we expect new MacBook Pros?

January 15, 2008 1:57 PM

I've been planning an upgrade to a MacBook Pro for a few months, but had been waiting for MacWorld, assuming that there would be a hardware revision. Now that the keynote has come and gone, sans even a spec bump, how long can I expect to wait for the next revision?

The most obvious possibilities to me:

1) There's no new major hardware revision on the horizon, and all I can expect is a processor bump soon.

2) Apple plans to integrate the multi-touch trackpad and etc. into the rest of the laptop line -- i.e., a major hardware revision -- but those models aren't ready yet.

The latter seems more likely to me, but does that mean I'm faced with waiting for the next keynote before I can finally upgrade to an Intel Mac? (I work in video and do a lot of editing, so neither the regular MacBook nor the Air will suit my needs, as they don't have graphics cards.) I know that trying top predict Apple's release schedules accurately is a fool's game, but I'm hoping there are some folks here with a finger more firmly on the pulse than my own.

posted by tweebiscuit to computers & internet (13 answers total)

Nobody knows for sure, of course, but the Magic Eight Ball says: Don't Buy - Updates soon.
posted by designbot at 2:02 PM on January 15, 2008 [2 favorites]

My guess would be a spec bump some random Tuesday morning in the coming months and the major revision at the Mac Expo in Paris (I think August, maybe?).

My guess is that the bump will come sooner rather than later--maybe two months? They already "used up" the off-cycle refresh for this quarter with the updates to the Mac Pros, so I don't expect anything new for a bit. I'd keep looking here for all the info.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 2:05 PM on January 15, 2008

I think (having absolutely no basis for thinking so) that the processor bump and hopefully a graphics card bump will be announced for MBPs in the next couple of weeks. It doesn't look like Apple is waiting for keynotes for minor announcements anymore.

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/08/mac-pro-early-2008-notes-and-options/
posted by zackola at 2:07 PM on January 15, 2008

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/
posted by jjbb at 2:11 PM on January 15, 2008

sorry, didn't realize designbot posted already
posted by jjbb at 2:12 PM on January 15, 2008

The multitouch gestures on the touchpad shouldn't require new hardware, just new drivers. So hopefully Apple will be nice to us and let us use them on MacBooks and MBPs. I'm not keeping my hopes up, though.
posted by zsazsa at 2:13 PM on January 15, 2008

Apple isn't known for enabling features on existing hardware when they have just announced new hardware that does the same thing. They make a pretty OS to sell you hardware. I might see touch gestures show up on my MBP, but it would certainly surprise me.
posted by caution live frogs at 2:28 PM on January 15, 2008

There was a processor bump in November... http://www.tuaw.com/2007/11/01/macbook-pro-updates-too/
posted by Andrhia at 2:36 PM on January 15, 2008

Apple isn't known for enabling features on existing hardware when they have just announced new hardware that does the same thing.

Not necessarily true: After the two-finger scrolling feature was added to new PowerBooks a few years ago, it was made available to current PowerBook owners in a Software Update.

(As a side note, the MacBook Air has a light-up keyboard like the MacBook Pro does, but using the styling of the more recent MacBook--this says to me that we should expect MacBook Pro updates sooner rather than later, since the industrial design on the Pro is getting pretty long in the tooth.)
posted by bcwinters at 2:46 PM on January 15, 2008

Yeah, I've been to the MacRumors buyer's guide, and it's pretty helpful, but I wanted to get a more general feel for people's suspicions about how long we might have to wait for the revision. (It's frustrating, because I was ready to pull out my credit card today!) I'm hoping that bcwinters and zackola are right. Thanks, everyone!
posted by tweebiscuit at 5:24 PM on January 15, 2008

I hear that Intel will be short on mobile Penryn processors until May, so we might be waiting for revisions until then.
posted by streetdreams at 6:04 PM on January 15, 2008

Someone told me that apple was planning on launching a touchpad tablet but couldn't get the kinks worked out. I'm eagerly waiting for that.
posted by muscat at 6:50 PM on January 15, 2008

Not necessarily true: After the two-finger scrolling feature was added to new PowerBooks a few years ago, it was made available to current PowerBook owners in a Software Update.


I read this, and I thought, "two finger scrolling?! How neat! I bet I don't have that on my '05 iBook G4. . .or DO I?" And voila, one two-fingered swipe later, my last remaining issue with the iBook--that it did not have a Page Up button--is so much dust in the wind.

So, er--thanks for pointing out this thing I guess I should have known.
posted by tyrantkitty at 8:08 PM on January 15, 2008 [2 favorites]