Rumors continue to circulate. The burning question, where is the updated MacBook Pro?

February 10, 2008 |

Rumors continue to circulate. The burning question, where is the updated MacBook Pro?

By Opal Tribble

Rumors continue to circulate about the upcoming MacBook Pro update. Excitement grew when MacRumors reported that an order for the MacBook Pro was appearing on a Best Buy inventory screensheet. The sheet shows a shipment of Apple portable computers. The SKUs showed the same price as the current MacBook Pro. It didn’t say what type of computers were inside, but many are hoping that it is the much predicted MacBook Pro.

Other evidence has focused on the MiniBatteryLogger which is used to track battery logs. This public database has identified a new MacBook Pro battery model. The last MacBook Pro had the system identifier label of “MacBook Pro 3,1,”. Recently, a battery identified as “MacBook Pro 4,1,” was spotted in the system. MacRumors confirmed that the log came from an Apple IP address so the information listed on the website is thought to be accurate.

As juicy tidbits continue to surface, excitement grows and many to believe that the updated Penryn, Multi-touch trackpad MacBook Pro is imminent. What can we expect to see with the updated MacBook Pro? There wasn’t an announcement about a major upgrade of the MacBook Pro line at MacWorld 2008. It’s safe to assume the new MacBook Pro won’t receive an overhaul. We probably will see will see the multi-touch trackpad make its way to the new MacBook Pro line. The gesture based trackpad found it way into the MacBook Air.

Many hope that the much anticipated Penryn-based Core 2 Duo mobile processors makes its way into this update. In a set of benchmark tests the Penryn was pitted against their predecessor, Merom. The Penryn boosted battery performance by as much as 16 percent and encoding operations by as much 40 percent.

I believe we’ll see “a greener apple” with the upgraded MacBook Pro. Judging by the recent laptop updates Apple has been making more environmentally friendly computers. The prior MacBook Pro line sported a lead free display. The MacBook Air is mercury and arsenic free. Greenpeace praised Apple for their MacBook Air. Greenpeace said:

“As a mercury and arsenic free laptop it exceeds European Standards (RoHS directive exemptions) and raises the bar for the rest of the industry,” the group said, and added “The BFR and PVC free printed wiring on the motherboard is a big step forward,” although eliminating those chemicals completely would be preferable.”

The Mac Pro and Xserve received a revision last month. We also saw a new Mac line released, the MacBook Air. Last week the iPhone and the iPod touch received double the memory in their model line. This leads many to believe that the long awaited MacBook Pro is just around the corner.

How much longer do we have to wait? Apple isn’t telling some guess we might receive the MacBook Pro this coming Tuesday. Why Tuesday? Although maintenance is done on the Apple website, Tuesday’s are usually set aside for product releases. If we see a closed for maintenance on the Apple website as we did last Tuesday we might see an updated MacBook Pro in the lineup. I was planning on updating my 17″ MacBook Pro but I think I’ll hold out until a major update.

MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Apple, Penryn-based Core 2 Duo, multi-touch trackpad, MacBook Pro rumors, iPhone, iPod touch