New Apple MacBook Pro models could broaden gap with MacBooks

16 years ago

“In checking with sources in distribution channels, analyst Shaw Wu with Kaufman Bros. has found that supplies of MacBook Pro machines are ‘fairly limited at two to three weeks vs. a more normal four to six weeks.’ Given strong Mac sales in January, Wu said it’s possible that demand has played a part, though the timing would also suggest new MacBook Pros are on the horizon,” Sam Oliver reports for AppleInsider.

“With Intel’s new Arrandale mobile processors now shipping in volume, Apple is expected to make an upgrade,” Oliver reports. “Wu said Apple could use the opportunity to further differentiate the low-end, $999 MacBook from the premium MacBook Pro line. ‘Benefits of the new mobile architecture, helped in part by its new 32 nanometer process (vs. previous 45 nanometer), include much better performance through hyper-threading and turbo mode, battery life, and weight characteristics, which we believe give AAPL engineers more room to further differentiate the MacBook Pro,’ Wu wrote in a note to investors Wednesday.”

Oliver reports, “Wu said he feels the entry-level $1,199 MacBook Pro has some overlap with the $999 MacBook, which was updated last October. He said a new processor could add more than the aluminum casing, SD slot and FireWire that currently give the higher-end systems their ‘pro’ distinction.”