And what about macbook pro?
Penryn and maybe little design changes (like a new keyboard) some days before or after Macworld... or something completely unexpected?

the macbooks will probally be all nrevised maybe even the end of macbook pros...

The end of the macbook Pros?

Just because they are releasing a small form factor high-end laptop doesnt mean that the thousands of professionals using macbook pros would make the change from a high performance laptop with storage, optical drive and a screen that is a desktop replacement for a mini-book. Even with the docking station patents.

I would expect the ultra-portable to be something as a coffee shop laptop. Long battery life and enough power to run your office suite and iTunes. Great for a college kid to take notes in class. There's no way it'll have the power to replace a Macbook Pro.

Here's to hoping they still put the 16GB chip in the iPhone too.

let's go! new macbookpro with Penryn it's all !!

"it wouldn't make much sense to have the best server chips in the workstation line of machines."

Actually, it would.  Workstations are nearly always faster than servers.  Servers are built for stability and redundancy.  Workstations are built for raw power.  Workstations always push the limits or speed and new technologies and that trickles down to servers a little while later.  Once the new chips are proven stable, maybe a couple months, then you'll see an Xserve with them.  Just the same way it took a little time for the Intel Xserve to hit the market after the Mac Pro.  It may be announced, but the Xserve will be a couple months before it will ship.

A Mac Pro update is due.

• Besides the already released Penryn processors, the video card choices in the current line-up are all at EOL.
• Plus, there is the 10.5.2 Leopard release to developers that is already out that supports Penryn processors.
• I do hope they upgrade the "cheese grater" case as well. It's starting to look dated as well.
• With the recent blu-ray announcements, a BD option seems a shoe-in, maybe as a BTO option but I would hope that players would be the new default. On that front, Panasonic announced a new simline slot-load BD player/burner making the option do-able for iMacs as well.
• The ATI HD38xx series allows for HDMI output, making it a likely candidate for Mac Pro especially with the aforementioned BD drive options.

All of the components are in place for a big beefy update that will carry the Pro over to the Nehalem era in 2009. To not do so would be a very, very large mistake. I understand that Apple Inc. is trying to build it's consumer goods market (even more) but it cannot leave out the Pro market that gives it it's highest margins.

I just hope they release a desktop with only one physical CPU socket so they can ditch fully buffered DIMM's for regular memory! The speed increase alone would be worth it. With multi-core CPU's, it's no longer as important to have two physical sockets and there is quite a performance penalty from the high latency with fully buffered DIMM's :(

i've been waiting for the 15" MBPs to get an upgrade; but have been pondering the 17" one -- especially if it gets a significant update this MacWorld. here's hoping for something special!

:)

A newly designed MacPro would only affect sales marginally so Apple won't hike their production costs until the design has fully rung dry. Processor updates are likely but it is a waste of publicity to promote a professional piece at MacWorld. Apple's time will be better spent focusing on iPhone software and other products geared toward average consumers.


We have to wait 'til June to feasibly hope for new cases for the MacPros and Mac OS 10.6 (Apple may be crazy enough to plug 10.6 months after 10.5's release but engineer power and the distraction from Leopard will prevent them from parading a new cat no matter how much they want it to attack Microsoft—I just want the ZFS rumors to come true).

Another vote for Macbook Pro Updates. Ive been waiting a while now for an update. Id love to see the inclusion of a 2.5" HDD and a SSD (BTO Option most likely). Dell offers 2 x 2.5" HDD or 2 x 64Gb SSDs in a RAID array in its high end laptops, that would be a nice option.

Any "sources" here or is this just pure speculation? Many of us have come to trust 9to5 so I think I speak for a number of us in posing this question. Seth?

>> Oh...and sorry for the lack of posts over the past week...there has been a lot of travelling happening both for getting home for the holidays and getting set for Macworld.  Add to that a hard drive crash and a lost but then returned laptop and you get no posts...we'll try not to let it happen again.

All is forgiven....if you'll toss out an offhand comment on that (photoshopped?) picture of the tiny laptop with a really wide touchscreen. :) I imagine you've seen it, the one with other laptop for perspective and the 1G iPod in the stand and the stack of school text books.

I think we're going back in time, with an entirely new MacBook Pro lineup.

That means:

• a new super-thin 15" MacBook Pro
• a new super-thin 17" MacBook Pro
• a new "ultra-small" MacBook Pro.

All will be based on the same platform - just the I/O, battery, and display will be different.  The larger two models get HDDs and DVD-RW, at the expense of additional thickness, weight, and battery life.  The iMac is also revamped - with the same internals.

The MacBook and MacMini stay the same, but with a small price drop and a small boost in CPU and HDD.  They'll be refreshed later.

"eSATA built in for fast external storage"

I guess it doesn't really qualify as built in, but a $20 cable from macsales.com was all it took to add 2 eSATA drives to my MacPro.

The Mac Pro has two unused sockets on the motherboard for SATA. This cable connects those sockets to a bracket (where the PCI cards are) with eSATA connectors on it. Cheap and easy to install, though you lose a PCI slot.

I suppose the connectors built into the chasis along with all the USB and Firewire would be nice, but if you need eSATA now, it's there for the taking.

This confirms MacBooks will be getting a makeover!!

Apple Inc. (AAPL) Monday said it named Andrea Jung, chairman and chief executive of Avon Products Co. (AVP), as a director, bringing membership of the Cupertino, Calif., company's board to eight.
Jung also serves on the board of General Electric Co. (GE).
-Colin M. Kellaher; 201-938-5400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com > Dow Jones Newswires
01-07-08 0920ET
Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc

"igger disks"? Wow, you suck.

I've been waiting a year for Mac Pro update, esata incorporated, handle large drives at least 1 TB, new video cards with HDMI and there is more. I'm not in the professional market but the desk top tower is the most easily kept up to date for reasonable prices. It works easily as a server. Way over due, Dell or Alienware are moving ahead.

My Macworld predictions:

-New Mac Pro 8-core standard
-New 15 and 17" MacBook Pro's new processors and case
-Ultra Portable based on the MacBook Pro (Not the touch thing)
-OS X 10.5.2 Released
-iPhone SDK released and 1.1.3 released to offer compatibility with apps
-One More thing.... New ACD's with built in iSight USB and Firewire ports and LED backlighting available in matte or glossy

While I would be surprised to see a case redesign for the MacPro tower (I mean, the MacBook Pro is essentially the same as the original PowerBook G4). Cosmetic changes would be nice. I would love to see eSATA ports. I doubt it will happen since Apple is so invested in Firewire (I mean, Apple did create the tech, and still makes $ off licensing it).
Other then that, ramp the clock speeds, maybe more internal HD bays and RAID options. If these new chips are smaller/cooler, should free up some internal space.
Better video cards are a no brainer, but Apple is never on the bleeding edge there, so don't expect anything too fancy.
Just pimp 10.5.2 for the new SSE4 sets, and pimp FCP for SSE4, and I'll buy one. Until then, my Quad G5 still does everything I need at a reasonable speed.

the only thing i hope they keep with the new updates to the laptops is the Apple that lights up. if they get rid of it on the newer thinner laptops to save space i'll just buy the regular mac book.

apple.com

New Mac Pros today!!!

hmm, no blu-ray...

I'm a relative newbie to all this, but I'm a DJ that's been using macs for two years now, and it's time for a new one (smoke, rough handling and booze spills tend to affect them the same way it affects people). Like a lot of comments I've seen, I don't want to feel like an idiot by buying a current macbook pro, just to smack myself in the head when a new one comes out. Can anyone make an educated guess on the arrival of the 'alleged' new macbooks, maybe based on what they've done in the past with new product announcements?

Arrival to the public, of course. thanks...