How long to ship if MBP is updated at WWDC?

likely within a week, but the last iteration of 17" mbp's took an inordinately long period of time. that being said, don't expect anything worth upgrading for at wwdc. if you don't need a computer now, then there is no harm in waiting, but even if apple does release and update, and it's pretty unlikely that they will, it will be a modest speed bump that you won't even notice.

while i often advocate waiting, in this case, buy now and enjoy.

melchior said:

likely within a week, but the last iteration of 17" mbp's took an inordinately long period of time. that being said, don't expect anything worth upgrading for at wwdc. if you don't need a computer now, then there is no harm in waiting, but even if apple does release and update, and it's pretty unlikely that they will, it will be a modest speed bump that you won't even notice.

while i often advocate waiting, in this case, buy now and enjoy.

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I would actually advocate waiting, not necessarily because of the potential updates but mainly because as a college student, you would qualify for the free iPod promotion that goes on during the summer. That way you can get a free iPod (199 value?) and either resell it or keep it.

true, the back to school promotion is usually in june and at this late stage, it's definitely worth waiting to save that little bit extra. there is a rumour of a steve jobs event a couple of weeks after wwdc, and thus you can be waiting and waiting... i'd wait until the first day of the back to school special and then order away. you won't be disappointed and if new 17" come out within a week of delivery, you should be able to exchange without too much fuss.

In the past, when Apple hasn't been able to immediately release items was when they were introduced prematurely at MacWorld. I think a Mac notebook update will not happen at WWDC but the week before or shortly after. The focus of WWDC is software and iPhone OS. If Apple updates Mac notebooks at WWDC, I would be surprised. If Apple ever updates Mac notebooks again without having them immediately available, I would be surprised. Remember at MacWorld, neither the iLife nor 17" MBP were ready, and Apple was forced to introduced not on its own timeline. I think with Apple getting out of trade shows, and focusing on its stores for sales, it will introduce new Macs whenever they are ready. The iPhone could be introduced at WWDC with a wait, because the iPhone has OS software that developers can develop apps for, so a real reason to introduce before ready.

My two cents.

I would make sure you really need the 17" MBP; bought one my freshman year in college—was too big for tables in classes, etc.; A better choice may be get a 15" entry model (2.4) and then buy a nice 24" monitor for use while back at your home/dorm.

alphaod said:

I would make sure you really need the 17" MBP; bought one my freshman year in college—was too big for tables in classes, etc.; A better choice may be get a 15" entry model (2.4) and then buy a nice 24" monitor for use while back at your home/dorm.

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I concur with alphaod's recommendation. The 17" notebook can become cumbersome especially since the lecture halls these days have such small little writing tables. They are about half the size of airline tray tables. Balancing a 17" on that would be quite tough. Granted, the new 17" MBPs are smaller than PC notebooks of similar size.

Regarding Snow Leopard, if it is released at WWDC then there is a good chance that your system will have snow leopard pre-loaded. If not, Apple usually runs an "up to date" program, which would allow you to get the newest OS/software at a reduced price if your system didn't come pre-installed with it. I am not sure if this applies only to iLife, but when iLife 09 was released, it was offered at a 10 dollar cost to customers who had recently purchased their macs but only had iLife 08 installed. Also, most universities have a special discount for students for the purchase of the Mac OS. I know of friends who have paid as low as 19 dollars for a legitimate copy of Mac OS X Leopard. The highest I have heard is around 69 dollars for the upgrade.