...In the meantime, the 13" Pro isn't being refreshed. The incoming sources of low stock on the 15" and 17" MBPs are also indicating that the stock isn't low on the 13" and it's pretty consistent. So either it'll merge with the white MacBook or it'll disappear. Leaving whatever the non-Pro "MacBook" is at that point to run Core 2 Duo and the 320M until Ivy Bridge. I'd bet actual money on it at this point.
Wow, you have
way too much confidence in some random reports about stock levels. That's no proof whatsoever and predicting the demise of the 13" MacBook Pro based only upon that evidence seems pretty weak.
Yebubbleman said:
Second, the white MacBook and the 13" MBP are the same computer, save for port differences and enclosure. It makes no sense to give one a new chip and withhold it from the other. If one gets it, then if the other one is still around, it gets it. That's the trend. Get it?
As far as upgrades, the white MacBooks have different refresh cycles than do the MacBook Pros (that's nearly an unbroken "fact") and the MacBook Pros will be the first to be upgraded to Sandy Bridge (you can take that as a certain fact). That's the real trend. Do you get that?
I'd bet actual money on it at this point.
Well, that's a little difficult to enforce or setup. However, I've had a really good record of predicting what Apple is going to do in the future going all the way back to and even before Apple's switch from the PowerPC to Intel. During that time I was probably one of the most ardent supporters of those Intel rumors on many different online forums. Back then I was saying that if the rumors were true then it was an absolutely brilliant move by Apple and just prior to the actual announcement I was saying that it was a done deal. Meanwhile, most of the other posts were from people who were saying that if it happened it would be the "end of the world" (for Apple). Similarly, I correctly predicted the introduction of the Mac mini and even its price when a lot of people said "no way" or that it would be the mythical xMac (a cheap, headless Mac with expansion slots). Just recently I was embroiled in a debate about the level of support that AirPlay would have under iOS 4.2, and then again just this last week about how it would function under iOS 4.3 (I won all of those arguments, given the ending facts). I don't mind saying that I have an almost unblemished record over the last four or five years in the threads that I've chosen to participate in.
There was one instance where I came forward and admitted that I had overstated my case. You may remember the debate last year as to why Apple hadn't yet updated the MacBooks to use the Arrandale processor. I came out and said that it was because Arrandale was still in limited production and that very few Arrandale notebooks had actually shipped. Meanwhile, some others said that they knew that even HP had been shipping Arrandale i5 parts for over a month (which proved to be untrue) and that Arrandale systems were actually shipping in quantity since CES 2010 (the latter proved to be somewhat true, which is where I was initially in error). So, after some additional research I came back to MacRumors and admitted to my fellow forum members that Arrandale systems had been available since shortly after CES. Funny thing was, it came out several months after that debate ended that Intel was having supply problems with Arrandale and that some manufactures had actually delayed their introductions because the parts were in such short supply. So, in the end I was kind of vindicated since it appeared that Apple hadn't been dragging their feet at all, it may have just been that Intel was late in delivering parts in large quantities.
The reason I tell this history is to show that I've publicly "owned up" to any errors of fact that I've previously made. Prediction is a little more difficult, since its hard to get everything exactly right (so how "wrong" or "right" is someone when the prediction is only partially true).
So here is a simple agreement, whoever proves to be the most in error about these 13" MacBook Pro and white MacBook updates needs to come back to MacRumors and publicly admit to their errors. Pretty simple, but frankly I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that after I've been proven to be factually correct after a long debate.
These seem to be our differences.
1.) I claim that the 13" MacBook Pro is going to get an update to Sandy Bridge.
2.) I claim that within the next year (or sooner) the optical drives will be removed from the 13" and 15" MacBook Pros and probably even from the 17" model.
3.) You seem to be claiming that the 13" MacBook Pro will be discontinued with the next update and that the white MacBook will essentially take its place (is that correct?).
4.) You claim that the optical drives will remain on the existing lineup for at least the "next couple of refreshes" (your own words).
The first showdown will come with the announcements from Apple of the Sandy Bridge systems. If the 13" MacBook Pro is updated to Sandy Bridge and thus stays in the lineup then I win the first point and the third. Next, if the optical drives are not removed from the MacBook Pros within the next year then you win the second and fourth points.
Of course, this could all end rather quickly if the next refresh on the MacBook Pros includes both an updated 13" MacBook Pro (with Sandy Bridge) and the loss of the internal optical drives. Thus, I'll see you in another month or two (or maybe even sooner).
