Hi there, 1st post for me,... i'm a long time PC user and have decided to go MAC. Since january i have been reading 3 or 4 forums about apple releases.
In my opinion iPad is the big release for apple, no way they will make us drop atention about it. I beleave will not see a new Macbook Pro until May!
Realy hope i'm wrong!
You're absolutely right about the iPad being important to apple. For every iPad they sell, that is one less likely customer for he HP Slate (Even if the Slate turns out to be the wonder machine HP is hoping it'll be) or any other tablet. Even if the experience isn't great on the iPad people won't spend the money twice for a different tablet (mostly), and if the experience is great, they'll stay within the apple universe as future customers.
There is a limited audience for the iPad, a much broader market audience exists for the MBP. Everyone these days is comfortable with the idea of a laptop computer, so now it becomes buying the best one you can afford for your purposes, ease of use, reliability, etc. The same isn't true for tablets, there is excitement for them, but it isn't comfortable or familiar enough for much of the market yet.
The trick for apple is to overcome that lack of familiarity and comfort and appeal to a broader audience. Half the battle is getting people to show up in the first place. If apple releases an updated MBP then that many more people will be showing up to apple stores/best buy (store in a store) for the MBP. Once they are there, showing off the iPad, demonstrating a usefulness for the MBP purchaser, creates a potential customer. If you're already able to spend $1500-2500 on an MBP (or more with options) than you can probably afford the extra $500-$800 for an iPad as an add on purchase. They might cut you a break (Margins on the iPad appear to be high but the total cost of research and development isn't known so the margin is based on hardware alone) so they could give you a 10% off the iPad if you buy both to sweeten the deal, and some might bite. Those that don't were never iPad customers to begin with, but those that do may have otherwise never purchased the device.
With that said, it doesn't do Apple any favors to let us all run out, spend a few thousand dollars and come home. Once we're home we have to be convinced to leave our MBP long enough to come back to the store and spend more money, buyer's remorse (not over the purchase, but the expenditure) will kick in and people who just bought an MBP might not be as easily convinced a week later that they need both, while might be persuaded when they are holding both at once.
I'm a little surprised we haven't seen an update saying the MBPs would be released, if for no purpose than to keep people from migrating to PC platforms. People who have never bought a mac are reluctant to spend the price for older tech and have no vested interest in the OS having never used it and owning little or no software for it. Apple is losing a few new customers with this delay. The stability of Windows 7 and general perception that it "fixed" Vista is keeping people from leaving PCs too, and even attracting some Mac fans to the system for its support of Blu-Ray and newer tech.
Long story short, Apple is probably better served by letting us all know we have an update in sight so we don't go buy a PC, but waiting to release until there are sufficient quantities of iPads in the stores to try and double up on sales with MBP purchasers. At least in my opinion
