Ok, first off...this is my first post EVER...so be gentle.
But now on to what i think is going to happen:
In my humble opinion, and after hours of scouring the net for months, infact I've been waiting for the new MBP since April, I think the date to watch is Sep 16th...
Now i really hope im wrong, but i just cant help feeling like all the signs are pointing to that date. Why?
Because: (not in any significant order)
1)Ipod promotion ends then. which true, doesn't mean much but i have a hard time seeing why apple would be driven profit-wise to offer new MB's & MBP's as a part of the promotion...sure, theyve done stuff like this before but I think theyre clearing out old inventory of Nano's just fine seeing as they cant quite keep up with the demand right now for MB's. Besides the people buying a laptop right now obviously a) need one or b)don't know about merom, so sure they're getting rid of Ipod's but they're also getting rid of non-merom MB's faster by giving away the ipod too...smart apple. with Merom quantities not able to fully support demand why try and create even more of a backlog and waiting period when theyre first released.
2)Paris Expo. Ok so i know there's no keynote and no ipods and all that stuff. but apple still has a knack for announcing SOMETHING at events such as these. and it nicely coincides with the end of the promotion. yeah yeah, new ipods but i think with core 2 dup it'llbe impossible to ONLY announce something ipod related.
3)I dont think apple is just popping in merom and sending the same notebook out on the market. Black case maybe, but with magnetic latch and easy access HD and Mem FOR SURE. Such changes take time especially to build up stock.
4) i think theyd want the publicity, at least SOME, if anything, so they can brag about how many of the initial problems were fixed as well as the tight new features theyre throwing in. A boost in market share PRIOR to Santa Rosa and Leopard sounds like a good idea. They're already going to sell more computers then ANYWAY, why not try your best to boost sales NOW BEFORE the holidays. This also partly explains why they wouldn't want to announce on the same day as all the other companies...it takes away from their gusto.
5)Now I'm shaky on this one, but wasn't there a thread about merom not being pin compatible with yonah in apple books? so internally they'd need to redo some stuff. if my memory serves me right it said to expect them in mid to late September.
6) This is the one that i havent seen suggested...apple.com's website update timeline. I know its random and not the best and most concrete reason but from what i've seen apple likes to change its website around 1ce a month. more appropriately every 3-4 weeks. at least since april that seems so. recent trend...apple ads ---> Mac Pro at WWDC --- > three weeks later, NEW ADs and ---> three weeks from now, SEP 16th.
In conclusion... with all the changes that should be happening AND the END of september ship dates that all the other companies are suggesting, apple would still be anouncing new MBP's before or at the same time as we could actually get our hands on them. so mathmatically, PARIS EXPO + IPOD PROMO + UPDATED DESIGN TIMELINE + WEB TIMING ...ALL = SEP 16th or thereabouts.
I apologize for the length...but if you were patient enough to read through this then you're patient enough to wait three more weeks.
ps...i like the new trend in performance numbers that im seeing for merom... makes me
pss...God I hope im wrong about all this. Sooner the better.