Well, here we are on Sept. 26, and Apple still hasn't taken its professional laptop line to the 64-bit generation. What's the hold-up?
The Core2 Duo for portables – Merom – has been out since mid-August, all of Apple's competitors have Core2 Duo machines out, even the iMac has gone Core2 in the last month, and still the MacBook Pro is cruising along at speeds just barely above those found in the low-end MacBook?
This wouldn't be all that bad if Apple were still using PowerPC chips to drive its hardware, but with the Intel relationship, it's practically inexcusable. The changeover was made because of Intel's roadmap for portables, which, I'm assuming, included the Core2 Duo line.
We are comparing silicon to silicon here, and it's embarrassing that I can configure a Dell Inspiron E1705.25 or whatever to include a 2.16Ghz Core2 Duo, fully trick it out with ram and storage and still have it come in for the same price as a 15.4" MacBook Pro. Not because the price is so close, but because the Dell machine is a full generation in hardware ahead.
(In case you're wondering, Apple's lead in the online computer sales experience is safe – I think I had to click through 37 times in order to get a sales total on the Dell, and even then I had to accept six months of AOL service for some reason.)
What on earth is the hold-up? There's barely a reason to switch to Intel if it doesn't mean moving the notebook line into comparable speed with what's on the desktop. Apple's lagging here, and the year is almost up. I've heard there might be an Apple event some time in October, but I sincerely hope they're not planning on giving the competition a two-month lead every time a new chip rolls out.
