New MacBooks may follow Leopard's release

The latest news from the Mac rumor sites says that closely following the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Apple will also announce an update to the MacBook product line. Sources speculate that the update won't include major changes to the MacBook but will probably mean a small increase to processor speed. Early reports indicate this upgrade may not happen until November.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

While a little extra processing power is never a bad thing, the reason we shouldn't expect a major speed boost is because Apple doesn't want the MacBook line to bite into MacBook Pro sales. Currently, top-level MacBooks run the Intel Core 2 Duo processor with speeds topping out at 2.16GHz. With the MacBook Pro processor upgrades earlier this year (featuring the Santa Rosa architecture) pushing speeds to 2.4GHz, we can't expect regular MacBooks to see much of an increase until the next generation of MacBook Pro widens the gap.

Like I pointed out in a recent Daily Download post, if you're in the market for a new Mac, you should definitely wait until Leopard is released October 26. With this new info, you may want to wait just a little bit longer for the MacBook to get an extra power boost.

[timfox]

Apple's policy about new updates

Hello, this is more a question than a comment. We have recently ordered from
Apple Store a MacBook, which should be arriving any day now. But it will
doubtlessly contain the present MacOS and not the one about to be released
(Leopard). I'd like to know if Apple has a policy for updating their operating
systems if bought very near the release of a new one. Thanks for whatever
information you may be able to give.

[Giglesias305]

You're safe

If the purchase was made after October 1st, you are good to go for free($10
shipping)

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9798151-1.html?tag=cnetfd.mt

[hulahoop1]

Apple's policy about new updates

I noticed the following on Apple's website:

"If you buy a qualifying Mac between October 1, 2007 and December 29, 2007, and it does not include Mac OS X Leopard, you?re eligible to get Leopard after it?s released for just $9.95 plus tax."

go to: http://www.apple.com/macosx/uptodate/