Core 2 Duo MacBooks to launch next week?

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Tuesday, 24 October 2006

Core 2 Duo chips are everywhere these days. Not only have they won the speed crown from AMD, they're in desktop PCs, new iMacs, PC based notebooks and perhaps by next week, in Apple’s ever versatile MacBooks and MacBookPros.

Apple is expected to sell over 1 million notebook computers worldwide over the holiday season, but it will need ample supplies of Core 2 Duo chips to keep machines pumping out the door, and with all PC manufacturers needing chips, Intel will have to juggle stock levels well, with over 5 million chips shipped in the first 60 days after its release.

European Apple stores have reportedly already run out of both MacBook models, while US inventories are running down. This is always a sign that a company is on the verge of launching new models. Add that to the fact no-one likes buying the ‘old’ model a week before the new one is launched, and this kind of thing is a good idea.

Another big event due for the end of this month is the introduction of the US $79 (AUD $119)
2nd-generation Shuffle. Apple expects to sell millions of these over Christmas, with online pre-orders already flooding in.

And there’s always the chance Apple could still launch an iPhone and/or widescreen 6G iPod, but unless it happens next week, it’ll probably be held over to January’s Macworld expo.

The Core 2 Duo MacBook range could spark an enormous new Mac market, as computer users not only decide to buy a portable computer over a desktop model, but choose an Intel-powered Mac instead to run Mac OS X, Windows XP and/or Vista and even Unix at the same time.

And for those wanting a desktop model, Core 2 Duo desktop iMacs have been available for weeks. If you want the freedom to run all the major operating systems, a Mac is the only choice.
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