New Macbook generation coming soon plus FYI to parents

Probably the most dedicated Apple-blog, AppleInsider, reported that resellers of Mac products are beginning to run out of the Pros – Macbook Pros that is.

About 40 to 60 percent of the Best Buy stores in the Chicago and Austin areas are “out of stock.”  If the company’s history has taught us anything, a new line of Macbook Pros is just around the corner.

First, resellers begin to run out, causing rumor-driven havoc in the retail sphere. Then a few months later, a new line of Macbooks is released, usually happening just in time for a fresh batch of undergraduate students beginning their college careers, pristine Mac products in hand.

Of course, Apple has neither confirmed nor denied a new Macbook line. So, I can only speculate at what could be under the hood of the new machines. Maybe the ultra-quick Core i7 Ivy Bridge processors? Perhaps a few centimeters trimmed from the body design? An arm latched to the side that scrambles eggs and bacon as users drink a morning cup of joe?!  I can only hope.

Quick note TO PARENTS

Save yourself a dime and buy the “old” Macbook  for your freshman sons and daughters. They will change their minds six times before knowing what they want to study. Throwing down the extra hundred (or more) on the brand new MacBook won’t make your students any more successful. Instead opt for the lesser expensive Mac (they WILL drop in price) and put the saved hundred(s) toward an accidental protection plan (emphasis on the “accidental” part). BELIEVE ME.

These are the current specifications on Macbook Pros:

13 inch Macbook Pro (bottom-line)

• 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 processor
• 4GB 1333MHz RAM
• 500GB 5400-rpm Harddrive
• Integrated graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000

15 inch Macbook Pro (bottom-line)

• 2.2GHz Intel Core i7 processor
• 4GB 1333MHz RAM
• 500GB 5400-rpm Harddrive
• Dedicated graphics:AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB GDDR5

17 inch Macbook Pro (bottom-line)

• 2.4GHz Intel Core i7
• 4GB 1333MHz RAM
• 750GB 5400-rpm Harddrive
• Dedicated graphics:AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1GB GDDR5

Any one of these beauties will carry a journalism or a graphic design student through the degree (required editing software accounted for). Upgrading RAM might be the only change a student would require, which is rarely necessary from first purchase if a he or she is still at “noob” status.

Check back in the coming months for updates on the new line.

(Photo by Billbooz)