[tmelcher]

I have a 1st Gen 15" MacBook Pro I plan on replacing in the near future. As the current one still serves me just fine for the time being, I may wait until MWSF '08. Here's a list of realistic improvements that could be made. I doubt all will be realized, but each of these actually stands a reasonable chance of occurring.

-Case redesign away from the wonderful but dated PowerBook G4 style. We need something sleeker. (Very likely following the iMac redesign)
-Optional black anodized aluminum instead of the standard silver. (Likely)
-LED Backlighting in the 17". (Very Likely)
-Some sort of resolution improvement, maybe 1050 as an option on the 15" and 1200 standard on the 17". Less likely because of the costly LED backlit panels Apple's been buying. (Unlikely)
-Introduction of Penryn-based Core 2 Duos (Very Likely)
-Clock speeds increased from 2.2/2.4/2.4 to 2.4/2.6/2.6 (Very Likely)
-GPU upgrade to 8700? (unlikely)
-Video RAM increase to 256/256/512 (very likely)
-BTO Blu-ray drive (possibly pricey... I'd consider it at >$250) (Possible)
-BTO SSD option instead of HDD

I also doubt that the rumored ultraportable will be lumped into the MacBook Pro line. I see them creating a 2x3 grid
The "Nano" Computers: Mac Nano (Mini replacement), MacBook Nano (new ultraportable)
The "Consumer" Computers: iMac, MacBook
The "Pro" Computers: Mac Pro, MacBook Pro

[imitchellg5]

That's a no on the Blu-Ray and SSD. I think the rest would be very likely to happen though.

[lorenzo]

What about a nice keyboard like the one of the MacBooks?
It has grown on me so much, plus, it's the stock keyboard also for the iMacs (just some extra keys)... I find it amazing, and a hell of a lot better than my Santa Rosa's one.
Keep fingers crossed!

Lory

[slugslugslug]

Originally Posted by tmelcher 

I also doubt that the rumored ultraportable will be lumped into the MacBook Pro line. I see them creating a 2x3 grid
The "Nano" Computers: Mac Nano (Mini replacement), MacBook Nano (new ultraportable)
The "Consumer" Computers: iMac, MacBook
The "Pro" Computers: Mac Pro, MacBook Pro

The Mac mini is too small as it is. I seriously doubt they'll replace it with anything smaller. "MacBook mini" has always seemed to me a logical name for an ultraportable, but they might call it Pro, since subnotebooks usually carry a price premium over full sized ones, and Apple's "mini" products have been the more affordable ones.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by tmelcher 

-GPU upgrade to 8700? (unlikely)

If there is an upgrade, an underclocked 8800M is more likely IMO. 8700M just isn't that much faster.

Or maybe we'll get ATi's latest turd, HD2600XT, like the iMacs.

[bballe336]

As long as they keep the case design the same (including the keyboard, the macbook style one is awful) and don't change to ATI graphics I'm sure it will be a nice update.