More on Merom ship dates

There has been plenty of speculation as to when Apple will upgrade MacBooks and MacBook Pros from the Intel Core Duo (code-named "Yonah") chips to the faster and cooler Merom (a.k.a. Core 2 Duo) processors.
Initially I heard that Merom was on tap to land in MacBook Pros in time for the holidays - late October or early November. Then last week, DigiTimes reported that the new chip was imminent and that it was expected to turn up in MacBook Pros and MacBooks in September.

Sources at PC and notebook component makers indicated that Apple will launch its MacBook laptops using Intel's new 64-bit Merom CPU in September, with associated OEM makers, such as Asustek and Quanta Computer, expected to benefit from that, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

I've heard that September 1 is when the manufacturers will be ready to start stamping the new logic boards - not the delivery date of finished machines. A source tells me that MeromBooks will be entering the manufacturing phase in early September and that they could be announced in the October - November time frame.
 
It is also believed that there's a good deal of inventory of existing Core Duo MacBook and MacBook Pros in the channel so Apple would be wise to sell that down before announcing the new models. I'm sticking with my original prediction that we won't see Merom until October or November.

(Keep in mind that MacBooks are not upgradeable to Merom because they don't have socketed interfaces. iMacs and Mac minis are Merom upgradeable - but it will void your warranty.)

Are you going to buy a first generation Merom MacBook from Apple?