I see that the Macbook Pro line has been updated (including a 13 inch screen now) with
minor speed bumps and such. Also some interesting news regarding Snow Leopard
and Quicktime....I am sure this will have implications for Final Cut Pro....anyways
this info is pulled from a live feed from WWDC from MacRumors.com.
If this is prohibited, sorry Chris, feel free to delete the post. I thought this info
about the new quicktime might be a signal that the new FCP is soon to come.
Of interest where they talk about how you 'need the right software' to take advantage of
all the new computers with multiple processors and accelerated GPU's.
Also Snow Leopard due in September....
anyways, here's what I was able to pull from the live
feed......

"10:40 am Next, OpenCL. Over 1 teraflop power in GPUs now. The current way to use this power is with OpenGL, but it's limited to graphics and games. Apple wants to use this power for all sorts of things, and thus has built OpenCL (C stands for computing). Hardware abstraction, C-based language, automatic optimization, numerical accuracy (can be used for scientific calculations). Open standard that many companies are participating in.

10:37 am 64bit enables use of the large amounts of RAM computers now have, math calculations are 2X faster. Multi-core presents a challenge -- how to make best use of them. Current methods don't provide granular enough control over them. Grand Central Station, built into Snow Leopard, solves this problem.

10:35 am Computers now have GBs of RAM, multi-core/64-bit capable CPUs, GPUs with massive amounts of raw processing power. To take advantage of all of this, you need the right software.

10:34 am The demo has ended. Bertrand has retaken the stage. Now talking about the new powerful foundation technologies.

10:33 am Quicktime X lets you trim and share video using a visual timeline that makes it easy to select the part of the video you want. The edited clip can then be directly shared with YouTube, MobileMe, or iTunes.

10:27 am Quicktime player has a brand new interface -- the content is the focus, not the application. Now demoing Snow Leopard.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

10:15 am Recently updated, the white plastic MacBook. Also upgrading the Air today. Prices changing to $1,499 to $1,799 -- up to 2.13GHz CPU.
10:14 am The 13" MacBook Pro is also available today.
10:14 am The 13" MacBook is now called a MacBook Pro. Starts at $1,199. Cheaper than the MacBook it replaces. Ranges from $1,199 to $1,499 in standard configurations.
10:13 am At what point isn't this just a MacBook Pro? It can even expand to the same levels of RAM and HD as the MacBook Pros. The backlit keyboard is now standard in it as well. Also, FireWire 800.
10:12 am Updating the 13" MacBook today as well. Gets the new display, SD card slot and better battery life.
10:11 am The 17" MacBook Pro has also been updated -- 2.8GHz CPU, 500GB HD, retains ExpressCard Slot. All shipping today.
10:11 am Standard configurations range from $1,699 to $2,229.
10:10 am Starts at a lower price -- $1,699.
10:09 am But there's a lot more -- fastest notebook they have ever made. Up to 3.06 Dual Core CPU. Up to 8GB of RAM. Up to 500GB 7200RPM HD. Or, 256GB SSD.
10:08 am The new 15" has a brand new display; nicest in any of their laptops. 60% color gamut increase. Now has a SD card slot.
10:07 am Typical user will get 5 years of use before seeing diminished battery life. Most customers will never need to replace the battery. When it does need to be replaced, recycling options available at Apple stores.
10:07 am New battery, lasts up to 7 hours. More eco-friendly -- gets up to 1,000 charges.

While overall for most people this means the price to have a decent Mac is now much lower for one group the price actually went up.

If you work in video you now have a much higher cost to have a laptop that can use Express card devices. In the past you could use a 15" and it still had an express card slot. Now there is only one Apple computer that uses express-cards and that is a 17" Mac Book Pro. This means no 3rd party capture devices or external storage solutions for extra dedicated FW800 or ESATA unless you have a 17".

I was really hoping that when I read 13" Mac Book Pro on Apple's website that meant finally a lower cost system with an express-card. Nope. It is basically the same 13" Mac Book with a little bit better cpu and battery.

Don't get me wrong, I am very excited about these new Mac Book Pros for the other 98% of the people in the world that don't do that level of video editing.

Great: Now you can only get the ExpressCard 34 slot in the 17" inch! Gee... thanks Apple, keep taking away functionality from your bread-and-butter products and you'll just create more PC converts.

With full 64-bit addressing, I wonder how long it would be before Adobe rewrites After Effects to make use of more than 4 gigs of RAM? Sure would help now that composites are being done in HD.

Great: Now you can only get the ExpressCard 34 slot in the 17" inch! Gee... thanks Apple, keep taking away functionality from your bread-and-butter products and you'll just create more PC converts.

They say that no one really used the ports according to their data.

I really hope Apple will talk about Final Cut Studio 3 and a new Logic at the WWDC. They are shouting '64-bit' but don't say a word about the Pro Tools that benefit the most from the new 64-bit architecture and other improvements Apple made with Snow Leopard.

I am getting the feeling that Apple becomes more and more consumer orientated. Glossy screens, removal of FireWire ports, now they are back, but they remove the Express Slot which is used to read SxS cards, for 3G cards and harddisks.

Apple, where are you heading?

Seems that I am the only one that is really happy with the WWDC.
Friday I orded a 17 inch MBP 2.66 GHZ , 320gb 7200rpm HDD and Anti Glare.
I just got a call from my supplier who notified me that I now get a 17 inch MBP 2.8 Ghz, 500 gb 7200 rpm HDD and Anti glare and I have to pay 190 euro less.
So obviously I am very pleased with the new models.

They say that no one really used the ports according to their data.

Kinda like how they said that all HD camcorders come with USB when they started to abandon firewire.

Apple really needs to get their head out of the phone market. Super slim and unibody is nice, but the previous form factor was also very nice. Much more compact than similar windows offerings, and plenty of room for all the necessary ports.

They say that no one really used the ports according to their data.

Wow, Microsoft must be right then, no one really uses Macs.

I'm with Floris: Just where are you going, Apple? It certainly isn't about supporting your customer base!

I agree. Apple would never admit they royally screwed up on the firewire issue. So they turn the 13" into a "pro" model by adding the firewire back in. Nice cover.

I thought firewire was dead according to Apple. Now all of a sudden every Mac has it again. The version of the 13" MB with no firewire is nowhere to be seen. Forever a bad mistake from Apple that lived for 6 months. I really feel sorry for those who bought a 13" unibody MB before this sudden change.

Perhaps if enough stink is raised about the expresscard slot they will add that back in in 6 months with the Mac Book Pro Pro.

I agree. Apple would never admit they royally screwed up on the firewire issue. So they turn the 13" into a "pro" model by adding the firewire back in. Nice cover.

I thought firewire was dead according to Apple. Now all of a sudden every Mac has it again. The version of the 13" MB with no firewire is nowhere to be seen. Forever a bad mistake from Apple that lived for 6 months. I really feel sorry for those who bought a 13" unibody MB before this sudden change.

Perhaps if enough stink is raised about the expresscard slot they will add that back in in 6 months with the Mac Book Pro Pro.

I think ExpressCard will come back as I believe that Apple is going to get rid of internal optical drives within the next couple of hardware refreshes. They love thin and light and the optical drives take up too much space in portables. I'd gladly give up an optical drive for a second drive bay and ExpressCard slot.

Man I'm probably one of Apple's biggest fans but seriously...pull your head out already!
I just might be moving over to Adob's production suite.