This is a great development that should reassure all Mac enthusiasts that Apple’s switch to the Intel architecture was a decision made for us, the customers, and not just for Apple’s sake.

Think back to the Sawtooth PowerMac G4s. Back then (Sept 1999), Apple promised the new Macs in 400MHz, 450MHz, and 500MHz iterations. Before shipping, Apple had to announce that the speeds were to be adjusted to 350MHz, 400MHz, and 450MHz due to matters outside their control–otherwise known as Motorola’s ineptness. As an added irritant, Apple had to maintain the same pricepoints for the three iterations, meaning people buying a 450MHz PowerMac at a midgrade pricepoint were now paying the price for the top-of-the-line model, since it now was the top-of-the-line model.

Enter Apple’s first product release with Intel as its chip supplier. Apple releases the product ahead of schedule, and when it comes time to finally ship the MacBook, Apple again alters the speeds, but this time they are increased from 1.67GHz and 1.83GHz to 1.83GHz and 2.0GHz. Why, for good measure, they even offer an upgrade option to 2.16GHz. Furthermore, these improved speeds are offered at the same pricepoints. So now the fella buying a 1.67GHz MacBook Pro just got upgraded to the 1.83GHz model for free.

This type of activity, spurred on by an obviously better B2B interaction between Apple and Intel, and just more competence on Intel’s part in comparison to Motorola, is just the kind of thing we want to see.

Read the article: MacWorld: Apple ships faster than expected MacBook Pro.