Is Apple readying next-generation MacBooks?

I decided to buy a new MacBook Pro this month, but I changed my mind at the last minute. And I'm glad I did. It's looking like Apple is getting ready to release the next generation pretty soon.

The rumors are starting to trickle out on Apple blogs. Apple Insider says that Best Buy is expecting new Apple hardware in March.

Updated stock information from within Best Buy's computer systems shows the electronics retailer receiving new hardware from Apple -- potentially MacBook Pros or iPads -- on March 14.

A picture sent to AppleInsider shows the hardware in Best Buy's mobile department, suggesting the device could be the iPad's Wi-Fi model, due to arrive by the end of March, or perhaps an updated MacBook Pro. Apple is expected to refresh its MacBook Pro notebooks this quarter.

I have to quarrel with the previous sentence. "Is expected?" By whom? I think we can expect to see updated MacBook Pros sometime soon; mactactic, a great site for advising you on when to buy new Apple gear, says that Apple's notebooks last refreshed in late 2008 -- 16 months ago -- and expects to see new upgrades "extremely soon." But I wouldn't want to say definitively that they're coming this quarter.

Update 4:05 pm: Some of the commenters below dismiss mactactic, preferring MacRumors: Buyer's Guide. They point out that mactactic is just plain wrong about the date of the last update to the MacBook Pro; it was June 2009. I double-checked on Apple's press release archive and that's right. My colleague Ken Mingis has details of that MacBook Pro announcement.

An anonymous commenter defends me and mactactic, saying the 2009 update was "just a bump." True, and I appreciate the support, but anybody buying in the spring would have wanted the new models rather than the old, which is one of the points of this blog post.

MacRumors said the Best Buy information comes from its forums, and points to three unknown Apple products.

New MacBook Pros will likely use Intel's new mobile processors,

Two more hints: Gizmodo reports that new Apple gear is coming to Canadian Best Buys, which might include new high-end iMacs.

And CrunchGear has a tidbit more.

I've been struggling since December with whether, and when, to buy a new Mac. I bought a new 24" iMac in early summer, replacing a 2007 iMac. I had hoped to get at least another year out of the 2007 iMac, but it had a flaky graphics card. The bad news: I spent a lot of money for a new iMac. The good news: I had a new iMac.

Then, in December, I got laid off, which left me without a notebook computer; I'd previously used my employer's notebook. If I had known I'd be striking out on my own so soon, I would have bought a MacBook Pro rather than an iMac.

I thought I'd be doing some traveling next month and need a notebook computer, and was going to bite the bullet and buy a new MacBook Pro, even knowing model upgrades were coming soon.

But now that travel is looking uncertain. And even if I do make a trip, I'll still postpone buying a MacBook Pro. While on the road, I can use business centers, and my iPhone. If necessarily, I'll buy a netbook. Netbooks are so cheap now, they're almost an impulse purchase. "Gimme a case of Diet Coke, some Slim Jims, and, oh, what the heck, why not throw in one of those netbooks?"

I'll decide whether to buy a MacBook Pro when I see what Apple offers in its next generation.

I expect to buy an iPad when they become available next month. Maybe two; my wife is eyeing them hungrily. And I also expect Apple will come out with a new iPhone this summer, as they've done for the last three summers; and when they do, I'll upgrade my iPhone too. So even if I don't get a new MacBook Pro, Apple's going to be getting a lot of my family's money this year. But do I get a thank you card from Steve Jobs? Noooooo....