SSD drive finally coming to MacBook/MacBook Pros?

Just about everyone (including me) is saying that new MacBooks will be landing in about a month. Unlike the past few updates, this one (by most accounts) will be a total redesign.

Besides glass trackpads, and a thinner, full aluminum shell, what other fun stuff could be thrown in?

GPS? We know Apple loves its Core Location..but we don't move around that much with our laptops to necessitate this. Apple is probably already thinking of this, right? Oh, and don't get me started on 3G/WiMAX! None of these are as exciting as....

SSD Storage. I thought Apple was ready last time around but it now seems the numbers weren't there. At the time Apple was charging an extra $1000 for the 1.8 inch platter PATA SSD that went into the AIR. Those price points are at the very edge of what many people consider "reasonable".

Later, Apple dropped the price by half to a $500 extra for the option of having a 64GB SSD on your MacBook Air. A big price drop, but still out of most MacBook purchasers' reach.

Well, Dell just made an announcement. The Latitude series comes with an add on 128GB SSD option for only $450. Not just any SSD but a quality, speedy Samsung SSD. That is a price point that MacBook (especially Pro) customers can really sink their teeth into. As Apple always has more of a premium than Dell I'd expect to see Apple come in a bit higher.

But why does Apple have to stop there? Can't we have the best of both worlds? Why can't Apple ship a laptop with two forms of storage? SSDs take up little room and less energy. Heck, if you look at those shady MacBook Shells from Asia, it doesn't look too much like a DVD player can fit in there...How long until Apple ships its software on 8Gb USB sticks and does away with the optical media all together? More room for SSD/HDD combos!

But it is time, once again, to digress. With twice the SSD space (128Gb) costing roughly half the cost of the SSD option of January, will Apple take the plunge and give its users the option for an SSD powered MacBook? My $500 budget says yes!

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