When I opened the Apple store this morning to find the best iPod I could for my friend’s budget I was surprised to see that it was down, so I knew something new was coming, and the “new” products left me going “meh”.

Apple upgraded the processors of their “older” laptops to the latest Intel Core 2 Duo Penryn and introduced the multi-touch touchpad to the Macbook Pro line. On the less positive site, they decided to not include the Apple remote anymore, from now on it will be available as a $19 (though that doesn’t bother me too much, as I already have one).

“Normal” Macbook owners will have less twiddling to do with their index fingers, because their touchpads are multi-touch deprived, only the new Macbook Air and the Pro models will have them. As much as I love the design and functionality of most Apple products, I have to say that I find that decision shameless.

If this keeps up, Apple will slowly turn into a hardware “Microsoft” when it comes to delays. We’re already at the end of February and so far we’ve only gotten a slight hardware upgrade. Apple fans are crying for new designs, but as long as these ones sell, Apple won’t be in a hurry to release any new ones.

MacBook

The price configuration is the same same (starting at $1099 US for the non-Super Drive white base model, $1499 for the BlackBook), but the base features have received a nice upgrade. The significant changes:

• Processor speeds now start at 2.1 GHz for the base model, 2.4 GHz for the $1299 and $1499 models
• 120 GB drive is standard for the base level MacBook, 160 GB for the $1299 MacBook and a whopping 250 GB drive for the BlackBook. All drives are 5400 RPM
• 2 GB RAM standard for all but entry-level MacBooks (that remains at 1 GB)

MacBook Pro

• Processor speeds now start at 2.4 GHz, and are available up to 2.6 GHz (2.5 GHz is standard for the 17″); the new 2.5 GHz chip has 6 MB of L2 cache
• The MBP 17″ now has an LED backlit screen option
• 200 GB is the starting HD size (this is up from 120 GB in the last revision), 250 GB standard for the upper 15″ and 17″ models. A 300 GB drive is available BTO, as is a 7200 rpm 200 GB drive
• NVidia 8600GT now starts at 256 MB of VRAM — 512 for the higher end 15″ and stock 17″
• Multi-touch trackpad a la the Air.

It’s nice to see Apple always keeping up to date with the latest processors (they are after all a great selling point) but I was expecting a bit more, and a bit sooner. I hope that some of you readers agree with me.

As slightly better news, Apple is now accepting orders for the 2GB iPod Shuffles, which will give you even more room for randomness in a small and sleek package. Though in terms of value, I have to admit that you’d be better off with a Zen Stone.

Via Apple Hotnews