I have to speculate that 10.5.5 will most likely be released just prior to the release of new Mac computers. It's widely expected that Apple will be updating the portable lines as well as the iMac.

I'm going to have to disagree. The iPods and notebooks are due for an upgrade right now and that is more than enough to cover the special event, especially if the MB an MBPs are getting new cases. The iMac was updated only 4 months ago to a special Santa Rosa chip with Montevina characteristics. The average update cycle is 211 days; we are only at 127 days.

Is the airport issue mentioned related to the notorious MacBook dropped wireless issue (although also seen in MBPs I believe)? Hundreds of posts over in the support forums for that one dating back well over a year. Symptoms - flaky wireless connection that drops randomly, signal strength that seems to jump up and down for no apparent reason, resistant to s/w upgrades, fresh OS installs, changing router wireless channels etc. etc. Booting the machines into Windows reveals that the hardware works fine and the problem is strictly OS X related ...

Imagine what would happen to Apple's stock if all user's were on the same update cycle...

I imagine it would go down

I haven't seen that on my girlfriend's Macbook, but my old Powerbook has had problems with forgetting network passwords (OK for home but murder at work with their 26 random character password).

It also isn't consistent - OK for a few weeks and then flakes out.

Well, Im guessing we wont see any big updates from Apple until MacWorld 09, why?
Here is my reasons:
1. Apple bought PA Semicon, no one have any idea what are they going to use PA Semicon for, except for low powered high performance processor but we are not sure how will that fit into Apples product lineup except for the iPhone.
2. Apple decided not to use Intel latest chipset. So another why and who is going to update or make their chipset now?
3. Psycrap and OpenComputer is starting to sell OSX on generic ugly pcs, so Im quite sure Apple is going to find a way to address this and make sure it never happen again.
4. They are busy with getting iPhone 3G global.
5. SnowLeopard has a lot of nifty features that people are skeptical whether if apple could deliver.

So overall, there is alot of stuffs goin on within Apple. The only product update that I expect is the MacBook to aluminum. Maybe MBP and Apple Cinema HD display during Apple WWDC, it make sense wont it? Release and update for 2 professional products in a developers conference. Or maybe they would release a whole new updated lineup of their notebooks during MacWorld and release SnowLeopard on WWDC. So by MW10, Steve could boasts about how successful (or not) their Snow Leopard OS.

I know this is an automated posting, but what a waste of time.

The link says the article is about a patch being released that addresses a wireless issue. Then we click and wait ... and the entire article pretty much just says the same thing. No word on *what* wireless issue, and followed by at least a couple of posts asking (essentially) "what wireless issue?"

These kinds of articles are a complete waste of space. If you haven't got the time to even write a paragraph or two of explanation, is this really an "article" at all? What's the point? To generate a lot of comments by being purposely obtuse?

I think we'll see major revisions of the MB and MBPs with some new tech on these notebooks that hasn't been used at large or well before by other OEMs.

1. The P.A. Semi issue is tough since we don't know what they were working on or when they started, we only know when Apple bought them out.
2. I thought this was defunct as very improbable. Intel has spent billions on R&D in this area. I don't see what Apple could do better by taking Penryn and slapping it on their own chipset. I certainly wouldn't buy a new Mac with an Apple-branded chipset being used in lieu of Montevina.
3. I think this is what Apple may be working on with P.A. Semi. The Mac clone issue was growing well before Psystar came on the scene. I know if I were Apple I'd want some sort of HW authentication.
4. They are, but they have released to over 40 countries and I don't think there are any major countries, in terms of potential sales, that need to target this year. The notebooks are due for an upgrade and a complete overhaul, and Montevina/Penryn is offering a perfect time with the lower TPD and smaller package size.
5. They still haven't released a proper Beta of SL. They could offer one next week, but I think that MacWorld will focus on SL functionality.

As stated, I think the MB and MBP will be completely overhauled, the MBA will get Montevina and will get considerably more juice for the same speed, and the iPods will get a price drop and/or capacity increase (maybe a colour change). Except the Nano being revamped to look more Zune-like, but with a dynamic click-wheel that changes with the orientation used.

I hope so, Wi-Fi has pretty much sucked on my MacBook since I installed the initial retail version of Leopard. I have all of the issues you mention above. Reverting back to Tiger (wipe and re-install) didn't fix the problem either so I'm assuming it was a firmware fix that Leopard applied to the wireless card. I don't have a dual-boot system with Windows so I didn't try that though. I'm not sure I'd buy another MacBook now, especially where I can get a fully loaded 17" AMD 64 X2 notebook for $750 through OfficeMax. I'd probably buy an iMac if I got another Apple machine.