15.4-inch MacBooks for Q2 2007?

Wow, I must say I didn't expect to hear this - DigiTimes is reporting that Apple will begin shipping larger 15.4-inch MacBooks to bridge the gap between the 13.3-inch MacBook and the 15.4-inch MacBook Pro. The new laptops won't be manufactured by Asustek, which has maintained production of the current 13.3-inch MacBooks.

Instead, Quanta Computer will lead production of the larger MacBook; Quanta also produces the 15.4 and 17-inch MacBook Pros for Apple. As these 15.4-inch MacBooks won't be heard about until May 2007, it is very likely that they would be the first Macs to ship with Leopard installed... assuming there's no Mac Pro update in the near future. Personally, I don't really think this was a wise decision by Apple. They will lose potential MacBook Pro consumers that require the larger screen but want to get it as cheap as possible. Also, this news likely signals the death of the everlasting rumor about a solid-state 12-inch ultra-portable MacBook.