Apple updates their product lines quite often, more often than other manufacturers of MP3 players, home entertainment devices and computers than I can name off the top of my head. Sure, you can buy PCs with the same processors, memory, motherboards and graphics cards from the likes of Acer, Lenovo or Dell. What you don’t get is the reliability of OSX.

If you want a Mac upgrade usually the answer is to just buy a new Mac. But when is the right time to buy that new Mac or iPod. MacRumors think they have the answers.

According to them the current generation of iPods and iPod Nanos are approaching their end of life cycle so their recommendation is only buy if you absolutely positively need one.

Since the iPod Shuffle was just recently updated, it’s safe to buy as it will be around for a while longer.

Updates to practically the entire Mac line are expected save for the MacBook so if you are eyeing that MacBook Pro, Mac Pro or iMac, don’t buy it. At the very least, wait for Leopard to come out, it is doubtful Apple will offer free updates to Leopard for even recent purchases of Macs with Tiger on them. I’m holding out for Leopard. It is rumored that when Leopard releases the MacBook Pros will be updated with quad core Intel processors. They’re stuffing quad-core processors in laptops? I’ll believe it when I see it.

Take this with a grain of salt, we know that MacRumors isn’t exactly the most reliable source on the internet but they do toss out some interesting thoughts. They were right about the switch to Intel processors but wrong about a new G5 processor. A new Power processor has materialized in the form of the IBM Power6 for use in servers but will probably never see use in Apple or any desktop computer.