I am a pro photographer using photoshop. so performance is paramount.
I will need one by 1/16 - (although I could possible borrow or rent one if I needed to.) What are my chances?
Hard to say right now, but if there's none at Macworld, then the chance is basically 0%.
I would personally buy the 15-inch model. I mean does the 17-inch display give you THAT much more room?
The 17" high-res display (now it's by default) has 78% higher resolution than the 15" display. The usable resolution increases even more.
Also it is notable that the last update did not increase CPU GHz's any significant amount (one model dropped by .4 GHz). So given that and Intel's releasing speed bumped CPUs in Q1 2009 tells me we may see a slightly faster than 2.53 GHz 17" MacBook Pro (2.67 GHz?). I don't expect quad-core, since they are too hot for the MacBook Pro.