Regardless, I'll go so far as to concede that the Macbook is a decent machine on the high end, pricewise. Now let's look at the low end - I can spec out an E1505 dual-core laptop to match the 15.4" Macbook, for almost $600 less than the Apple. Realistically, Apple's problem has never been at the high end, it's the low end, for those folks who aren't prepared to drop $3k on a top of the line machine.
Just like Dell, there are special offers from time to time... my friend bought his at the Apple Store in Sacramento, Ca. Perhaps they had a "deal" going. I don't know and he doesn't remember if they made any mention of a special package inclusion. Incidentally he got it with a 10% education discount which brought the price down even farther.
There will be an iBook equivalent with the duoCore Intel processor released soon. Target price will probably be in the $1000 range. Apple has said their entire range of computers will be Intel by the end of the year... rumor has it that it will be more like August.