Adobe confirmed that it will roll out its CS3 bundle -- which includes PhotoShop, InDesign, Illustrator and other tools -- on March 27. The company called it "the largest software release in Adobe's 25-year history."

The current CS2 version of the suite relies on Apple's Rosetta emulation technology to run on Intel-based machines. CS3, however, will run on Intel Macs in native mode, offering a corresponding boost in performance.

CS3 also has a major halo effect for Apple, said Gene Munster, a senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co. "Since CS3 will be optimized for Intel Macs for the first time, many pro users have been waiting for this launch to upgrade from their PowerPC-based systems," he wrote in a note to clients.

Munster said that a 2006 survey of Mac users in the creative fields put the estimated market for Adobe's top-of-the-line tools at 3 million users. Assuming a 15 percent upgrade rate by those users to a new Intel-based Mac Pro or MacBook Pro machine, Apple will likely sell an additional 450,000 systems based on CS3 alone.

"These additional units would also boost margins, as the high-end Mac Pro and MacBook Pro models carry higher margins than the rest of Apple's computer line," Munster said. The Mac Pro starts at US$2,499, while the MacBook Pro notebook sells for $1,999 and up. At the bottom end of the scale, 450,000 more MacBook Pros sold would translate into a $900 million in revenue for Apple.