TI chipsets are by far the most important manufacturer spec on any music laptop today, imo.
If the OP already has or plans on getting a firewire interface, then he should certainly check with the manufacturer first to see if there are reports of incompatibilities with the new Macbooks, and to what extent they actually are; if he doesn't have one, and considering his price range and needs, a bus powered USB interface might be a better solution.
there's nothing worse than selling a product based on lies. Top end notebooks with agere controllers? don't make me laugh.
While certainly an issue for many people, this is another one of those buzz topics that gets blown out of proportion on internet forums. I've heard reports from pro audio mac users with the new chipsets that aren't having any problems with their firewire gear. And in many cases where there are problems, the solutions aren't that big of a deal, like powering up the firewire device first or restarting, or connecting to a hub or an external drive.
Edit: I'm not suggesting it's not a real or important issue, as it certainly is. I'm just pointing out that it might not be that big of a deal for the OP, and that there are solutions and workarounds available, least of which are USB and Express Cards.
