MacBook Pro Stocks Run Low: Are New Sandy Bridge, MBA-Like Models Incoming?

John Brownlee (6:46 am PDT, Jan 27 2011)

MacBook Pro Stocks Run Low: Are New Sandy Bridge, MBA-Like Models Incoming?

I’m not quite sure I’d hold your breath just yet, but a new MacBook Pro refresh might be due soon, if reports of near-empty stocks of both the 15-inch and 17-inch unibody models are anything to go by. If that refresh happens, it’s likely to be a long-overdue update from the Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs that Apple currently uses to the newest Sandy Bridge processors.

Multiple sources in both Apple Stores and third-party resellers are reporting that they are running low on supplies of Cupertino’s premium notebooks, with even Amazon listing a one to two month delay on shipping the 17-inch MBP.

Usually, when Apple’s extant stock runs low, it means there’s a refresh coming, and so there’s a lot of scuttlebutt that this low stock could herald the advent of new Sandy Bridge MacBook Pros.

That’s possible: reports issued in December suggested that Apple was undertaking significant processor and GPU testing. The GPU testing is the most important part here, as switching to Sandy Bridge will be a radical change for Apple’s notebook line: right now, all MacBooks have a bare minimum of an integrated NVIDIA GeForce 320M to help drive OS X’s GPU-heavy UI, but Sandy Bridge will require Apple to switch away from this solution and rely on Intel’s own integrated Sandy Bridge graphics (which — while affording decent power gains due to being included on the same die — aren’t quite as capable) and supplement them with a discrete GPU for beefier tasks, relying upon their own GPU-switching software within Snow Leopard to juggle power efficiency and a need for horsepower.

It’s been a couple of generations since the unibody MacBook Pros first appeared, so Apple might be due to make a more dramatic refresh to the line, which might include a jump to ubiquitous SSD memory and taking more design queues from the wildly successful new MacBook Air (possibly by eschewing a built-in DVD drive entirely in the sake of portability and cramming as much battery into slimmer Pros as possible?) If rumors are true, we should know for certain sometime in the coming couple of weeks.

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11 comments »

  • nacra

    I hope so….I’ve been waiting to upgrade from my 2008 MBP. I was going to wait for fully implemented SSD or dual drive support, LightPeak, SandyBridge, etc. Pretty sure LightPeak won’t be in this refresh, but I’m ready to jump pretty soon.

  • Ryan E

    I hope Apple keep the same design but with more power. My dad has one of the older Core 2 Duo models an it’s a fantastic machine. I am currently saving for an iMac. Orignally I was going to get a MBP. However the cost/benefit side of things changed my mind. The superdrive is, in my opinion an integral part of the Macbook Pro. If you want an ultra portable mac you get a Macbook Air. For me the Macbook Pro’s are simply portable powerhouses. I just hope Apple think along the same lines.

    On the other hand though it will be interesting to see how the new models square up with the refreshed iMacs that are rumoured to be coming along in the not too distant future. Hopefully given the advances in technology they will be packed with more oomph than the previous models.

    -Fin-

    • http://isaiahpaviacruz.blogspot.com Isaiah

      I would have to agree. The MacBook Pro sohuld not come with any compromises. Those who want ultraportables should buy the Air.

  • Marcus

    Where is the source, apple ships most macbook pros out in 24 hours, and only the 13″ run core 2 duo, the 15 and 17 run i5/i7 I think apple will wait till ivy bridge to update, but that is just my speculation, there aren’t huge gains by sandy bridge.

  • Marcus

    “right now, all MacBooks have a bare minimum of an integrated NVIDIA GeForce 320M to help drive OS X’s GPU-heavy UI, but Sandy Bridge will require Apple to switch away from this solution and rely on Intel’s own integrated Sandy Bridge graphics (which — while affording decent power gains due to being included on the same die” The Sandy Bridge would be an improvement, over the 320m, the 320m is not a discrete card… it is integrated, so it doesn’t have its own resources. I agree the macbook pro needs an update, they should have put a core i3 vs the core 2 duo, but I believe they left it that way on purpose, ever wonder why there’s a $500+ difference between the 13″ and the 15″?, to lure new buyers into the macintosh community, no one that is on the edge about going mac or pc is going to pay the premium for a real high end mac, as these users generally see more specs for less money on a pc as a no brainer. Plus apples moto seems to me to be, if we can make it work perfectly, we wont do it, perfect example: facetime, 3g just isn’t ready to support good video chat period my friend had and htc evo and while trying to video chat to another evo (both with full bars) it was really sketch and not very smooth. So while new pc’s run these new powerful hardware, they also multitask in heating your home! If hardware isn’t ready to be put in a machine without compromise it shouldn’t and that’s what makes the macintosh lineup have the reputation it has. And thermal physics says, if you cram more heat energy into a smaller area than you will have higher tempatures. Also worth noting is that hp now has a note book “similar” (I use the term loosely) to a macbook pro, all aluminum high end machine, “multitouch trackpad” and I visited bestbuy to see one of these in action, and it felt so cheap! I also read reviews claiming that if you don’t use a cooling pad when doing demanding tasks, your systems reliablity/lifetime is compromised. Just some food for thought, I welcome change from apple to the mac line up but I like them want it to be ready, no compromises, so if they do release a sandy bridge version I think it will be later on, say maybe when lion comes out?!? Or right before it so they can charge everyone an upgrade premium lol.

  • HopingandWishing….

    how ’bout a bluray burner? Oh…never mind…:(

  • Pratik

    Intel Graphics ?, Not good at all.

  • Marcus

    Look up sandy bridge bro, the new intel graphics are much better than what you know to be intel graphics.

    • ethan

      yep, agree with you. looking forward the new macbook
      pro.

  • nm

    I hope so too. I’m still waiting for new releases and updates in macbook pro’s. If we compare to all market segment in others brands like asus, dell, toshiba .. we see that Apple must add better components. I’ll buy one apple to join the club! :)

  • http://www.PennyStockSafe.com penny stocks

    Apple will use Intel’s Sandy Bridge CPUs in its future laptops, no surprises there, but what’s interesting about these forthcoming machines is that some of them might rely solely on Intel’s chip for both general and graphical processing tasks. That’s the word from the usual

About the author

John BrownleeJohn Brownlee is news editor here at Cult of Mac, and has also written about a lot of things for a lot of different places, including Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker, AMC, Geek and the Consumerist. He lives in Cambridge with his charming inamorata and a tiny budgerigar punningly christened after Nabokov's most famous pervert. You can follow him here on Twitter.

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