Evidence continues to mount that Apple will release the next refresh of the MacBook Pro line soon, with Best Buy’s internal inventory system already showing a new 13-inch MacBook Pro for $1199 that will be in stock come March 11th.
If Best Buy’s inventory is accurate, it further stresses the likelihood that the new MacBook Pros will use Intel’s dual-core Sandy Bridge chips, which are due to start shipping on February 20th.
Intel’s Sandy Bridge architecture promises faster performance in both computing and integrated graphics power, all the while maximizing power efficiency. It is the successor to Intel’s Arrandale mobile processor line, which Apple failed to adopt for the last MacBook refresh, instead depending upon the aging Core 2 Duo processor.
It is unknown what other changes the new MacBook Pros will integrate, but given Tim Cook’s comments that the MacBook Air is the future of the MacBook line, a slimmer footprint, SSD options and instant-on ability seem like the most reasonable guesses. What are your predictions?
