This is pretty hard to believe, but if true, it could have a huge impact on the future audience of the MacBook Pro line: Apple could have dropped NVIDIA as the supplier of the next-gen MacBook Pro’s discrete GPUs, and will instead go with Intel integrated graphics. Huh?
It’s not everyday you see a case like Silva Limited’s bamboo Macbook Pro case. Hand assembled, hand finished, made from sustainable bamboo — it’s obvious these handsome cases have been crafted with love and a ton of attention to detail.
Apple is asking its retail employees to sign non-disclosure agreements ahead of a secret, all-hands meeting to be held this Sunday, Apple Insider is reporting. It could foreshadow a major launch, a media event or both.
The new MacBook Pros expected later this week will boot off solid-state drives, claims Boy Genius Report, citing unnamed sources.
In addition:
Boy Genius Report: New MacBook Pro models imminent; we’ve got some new details
The new MacBook Pros are due on Thursday according to pervasive Internet scuttlebutt, and at the very least, a jump to Intel’s new Sandy Bridge architecture is a sure thing… but another state-of-the-art Intel technology might be coming to them as well, with Mactrast reporting that the February 24th MBP refresh might include the adoption of Intel’s Light Peak technology.
Apple has delayed shipping MacBook Pros on its online store for 3-5 business days… delaying the earliest day you can have a MacBook Pro shipped to you to well-ahead of the rumored Thursday launch of the next-gen MacBook Pros. Given how religious Apple’s Tim Cook is about supply, this has all the markings of an official MacBook Pro refresh.
It looks like Apple’s all set to launch new MacBooks next week, but the launch day is — a Thursday?
What’s up with that? Apple’s big product launches are almost always on Tuesdays. (It allows reporters on the East Coast to fly into California on a workday instead of the weekend).
So why would Apple launch new MacBooks on Thursday February 24?
It’s new MacBook Pros next Thursday February 24, according to MacRumors, citing a “reliable” source.
We’ve since heard reliable confirmation that this information is accurate and that the expected release date is next Thursday, February 24th. The move would be a bit unusual for Apple to launch new machines on a Thursday. So, if you are about to buy a new MacBook Pro, wait until next week.
MacBooks were last updated a year ago with Intel Core i5 and i7 chips. The new machines are likely to get Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge processors, which are faster and a lot less power hungry. Rumors that the machines will have cases made of Liquidmetal are unlikely, but they will probably will be lighter, thinner and have higher-resolution screens. A big price drop is predicted too.
Apple’s said to be releasing five new models, which will include two new 13-inch versions, two new 15-inch versions and one new 17-inch version.
Although Cupertino never tips its hand ahead of time, past experience indicates you can set your watch (at least by the month) for their product refreshes, so no shock here: it’s now being reported that Apple will launch new MacBook Pros in the first half of 2011, which probably equates to a April 2011 timescale, along with new iMacs, which were last updated back in January.
It should be no surprise to anyone that the newest iMacs catapulted to the top of the sales charts when Apple released them in October. But just in case you have any bets going on the matter comes sweet analyst confirmation: Apple computers topped the list of the most popular machines sold at retail in October, according to the NPD Group. Gentlemen, collect your outstanding beers and pony rides.
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![The New Air-Like MacBook Pros Could Use Crummy Intel Graphics [Rumor]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/macbook_mockup1.jpg "macbook_mockup1")
