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?

As predicted, Apple’s Mac App Store is already a huge success, driving sales through the roof for the small Mac developers who have already taken part even as Cupertino rakes in thirty percent off the top. Needless to say, the Mac App Store’s success indicates that Apple would eventually like to use it to drive most if not all of Mac software sales… and part of making that happen is to start downplaying the role of boxed software in the Mac ecosystem while emphasizing the Mac App Store as a central hub for OS X digital distribution.

No surprise, then, that Apple is already planning on getting rid of boxed software at their retail locations and directing customers to the Mac App Store instead, where Apple makes better margins on software sold.

It is a popularly held belief that one day Mac OS X and iOS are destined to merge into one OS to rule them all. When Apple announced last October that Lion, the next major update of Mac OS X would feature some of the best ideas from iOS, it only added to the convergence speculation.

But are Apple’s two operating systems really destined to converge? After all, they both seem to be doing very well by themselves. The Mac may benefit from some iOS features, but it’s hardly struggling on its own. Mac sales are stronger than ever. So what exactly would the advantages be?

Last October, Steve Jobs gave us a sneak peek at the next major update to Mac OS X, codenamed “Lion.” The theme for this update is bringing the best iPhone and iPad features “back to the Mac.” Features such as the Mac App Store, a home screen for apps, and a new full screen mode. But this sneak peak only scratched the surface of the possibilities for Lion. Here’s my top 10 wish list. If you’ve got any better ideas, let’s hear them in the comments at the bottom of the page.

At long last, ladies and gentlemen, after all these years of waiting, we finally have it: an app that puts cheese on your head.

Other folks have been waiting for Duke Nukem Forever, or for a 15-inch MacBook Air, or for democracy in their dictatorships, or even for basic stuff like world peace and an end to disease. Oh, and flying cars, people are still waiting for those.

But for the rest of us – for those of us who have longed for an app that puts cheese on our head – the waiting is over. iCheeseHead fulfils all our virtual cheese-on-head needs, and costs less than most real cheese.

Rupert Murdoch can keep his $30 million iPad newspaper. We can all have cheese on our heads now, and nothing else matters.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD 2011 — Macworld 2011 is in full swing. Even without Apple, the show is packed and there’s a great vibe. The best thing is the people. Check out some of the many friendly faces and interesting products on the show floor.

Above: Cute girls in short tube dresses. Good thing are weather here is unseasonably warm! They are promoting MacKeeper and boy did they get a lot of attention!

Yeah, I said Sinbad! Apparently it’s an old joke that everyone has a “I-met-Sinbad-at-Macworld” story, after all, he’s been coming to Macworld since 1985. Well since he was going to be here anyway, they asked him to get on stage and give a keynote, and I’m glad they did because it was fantastic.

We start the day with a new batch of reduced-priced iPad applications, including the game “Puzzle Agent HD.” We also check out a new crop of free iPhone apps, including “Real Skijump HD.” To round out the spotlight, we take a look at some iPads that are marked down by as much as $100. A 16GB refurbished Wi-Fi model is just $429.

Along the way, we also look at a 1.4GHz 64GB SSD MacBook Air for just $849, as well as various other hardware and software for your favorite Apple product. As usual, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

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.

Apple’s product release cycle can seem mysterious if you’re new to the fold, but old hands know roughly when to expect the next refresh of each of Apple’s product lines. So when the Three Guys and a Podcast blogs say that new iMacs should be due in March, they aren’t really saying anything that MacRumors’ Buyer’s Guide couldn’t tell you.

More interesting than the new Macs in March revelation is some of the other predictions Three Guys and a Podcast have put together: they expect that solid state drives will be coming to all Macs starting this year, loading the OS on one drive while pairing them with larger traditional HDDs for storage. The end result should be much, much speedier Macs all around (trust me on this one: my 27-inch top-of-the-line iMac has collected dust ever since I got my 11-inch MacBook Air).

Additionally, we should see Intel’s new Sandy Bridge processors in this year’s Macs, as well as improved (but not Retina Display) resolutions in the 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs, thanks to Apple’s ongoing investments in display technology. A modest refresh for right now, but just wait until the next refresh, when Apple tackles the iMac line with more radical redesigns in mind. I can’t wait.