Isaiah's Tech

Apple has quietly and swiftly updated their family of MacBook Pro notebooks. All of the models now feature Bluetooth 4.0 just like the MacBook Air and the new iPhone 4S. The base 13-inch model now packs a 2.4GHz CPU along with 500GB of storage which is impressive. The 15-inch model got some graphics improvements as well. The 17-inch model now features AMD's newer Radeon HD 6770M graphics and now features a 2.4GHz CPU in the base $2,499 model. The price hasn't changed so they're still awesome deals. Check it out on Apple.

[This Is My Next]

fscklog and Mac4Ever (along with MacGeneration) are big on the leaks today. The first is coming from the picture above which actually leaks, pretty much, the full spec sheet of the upcoming 13-inch MacBook Pro. It says that the notebook with a dual-core Intel Core i5 2.3GHz CPU, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 320GB HDD, a 13.3-inch LED display with a 1,280 x 800 resolution, Intel HD 3000 graphics, a SuperDrive, an HD camera for FaceTime, WiFi 802.11n / Bluetooth 2.1 support, a backlit keyboard, an SDXC card slot, FireWire 800, and two USB 2.0 ports.

The leak above and Mac Generation are saying that the Light Peak implementation may actually be called Thunderbolt. Interesting. The photo below coming from Mac4Ever shows up a picture of the supposed 13-inch MacBook Pro that should launch tomorrow and, yes, it comes with a larger trackpad.

[Mac Rumors, Slash Gear]

Intel has announced something that could be pretty great and it's a sign of the future - and also a sign that new Apple MacBooks and MacBook Pros could be refreshed with something big soon. Intel has announced that they're going to be holding an event for their Light Peak technology on Thursday of this week. This is also the same day where Apple is expected to refresh pretty much their whole notebook line-up. Everything will finally be cleared up on Thursday - which is actually tomorrow.

Update: According to Electronista, the white MacBooks may actually be dead after Thursday. The MacBook Air will satisfy the low-end consumer while the MacBook Pro will come in the standard 13, 15, and 17-inch models. Specs can't be confirmed right now but the 17-inch model may actually get a new Intel Core i7 CPU as a standard. Prices for these notebooks may actually be the same as they currently are but they'll be faster this time around. It seems like a pretty good move.

[Electronista]

Apple should be announcing their new MacBook Pros in just a few days and BGR has mentioned that they have the exclusive scoop on some information regarding said notebooks. These notebooks should be available within the next few days and will actually have the OS installed on an 8 to 16GB SSD which will make for some speedy boot times. The main models will have a separate HDD to store stuff on but you'll be granted with the option to get a larger SSD if you want that - that'll cost you quite a bit though. Furthermore, these notebooks should be around 0.5 pounds lighter so they'll be even easier to carry around with you and glass trackpad should be a bit larger as well. Interesting stuff, especially if the price tags are the same.

[BGR]

Thanks to a Best Buy inventory screenshot, we could be seeing the new Apple MacBook Pro's starting on March 11th, which is a Friday. Obviously, this can't be confirmed right now but hopefully Apple will unveil these "Sandy Bridge" notebooks soon. These should also be sporting touchscreen displays because the next version of their OS supports some iOS features. If you take a look at the screenshot below you'll see that there'll be a model for $1,199 and you can expect that to be the cheapest model which signals that there might not be any price changes.

[9 to 5 Mac]

Here's an interesting one coming from DigiTimes. They have just mentioned that Apple plans to upgrade the MacBook Pro and the iMac line-up sometime in the first half of 2011. Apparently, there'll be four different sizes for the MacBook Pro. Currently, there's 13, 15, and 17-inch models so what will the new one be? It's unknown right now but I'm thinking an 11 or even a 14-inch model could get squeezed in there, but those are just my guesses (of course, a 12-inch model is also possible). The website also mentions that there'll be a new size for the iMac. That size is also unknown so we'll have to wait for that; Crunch Gear is guessing that it'll be a 24-incher.

All of these models are going to have a touchscreen display because they'll all come pre-installed with the new Mac OS X Lion which is the start to bring together the desktop Mac OS X with iOS so it'll have some touch capabilities if that's your thing.

[Crunch Gear]

Coming from Three Guys and a Podcast is word on the next-generation MacBook Pro and that it will likely be launched in April 2011. Apparently, Apple will be opting to go with SSD storage options that will go up to 512GB, which sounds great if they can keep the prices down to what they are right now. Other changes are said to be no optical (CD/DVD) drive), Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge CPUs, and the introduction of Light Peak. We don't know if FireWire will still be on-board but USB 3.0 should be. This is all sounding like great news right now but everything's unconfirmed for the moment.

Other improvements could include a touchscreen display since you may be able to upgrade this to "Lion" when it ships in the Summer.

The MacBook Pros have just been pushed out over the past couple of days but it looks like Apple could be looking to AMD for their future chips. It's just a rumour right now, so don't be surprised if Apple sticks by Intel. AMD would give Apple more profit - which is all they're really after - but Intel does have the upcoming Light Peak technology that Apple may have influenced. Of course, with the AMD chipsets these Apple notebooks / desktops will also get ATI discrete graphics. Let's see what happens over the next year.

[Gizmodo]

It looks like Apple has finally updated their MacBook Pro line-up and the 15 and 17-inch models are now sporting Intel Core i5 / i7 CPU options. Unfortunately, the 13-inch model - as you can see in the photo above - is stuck with Core 2 Duo CPU options, but the speed was bumped up slightly. It's packing 4GB of RAM in the base model now and it comes with Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics along with a 10-hour battery life. You can get the 13-inch model for $1,199 and $1,499.

The 15-inch model is where it gets interesting. The base model sports an Intel Core i5 2.4GHz CPU, 4GB of RAM (up to 8GB), a 320GB HDD (up to a possible 512GB SSD), Nvidia GeForce GT 330M graphics, and up to a 9 hour battery life. You can get the 15-inch model for anywhere between $1,799 and $2,199 for the Core i7 (2.66GHz) model. The 17-inch model (Full HD resolution) goes for $2,299 and that'll get you an Intel Core i5 2.53GHz CPU, 4GB of RAM (up to 8GB), a 500GB HDD, Nvidia GeForce GT 330M graphics, and up to a 9 hour battery life. Of course, these both feature Nvidia's Optimus technology, which is great news.

Update: According to Apple Insider, Nvidia has mentioned that the Optimus technology is not used in the new MacBook Pros. Instead, Apple came up with their own automatic graphics switching technology, but it basically does the same thing.

Update: It looks like all of these CPU refreshes are dual-core CPUs. There are no quad-core CPU options in any of these notebooks which is a let down. Of course, they needed to do this to make the notebooks last so long. So it's up to you if you want performance or battery life.

If you're going to pick up a new MacBook Pro you know where to point your browser to.

[9 to 5 Mac, Engadget, Electronista]

Everything seems to be hinting at a Macbook refresh this Tuesday, April 13th. Thanks to this MicroCenter slip-up, we're seeing that new MacBook Pro's will be priced anywhere between $1,799.99 and $2,299.99. These suggest that they'll hit the market with Core i5 / i7 CPU options and possibly even Nvidia's Optimus technology. Obviously, they're much more expensive than other notebooks sporting the exact same specifications.

That's not all though, apparently, the Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz MacBook will drop to $799, which is perfect for those who like year old MacBooks and people who just want to hop on the Apple wagon.

[Boy Genius, Engadget]

Apple Daily (here) has just mentioned that Apple is looking to refresh their MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro notebooks later this month. Apparently, all of their notebooks will be getting Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 CPU options, while the 13 and 15-inch variants will have a battery life of up to 8 hours. They'll also be sporting 640GB HDD and even 256GB SSD options. Of course, these notebooks will feature Nvidia Optimus technology so that you can make your battery last a bit longer. Let's just see if it really happens.

Update: According to Mac Rumors, this update could come as soon as April 13th which is this coming Tuesday!

[Electronista]
Picture Source: 9 to 5 Mac

Here's a perfect April Fool's Joke, but keep in mind that this is a real product found in China. It may look like a MacBook Pro but that's because it's supposed to. Unfortunately, it's a clone and it's actually sporting a 14.1-inch display along with an Intel Atom N450 1.66GHz CPU or an Atom 1.66GHz D510 dual-core CPU. Thankfully, they decided to put the second-gen Ion inside of this baby along with 1GB / 2GB of RAM, a 160GB  / 320GB HDD, HDMI / three USB 2.0 ports, a 4-in-1 card reader, and WiFi a/b/g / Bluetooth support. It's pretty funny that this notebook also features the Apple signature trackpad, but who knows how well it actually works.

[Liliputing, Shanzai]

Well, this is short notice. Apparently, Apple could be looking to refresh their MacBook Pro line-up sometime tomorrow. Over the weekend we did see a GeekBench of a Core i7-equipped MacBook Pro so the refresh shouldn't be that far off. And yes, there should be Core i5 models as well, the Core i7 will, of course, be for the high-end models.

[9 to 5 Mac]

We already know that Apple is eventually going to refresh their MacBook Pro line-up, the real question is when. On February 4th (just four days ago) someone was Geekbenching (photo below) a MacBook Pro packed with an Intel Core i7-620M 2.66GHz CPU and 4GB of DDR3 RAM. It received a score of 5260 which is about a third higher than the current Core 2 Duo models. Of course, if Apple does refresh their MacBook Pro line-up there'll likely be some slower (and more affordable) Core i5 models. We'll just have to wait and see, hopefully we'll see something about this MacBook Pro 6,1 in the near future.

[Slash Gear]