Apple gearing up for major product launch early as next week - sources
With inventory of its existing MacBook Pro notebooks becoming increasingly constrained with each passing day, Apple may be evaluating the possibility of launching revised models before month's end, AppleInsider has learned.
People familiar with the matter say the Cupertino-based company late this week began briefing several of its operating segments to be on stand-by for a significant product launch that could come as early as next week. Those same people were not yet made privy to the specifics of the launch, however, which had earlier been anticipated for the following week.
The briefings appear to coincide with an impending launch of the company's next-generation MacBook Pros, which AppleInsider previously reported were in production ahead of an unveiling slated to take place by early March.
The new notebooks are expected to sport Intel's latest generation Sandy Bridge processors, and will not be affected by a widely publicized design flaw found in chipsets that accompanied the first batch of shipments.
Similarly-situated people hinted to AppleInsider earlier this week that the inclusion of Sandy Bridge processors will not be the only change in store for the notebook lineup. Additional enhancements aside from a specification bump are expected, though exactly what those changes may be -- such as a potential unibody chassis redesign and other Apple-specific features -- aren't clear at this time.
Supporting reports that Apple could potentially escalate the release of the new notebooks by a week was a report Friday by Italian blog iSpazio, which received five new part numbers rumored to represent the new notebooks. That would be a slight change from the current lineup of six MacBook Pro models: two 13-inch, three 15-inch, and one 17-inch. The alleged product order numbers are reported to be:
MC720
MC721
MC723
MC724
MC725
In addition, as first noted by AppleBitch, Apple's shipping times on its Asian online stores for MacBook Pro models have slipped from their usual 24-hour window to between one and five days. The delays are currently seen in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia.
Earlier this month, Apple began quoting customers a wait time of four to six weeks for replacement of special build-to-order machines. Those with a faulty custom-configured notebook were apparently warned that replacement machines could potentially take as long as eight weeks to arrive.
People familiar with the matter say the Cupertino-based company late this week began briefing several of its operating segments to be on stand-by for a significant product launch that could come as early as next week. Those same people were not yet made privy to the specifics of the launch, however, which had earlier been anticipated for the following week.
The briefings appear to coincide with an impending launch of the company's next-generation MacBook Pros, which AppleInsider previously reported were in production ahead of an unveiling slated to take place by early March.
The new notebooks are expected to sport Intel's latest generation Sandy Bridge processors, and will not be affected by a widely publicized design flaw found in chipsets that accompanied the first batch of shipments.
Similarly-situated people hinted to AppleInsider earlier this week that the inclusion of Sandy Bridge processors will not be the only change in store for the notebook lineup. Additional enhancements aside from a specification bump are expected, though exactly what those changes may be -- such as a potential unibody chassis redesign and other Apple-specific features -- aren't clear at this time.
Supporting reports that Apple could potentially escalate the release of the new notebooks by a week was a report Friday by Italian blog iSpazio, which received five new part numbers rumored to represent the new notebooks. That would be a slight change from the current lineup of six MacBook Pro models: two 13-inch, three 15-inch, and one 17-inch. The alleged product order numbers are reported to be:
MC720
MC721
MC723
MC724
MC725
In addition, as first noted by AppleBitch, Apple's shipping times on its Asian online stores for MacBook Pro models have slipped from their usual 24-hour window to between one and five days. The delays are currently seen in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia.
Earlier this month, Apple began quoting customers a wait time of four to six weeks for replacement of special build-to-order machines. Those with a faulty custom-configured notebook were apparently warned that replacement machines could potentially take as long as eight weeks to arrive.
Comments
And when are we going to get an iMac refresh? That's what I'm waiting for in particular. Hopefully they'll come in at the same time.
Apple does not have a history of releasing new iMacs and MacBook Pros simultaneously.
That would be a slight change from the current lineup of six MacBook Pro models: two 13-inch, three 15-inch, and one 17-inch...
Haven't there been instances in the past where the 17" wasn't refreshed at the same time as the others? I hope that is not the case this time. I want a maxed 17"!
And when are we going to get an iMac refresh? That's what I'm waiting for in particular. Hopefully they'll come in at the same time.
Good question, the iMacs average refresh cycle is 228 days, and we are at 206 days right now. Internal components on the iMac are very similar to MacBooks, so we should expect sandy bridge to make an appearance. However, Apple in recent years has moved to a yearly product cycle on many products including iPhone, iPad, iPods, and now MacBooks. It's possible they might not update the the iMac/Mac Pro desktop line until June, around WWDC.
Personally, I would prefer Apple to move all it's products to a yearly cycle, butt much of that is dictated by Intel.
Based on Apple's release history, it is more likely that we will see the iPhone 5 in June.
I'm going to guess July solely because I don't think iOS 5 will be out before June 30th, the announced date that existing Apps must comply with Apples new stance on subscriptions and in-app purchases.
What I expect is Apple will just continue to milk customers for the old X5670. Gotta keep those profit margins above 30% if at all possible!
I could also consider a SSD MBP if its thin and light
At least I hope because I want one...
Good question, the iMacs average refresh cycle is 228 days, and we are at 206 days right now. Internal components on the iMac are very similar to MacBooks, so we should expect sandy bridge to make an appearance. However, Apple in recent years has moved to a yearly product cycle on many products including iPhone, iPad, iPods, and now MacBooks. It's possible they might not update the the iMac/Mac Pro desktop line until June, around WWDC.
Personally, I would prefer Apple to move all it's products to a yearly cycle, butt much of that is dictated by Intel.
I think laptops need to be updated more often than once a year. Tech moves faster than that.
I think laptops need to be updated more often than once a year. Tech moves faster than that.
They can give speedbumps and storage changes during the year and keep up a bit better than they currently attempt to, but Apple also knows that people will buy it so why fix what isn't broken? heh
Is it possible that one of these order numbers is actually for a standard MacBook? Maybe a 13" MacBook, 13" MBP, 2 15" MBP, 1 17" MBP? Or like I've mentioned on other threads, I think they could easily do away with the white MacBook and rely on the 11" MBA and iPad to be people's Gateway.
For a minute there I thought the Apple Store graphic that was shown was for the new models, and the big disappointment was the 13-inchers were still Core 2 Duo. I see now that the graphic is for the existing models. Whew! There's still hope for an i5 in a 13-inch.
I wouldn't count on anything higher than an i3 coming standard. There's a small possibility that an i5 could come in as an optional upgrade, but I'd highly doubt it. If you need that power, I think Apple would push you to go for a 15 inch.
White iPhone.
Very good point. They'd better do it now because the iPhone 5 is allready around the corner ?
Is it possible that one of these order numbers is actually for a standard MacBook? Maybe a 13" MacBook, 13" MBP, 2 15" MBP, 1 17" MBP? Or like I've mentioned on other threads, I think they could easily do away with the white MacBook and rely on the 11" MBA and iPad to be people's Gateway.
I doubt they'd have that few models, but I agree on your point about knocking off the white plastic model, if only because that would leave room to lower prices a bit on the pros.
I think laptops need to be updated more often than once a year. Tech moves faster than that.
It's not as important as it used to be. Computers have reached the point where they are "fast enough" for all but the most demanding customers. Even those customers aren't going to buy a new computer because the CPU was clocked up 200MHz.
Intel is on a predictable annual cycle, nVidia and AMD are settling into annual GPU upgrades and Apple always uses drops in component costs for things like hard drives to drive even higher margins.
I think the future is annual updates for all computers. Hopefully the cycle will be set by Intel's January/February releases meaning a March release for all mainstream Macs. Apple has historically spread out their releases, sometimes just for the sake of spreading them out, but they've shown willingness to keep their iDevice dates on a fixed annual schedule. Now that Macs have become a fraction of their business having one release date for all mainstream notebooks and desktops and a second date for the Air and Mac Pro should be fine.
1. No optical drive.
2. Tilted keyboard.
3. The power button as part of the keyboard.
But please keep ?
1. The ambient keyboard lighting. (Dropped in the Macbook Air)
2. The external battery indicator. (Dropped in the Macbook Air)
Just in case anyone cares.
Still think iPhone/iPad next week.