RUMOR: APPLE TO REFRESH MACBOOK PRO BY END OF YEAR

With Intel's next-generation Core i-Series mobile platform not expected until the second quarter of 2012, Apple is reportedly preparing a refresh of its professional notebook line ahead of the holiday shopping season to better bridge the gap, AppleInsider has been told.

According to people with proven insight into Apple's future product plans, the late-2011 MacBook Pro refresh will deliver marginal speed bumps to the notebooks' Core i-Series of Sandy Bridge processors but will otherwise introduce no material changes over the existing models.

While precise timing for the update may change, those same people say the Mac maker currently anticipates an introduction of the refreshed line before the end of the month, possibly following the close of the company's Back-to-School promotion, which ends on September 20th.

Word of the new models comes just one week after Intel quietly refreshed its Sandy Bridge lineup of processors, adding four new Core i7 chips suited for adoption by the MacBook Pro in addition to slashing prices on some other chips, while phasing out a handful of others.

APPLE STORE PLANNING OVERNIGHT SHIFT FOR JULY 13; MACBOOK AIR REFRESH AND OS X LION POSSIBLY LAUNCHING

Apple has started to ask Apple Store employees to prepare for an “overnight” shift on July 13th — a sign that the company is prepping a new release of some sort on the next day, 9to5 Mac said. Apple has already confirmed that Mac OS X Lion 10.7 will land in July, and we’re placing bets that’s what we’ll see on the 14th.

However, we’re also expecting refreshed MacBook Air notebooks in the imminent future and, since the new MacBook Air will no doubt run OS X Lion, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it launch at the same time. Other specs for the refresh likely include Intel’s new SandyBridge processors and Thunderbolt I/O in place of the DisplayPort. There have even been rumors of a black anodized aluminum high-end MacBook Air, although we’re not so sure that will ever see the light of day.

MACBOOKS IN SHORT SUPPLY, POSSIBLE REFRESH COMING

We've already seen the MacBook Pro sporting new specs, and heard rumblings of a MacBook Air refresh coming soon, and now reports of dwindling supplies of Apple's great white hope have the internets abuzz over a possible MacBook upgrade.AppleInsider did a little digging earlier today, and found that major online retailers, including Amazon, and at least one brick and mortar store were either running low or completely out of the last of the MacBooks. A similar fate has befallen stock of the Mac mini, inviting speculation that both machines will likely pop up post-Lion.

RUMOR: MACBOOK AIR REFRESH COMING SOON

Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is starting to build a bit of a reputation for accurate Apple rumors, so you may be able to take this with a slightly smaller dose of NaCl: Kuo told AppleInsider that Cupertino's allegedly ordered 380,000 of those new MacBook Air models with Intel's Sandy Bridge processors on board, to be completed within the month. Of course, if Apple's got its heart set on distributing silica scaffolding, it has to phase the existing Core 2 Duo variants out, and so the company's reportedly finishing a final production run of 80,000 units now.

APPLE UNVEILS NEW iMACS

Apple has updated its all-in-one desktop computer line, the iMac, with Intel’s latest processor family, Sandy Bridge, and improved specifications. Available in both 21.5-inch and 27-inch models, the new iMac can be configured with quad-core Sandy Bridge processors starting at 2.5 GHz and will come standard with AMD Radeon HD graphics cards, 4GB of RAM, and a 500MB or 1TB hard drive.

The computers will also include Apple’s new Thunderbolt I/O port for high-speed data transfers. “Starting at $1,199, the new iMac is up to 70 percent faster and new graphics deliver up to three times the performance of the previous generation,” reads the press release. “The iMac continues to feature its signature aluminum and glass design, gorgeous IPS LED-backlit high resolution display, SD card slot and comes with Apple’s innovative Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad.”

RUMOR: NEW CASE DESIGN FOR MACBOOK PRO LINE

According to MacRumors the next revision of Apple's MacBook Pro line will utilize a new case design for the first time in several years.

The possibility of a new case design was first revealed by iLounge in February just before the early 2011 MacBook Pros were released. iLounge described the most recent updates as the last "incremental" update before an all-new MacBook Pro design.

MacRumors sources state "Next year is the year when Apple will introduce an all new design for the MacBook Pro product family, which is already under development at Quanta in Taiwan. It's being described as a big, "milestone" release for the Pro family, as compared with the speed bump features that will be introduced in [February's] models."

The last time the MacBook Pro was redesigned was in late 2008 with the introduction of the unibody MacBook Pro. The unibody MacBook Pro design which remains in use today offers an iMac-inspired design with a black-bezel and aluminum unibody casing. Unfortunately, we have no specifics on what the next MacBook Pro might look like, though many have previously speculated that Apple will take cues from the MacBook Air line.

LEAKED: BLACKBERRY STORM2 REFRESH CANCELLED

According to sources for BBLeaks RIM has killed the refresh of the 3.7-inch Storm2 refresh.

Thank you for your hard work and diligence in preparing your application to support the upcoming hardware refresh of the BlackBerry Storm2 smartphone (model number 9570, codename R027). Regrettably, RIM has decided not to pursue this device further and has ended the program.
However, rest assured that you will have the opportunity to leverage the work you've put in thus far in preparing for the new OS, as BlackBerry 6 will be making its way to more Verizon products in the near future, including the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and the BlackBerry Curve 9330.


This may actually be good news.  The original Storm and Storm2 are both lousy devices.  Maybe RIM will go back to drawing board and do a total redesign of both hardware and software, possibly using the OS in the upcoming Playbook. [Gizmodo]