Recently, supplies of the current Apple Macbook Pro line-up are starting to become tight, as signs are now showing that a refresh is imminent.
9to5mac have reported that Apple are no longer taking reservations of certain models of the Macbook Pro at their retail stores, whilst the online store in Japan is showing signs that the Macbook is in short supply and have now pushed a 2-3 week shipping estimate on the product rather than 24 hours. Macrurmors have also reported that a readers" Macbook Pro that is currently being repaired by Apple is going to have to 3 to 8 weeks waiting time before it is fixed and shipped back.
Back in America, stores such as Best Buy have been spotted with listings of the new range in their inventory, showing a base model with a $1199 price tag. This is most likely the 13 inch model and will have a March 11 release date. Readers should take this with a grain of salt, as Best Buy last year listed a March 14 release date, but the new line-up was not released until a month later.
In terms of what"s going to be new in the new models rumors have also suggested that it is most likely the new models will feature the new generation of Intel quad-core processors -- the Intel Sandy Bridge -- though it is not clear if the 13 inch model will stick to a dual-core processor.
Neowin recently reported Intel has had to do a recall of the "Cougar Point" chipset CPUs as a design flaw finding shows that the CPUs will degrade ports over time. If Apple were to be using the same chipset in their new line-up this would indeed push the refresh date back a few weeks.
Image source: Apple