In the market for a new MacBook Pro, but having trouble finding inventory? Don’t fret, a new line of MacBook Pros are expected very soon, with Best Buy’s inventory system showing March 11th. Here’s the scoop on next month’s MacBook Pro refresh.
Over the past month many readers have noticed that it has become increasingly difficult to track down certain current-generation MacBook Pros. These reports were corroborated by Japanese website Macotakarta, which also heard MacBook Pro inventory levels were low, claiming reseller availability is now in the two to three week range.
Today, new images obtained by 9to5Mac were leaked of from Best Buy’s inventory system, revealing an availability date of March 11. Traditionally, Best Buy’s dates have been a few days off so this could be either the announcement date or the date they’ll have units in stock.
As far as pricing, the new MacBook Pros look like they’ll follow the current pricing structure. The new entry-level MacBook Pro will start at $1199 USD, matching the current generation 13 inch MBP.
For features, the introduction of Sandy Bridge processors at CES 2011 has excited the Mac community. With last week’s Sandy Bridge flaw confirmed by Intel, certainty that new MacBook Pros would feature the new chips remains very much in question. Even without Sandy Bridge, the new MacBook Pros could tap into the full quad-core capabilities of the mobile Core i7 processor, instead of using the dual-core chips.
There’s also the wild success of the new MacBook Air. Building on the successful iPad has proven to be a smart move, will we see flash-based memory extend to the new MacBook Pro line up? For now there’s many question we hope to have answered. If Apple quietly upgrades the MacBook Pro line up without a press event, expect only minor boosts in processing speed.
Coming Soon | Apple | TBD
