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Apple rumored to be upgrading MacBook Pro, iMac in 2011

By | December 16, 2010, 7:39am PST

Summary: There’s already plenty of talk regarding the potential announcement of a new iPad next year, but could we be seeing some new MacBook Pro and iMac models too?

There’s already plenty of talk regarding the potential announcement of a new iPad next year, but could we be seeing some new MacBook Pro and iMac models too?

According to DigiTimes, “Apple plans to launch at least four upgraded MacBook Pros as well as an iMac that features a new panel size and a price point for the mainstream market.” Specifically, the MacBook Pro should also be getting a “slight change in chassis design,” and the Lion version of Mac OS X, which is inevitable and points towards a summer time release.

With a probable mid-year launch date, that would place the MacBook Pro updates over a year after the last upgrade from this past spring, and the current iMac would only be one year old since that desktop also got revamped during the summer.

Apple currently offers three size options for the MacBook Pro. So one has to think that the Cupertino-based company is going smaller and more competitive with its high-end notebook if we’re going to get a fourth option. It seems highly unlikely that Apple would try to manufacture a laptop with a display larger than 17-inches. Maybe Apple will bring back the 12-inch option that was last seen with the PowerBook.

As for the new panel and price point for the iMac, that one could really go either way. Could we see something lower than 21.5-inches wide? (Perhaps a subtle change to something like 20-inches.) The 27-inch display is the maximum option currently, but maybe we’ll see the 24-inch display make a comeback. Or maybe we’ll actually get that iMac with a touch screen we once heard about.

[Note: The above photo is of the current 15-inch MacBook Pro, not any potential new version mentioned above.]

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Rachel King is a staff writer for ZDNet based in San Francisco.

Disclosure

Rachel King

Rachel King has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted in this blog.

Biography

Rachel King

Rachel King is a staff writer for CBS Interactive in San Francisco. Before serving as a contributing editor at ZDNet in New York City for two years, she previously worked for The Business Insider, FastCompany.com, CNN's San Francisco bureau and the U.S. Department of State. Rachel has also written for MainStreet.com, Irish America Magazine and the New York Daily News, among others. Rachel has a B.A. in Mass Communications and History from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, where she served as art director for the student magazine, Plated.

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I've heard rumors of Apple adding Light Peak during their next update. [nt]
olePigeon 16th Dec 2010
[nt]
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Really???
Bruizer 16th Dec 2010
I would think Apple would just stop updating all of their products.
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What about the hardware?
bobiroc 16th Dec 2010
As it stands now I have two laptops that I use. I have a 13" Macbook and a 17" Dell laptop and both are approaching 4 - 5 years old and I am due for an upgrade soon. I would love to streamline both these notebooks into one and since I need access to MacOS for my job wouldn't mind getting a MacBook Pro even though it costs more but they are still light on the specs and no quad core. If I am going to upgrade I want to make it worth while.

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