New MacBook Pros with Light Peak this week?
The handwriting has been on the MacBook Pro wall for a couple of weeks now. Constrained availability, placeholders in the BestBuy inventory system, loose-lipped Danish resellers, all indicate that a refresh of Apple's pro notebook is imminent.
Over the weekend Best Buy posted (then quickly removed) part numbers for the new MBPs lending credence to to a rumor that the new iron will arrive this Thursday (February 24, 2011). If you need more evidence, Apple’s now quoting "3-5 business days" delivery for current MacBook Pros on its online store which puts them just after a potential Thursday announcement.
AppleInsider reports that some European Apple resellers have to been told to expect "sealed packages" as soon as today (send pics!) that aren't to be opened until February 24, further cementing Thursday as the odds-on date for Apple's new pro iron to arrive.
More specifically, the Mac maker this weekend began informing some of its larger European resellers that they could expect delivery of sealed product palettes to their brick-and-mortar stores as early as Monday, which coincides with one of ten federal holidays (President's Day) in the United States.
Except for a processor bump in October, the MacBook Pro hasn’t been revved since April 13, 2010. That’s 314 days when the MacBook Pro is usually updated every 208 days. So it’s way overdue. The MacBook Pro refresh has also been rumored for March 11 — so we’re definitely in the right neighborhood.
The real question is whether the new MacBook Pros will mark the debut of Apple's Light Peak technology, a 10 Gbps optical interface for peripherals developed by Apple and Intel that's expected to replace Firewire.
A CNet source previously stated that Light Peak was on track to appear in products in the first half of 2011 -- and likely "earlier in the year than later" which would be perfect timing for the new MBPs. Maybe that's why Apple is being so secretive with the launch?
What's your take? Will the MBP refresh be the first Mac to ship with Light Peak? If so, are you buying?
MacBook Pro concept: AppleInsider forum's rum_an.