With only 4 weeks to go until Apple’s annual WWDC conference, it seems like the Cupertino-based company can’t keep the lid on that constantly bubbling rumour pot. Today, strong rumours emerged concerning the new MacBook Pro, which is rumoured to be announced on June 11th along with a refresh of the iMac range, OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6.
According to the report from the supply chain, the new MacBook Pro will have a 15-inch retina display, a USB 3.0 port, allowing for potential transfer speeds of up to 5 Gbps, which although is half the transfer speed of Apple’s Thunderbolt offering, it is supported on a wider range of devices, including portable hard drives and some newer smartphones.
Although only a mockup, the new MacBook Pro range has a slimmer form factor and no SuperDrive (available as an optional extra)
The new model has also received a significant design revamp, with a new thinner form factor similar to that on the MacBook Air, no CD/DVD drive and a new Power Button on the keyboard, replacing the old Eject button. A rumoured mockup shows the new MacBook Pro having three USB 3.0 ports, a Thunderbolt port, two audio in/out jacks and an SD card slot.
Although there’s currently no concrete information on the quality of the new retina display, it has been quoted as “jaw-dropping” and “definitely the most important Mac innovation in years”, according to 9to5Mac. We have already seen evidence of the fact these kinds of displays are coming to the Mac with high-resolution icons in both the Mountain Lion Developer Previews as well as the latest update to OS X, 10.7.4.
The new MacBook Pro range is rumoured to feature a high-resolution retina display similar to that on the iPhone 4/4S and new iPad
The new MacBook Pros are also rumoured to run off Intel’s new range of Ivy Bridge processors, providing quad-core architecture as well as support for that beefed-up display. Although they have not yet been officially confirmed (and are unlikely to be until the official announcement), leaked Geekbench benchmarks show that the new MacBook Pro scores a very commendable score of 12252 (2.7 GHz processor with 8 GB of RAM).
Although not confirmed, the new MacBook Pro scores a very high GeekBench score of 12252 (2.7 GHz with 8 GB of RAM)
Of course, these are nothing but rumours but the evidence is all there. We will, of course, have to hold on to our horses for a month to see what really does surface out of Infinite Loop. But given all these clues, plus the fact that rumours that surface just before an Apple announcement tend to be true, we can be pretty sure what they’ve been cooking up.
Are You Excited?
Have these rumours stirred up your interest? Are you going to buy a new MacBook Pro when they are announced? What other features do you think they’ll have? Share your thoughts and opinions in the Comments section below!