MacBook Pro 2012 to be released at Apple’s WWDC with thinner body
After nearly four years, the MacBook Pro is finally shedding some pounds.
Multiple reports from highly credible sources say Apple plans to announce and release a new MacBook Pro laptop featuring a Retina Display and a MacBook Air-like thin body at its WorldWide Developers Conference on June 11. Bloomberg confirmed reports by popular Apple blogs and the Wall Street Journal, heightening this announcement from a rumor to a “controlled leak.”
So what can we expect from Apple’s flagship laptop? A thinner body thanks to solid-state flash memory, better battery life and the same Retina display found in current iPads and iPhone 4′s.
The thinner body is evidence of the success of Apple’s MacBook Air, which would also likely see a performance upgrade under the “pro” announcement. In 2011, Apple sold 12.79 million MacBooks. Industry analysts expect that number to increase by 30- to 50-percent, which would mean projected sales of 16.2 to 19.2 million MacBooks in 2012.
Other key features expected to be included with the new MacBook Pro include USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt ports, according to MacRumors.
And as expected, Intel’s new — and blazing fast — Ivy Bridge processors will help make this laptop the fastest MacBook Pro ever.
Components left off the new MacBook Pro, however, include an optical drive (a sign of the Mac App Store times) and an ethernet port (a sign of the wireless times). The space spared from the lack of optical drive will be replaced by a much bigger battery that could give as much as 10 hours of battery life, depending on screen brightness.
Hardware is only half of Apple’s equation. Its newest operating system — Mac OS X Mountain Lion — is also expected to be released at the WWDC. Mountain Lion will continue to enhance upon Apple’s iCloud and help bridge the gap between the iPad and iPhone’s iOS and the Mac OS. Since being announced this winter, Apple has advertised it with a “summer release.”
Mountain Lion will incorporate the iOS’s Notes, Reminders and Game Center into its operating system, in addition to a finished version of iMessages (it’s currently in beta) and new security technology called GateKeeper.
For those of you on the edge of your seats… WWDC is less than 27 days away.
May 15th, 2012
touch screen please!