All remaining Mac models to refresh in 2011, says analyst
updated 05:15 pm EDT, Wed May 4, 2011
Updates for MacBook, Mac mini previously unhinted
All of Apple's remaining Mac models should get an update in the next few months, says Sterne Agee's Shaw Wu. The analyst quotes checks with supply chain sources as saying that the MacBook, Mac Pro, Mac mini and MacBook Air should all be updated in the near future. Apple updated the MacBook Pro in February, and the iMac just yesterday.
The Mac Pro and MacBook Air refreshes are already anticipated, but rumors have been silent about the basic MacBook and the Mac mini. Wu remarks that upgrades are due in both cases, as the MacBook was last refreshed in May 2010, and the Mini in June the same year.
The analyst also observes that the MacBook represents about a third of Apple's portable computer business, and could receive a MacBook Pro-like boost in sales with an update. The MacBook Pro was Apple's first computer to switch to Intel's Sandy Bridge platform, and the first system anywhere to use Intel's Thunderbolt port standard.
Dedicated MacNNer
Joined: Sep 1999
Don't tell us what we already knew
With the Feb 2011 introduction of MBP, we knew that product cycle for all other products would be up sometime in 2011 and they would certainly be equipped with Thunderbolt.
No brainer.