Appletell

Geeksugar, who was right about the new MacBook Pros refresh last time around, is now reporting that new iMacs will be out next week, most likely on Tuesday.  The last time this product was updated was all the way back in August 2007, but that was a complete case redesign.  These new machines will be at the same price points, but will have faster speeds (i.e. the new Penryn processors) and a larger hard drive.  With recent news of Apple shipping 2.289 million Macs this most recent quarter, this could help raise that even more this coming quarter.

What do you think?  Is this just another rumor started to get some hype and commotion, or are new iMacs due for a little refresh?  Either way, it would be nice to see a few improvements made to the machine to draw some more customers.  So save that money you were just about to spend on a new iMac for another week or so if you can just in case this rumor turns out to be true.

MacScoop says that a source tells them both the iMac and the Mac Mini will be receiving processor updates in the coming weeks.

The updates would incorporate Intel’s new 45nm Penryn chip, and will probably bump the GMA 950 graphics in the Mac Mini to a GMA3100, the card currently in the MacBook and MacBook Air. MacScoop also notes a small possibility of a Mac Mini design changes, to a slimmer enclosure. They say they are not sure if it will be part of this refresh.

Of note, this will be the second revision of the Mac Mini since Apple Insider declared it End of Life last year.

Read [MacScoop]

Apple products are beautiful and shiny on the inside and out. Only a few days after the new Penryn MacBook Pros we released, they’ve been dissected. Anand Lal Shimpi says he “ couldn’t resist a look at its internals.” The tear down doesn’t reveal much, but we can see a few differences. First, the additional video RAM chips, a small difference. Next, the you can see that the 45nm Penryn processor is smaller than the 65nm Merom. I suggest waiting to buy a MacBook until the next upgrade because this one will only increase the processor efficiency 1-7 %.

Via [Ars Technica]

As the rumors predicted, the Apple Store was down this morning, and new MacBooks were announced. The MacBooks now use Intel’s latest Core 2 Duo (Penryn) chipset, and have been upgraded across the board. While prices remain the same, the processors have been bumped up from 2.0Ghz and 2.2Ghz to 2.1Ghz and 2.4Ghz respectively. Also, the two upper end MacBooks now come with 2GB of RAM standard, and the whole MacBook line has been updated to 3MB L2 cache.

Click for the full tech specs after the break.

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Finally, after weeks of intense rumoring, the new updated MacBook Pros are here. Featuring new Penryn chips with bumped clock speeds, and the latest Nvidia Graphics with up to 512MB of VRAM, the new MacBook Pros are beasts. They continue to widen the gap between the consumer MacBooks and the MacBook Pros with new multi-touch capability that was first seen in the MacBook Air. The new MBPs also come with larger and faster hard drives with 200GB and 250GB of storage, and a new option for a 200GB 7200rpm HD for pro users.

Click for the full MBP specs after the break.

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Many have been carefully following the forums across the internet wondering when Apple will release an updated version of their flagship notebook, the Macbook Pro. The last time the Macbook Pro was updated was on June 5th, 2007, and in order to keep up with the competition, Apple must update soon. One can usually get a pretty good bearing on where Apple is heading by looking at Intel’s roadmap (Apple’s sole processor supplier). In January 2008, Intel released their newest processor, the core 2 duo Penryn, which basically brings faster Front-side bus, about .4Mhz faster speeds, and greater power efficiency.

Many are also speculating that Apple will update the video card in the machine, in addition to higher capacity hard drives and a multi-touch trackpad, which made it’s debut in the Macbook Air. The big mystery is when this update will be released. Some speculated that it would be released at Apple’s “special event” with Linkin Park, but that was busted after Linkin Park came and went at an Apple store in New York with no announcement. I would hedge my bets on some time within the next two to three weeks, but it’s anyone’s guess. Many have noted, however, that many Apple stores’ stocks of Macbook Pros are running low, hinting at an imminent update. My advice: if you absolutely must have one now, buy it, but if you can wait a few more weeks, then wait.