Rumor: Apple to Update iMac, MacBook Pro Q1 2011

Apple is planning updated MacBook Pro and iMac models in the first half of 2011, according to component suppliers who spilled the beans to Taiwanese newspaper DigiTimes. The suppliers told the paper that Apple will release four new MacBook Pros, and an iMac that, “features a new panel size and a price point for the mainstream market.”

The new iMac will also feature a new, unspecified display size (Apple currently offers 27” and 21.5” flavors of the iMac), while the MacBook Pro will get a small change in its chassis, which The Mac Observer has long expected to follow in the MacBook Air’s footsteps.

Apple’s dutiful suppliers also told DigiTimes that the company will sell 30-40% more laptops during 2011. What wasn’t specified is whether or not those numbers were based on guesstimates by the suppliers or orders to those suppliers from Apple.

While the report didn’t name them as sources, it did cite Quanta Computer and Foxconn Electronics (owned by Hon Hai Precision Industries) as the two companies that will be manufacturing the new units for Apple.

We should note that the Q1 timeframe is well within the 9 month time frame Apple usually takes between revs of its Mac product line. For instance, the MacBook Pro was most recently updated on April 13th, 2010, while the iMac was updated on July 27th.