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Redesigned MacBook Pro, iMac may come in first half of 2011

Josh Ong |

A new report out of the Far East claims Apple plans to launch redesigned MacBook Pro and iMac models in the first half of 2011.

Taiwanese industry publication Digitimes reports that sources from "upstream component makers" indicate that Apple will introduce the upgraded models in the first half of next year.

The Mac maker reportedly plans to launch "at least four upgraded MacBook Pros" with a "slight change" in chassis design and an upgrade to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. The upgraded iMac is expected to feature "a new panel size and a price point for the mainstream market," according to the report.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled

">Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

at the "Back to the Mac" event in October. Mac OS X 10.7 Lion will incorporate features brought back to the Mac from iOS, such as App Home Screens, full-screen apps, and expanded multi-touch gestures. According to Jobs, Apple will release Mac OS X 10.7 Lion in the summer of 2011.

The first day of summer in 2011 is June 22, which would fit within the first half of 2011 timeframe from Digitimes' most recent report. The report's sources believe that the MacBook Pro upgrades will help Apple's notebook shipments grow 30-40 percent year over year in 2011.

Other details were sparse in the Digitimes report. However, next year's Macs are generally expected to utilize Intel's

">Sandy Bridge

processors. Intel reportedly plans to formally unveil the new processors at the Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 5th, 2011.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini announced in July that the company had decided to accelerate production in response to the "very strong reception" of Sandy Bridge CPUs by the chipmaker's vendors.