Following reports from earlier this month suggesting that Intel’s next-gen Ivy Bridge mobile processors would launch in May, a new report from DigiTimes suggests that Ivy Bridge processors could launch as soon as April 8th.
Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors are expected to surface across Apple’s Mac lines next year, including the MacBook Pro and Air, the iMac, and the Mac Mini, and are expected to provide significant speed and performance increases.
Desktop CPUs to be unveiled include quad-core Core i7-3770K, 3770, 3770S, 3770T, and Core i5-3570, 3550 and 3450, with prices ranging from US$184-332. Additionally, the Core i5-3470T will be available in May priced at US$184. […]
Notebook CPUs Core i7-3920Qm, 3820QM and 3720QM will be released in April priced at US$1,096, US$568 and US$378, respectively. Other models including Core i5-3520M, 3360M, 3320M and ultrabook CPUs Core i7-3667U and Core i5-3427U will be unveiled later.
According to the report, initial desktop and mobile processors will be released around the same time, with the lower power models suitable for the MacBook Air becoming available sometime in May.
The 3820QM and 3720QM should be the next major upgrade to the high-end 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pro, and their releases line up will with previous rumors suggesting a Q2 2012 release date for new updated MacBook Pro models with Retina displays. The Ivy Bridge processors are rumored to bring support for 4K Retinal-like displays.
Considering that Apple does occasionally use limited first runs of Inter processors, however, as well as custom chipsets and other custom hardware, its unclear exactly when we might expect the new processors in new Apple products.
Widescale release of Intel’s new processors also doesn’t necessarily mean that Apple will have to wait until April to release updated Mac models, as the company has enough pull with Intel to arrange for a possible earlier release.
