Apple May Processor Bump MacBook Pros in 2011

AppleInsider claims that Apple may be bumping the processors of the MacBook Pros before the end of this year, but will make no other changes to the notebooks.

According to people with proven insight into Apple's future product plans, the late-2011 MacBook Pro refresh will deliver marginal speed bumps to the notebooks' Core i-Series of Sandy Bridge processors but will otherwise introduce no material changes over the existing models.

Intel recently introduced 16 new Sandy Bridge processors, some of which could be used in the current generation MacBook Pros.

Last year, Apple quietly added a high end 2.8GHz Core i7 option to the MacBook Pros in late October. So, the move is not without precedent, though last year it was offered only as a built-to-order option and not an across the board upgrade.