MacRumors

The first tidbit of information claims that the new MacBook Pros will offer larger trackpads than those found on current models, opening the door for greater flexibility for users and perhaps options for more complex gestures.

The report also claims that the updated machines will offer a dedicated solid-state drive of 8-16 GB to house Mac OS X system files that would allow for fast system boot-up and performance. Additional machine storage would be made available in either traditional hard drives or with solid-state drive upgrades.

The next bit of information doesn't quite make sense to us, but we have been told the OS on the laptops will be loaded to a separate (internal) 8-16GB SSD while everything else will remain on the regular hard drive. There will be options for just SSD drives but the base models will feature regular hard disks with the SSD combo for the OS.

The idea of separate flash-based storage for system files is not a new one, as reports dating back to early 2006 suggested that Apple might adopt Intel's "Turbo Memory" feature that offered similar functionality. At the time the advantages of using an SSD/Hard Drive hybrid were improved performance and longer battery life:

[Turbo Memory] utilizes NAND flash memory instead of the hard disk for computer startup and launching frequently used applications. The use of this technology would allow for faster boot up times and improved battery life in portables utilizing the technology.

Finally, the report's source indicates that Apple has shaved approximately half a pound off of the weight of each of the MacBook Pro models.

We're obviously disappointed by this decision, and surprised by the broad language. By including "functionality, or services," it's clear that you intend to pursue any subscription-based apps, not merely those of services serving up content. Readability's model is unique in that 70% of our service fees go directly to writers and publishers. If we implemented In App purchasing, your 30% cut drastically undermines a key premise of how Readability works.

Readability's argument lies in the fact that the service does not in fact offer content subscriptions, but instead utilizes subscriptions to support writers and publishers whose work is already freely-available on the Internet. Apple's policies are of course broad enough to include such functionalities within its in-app subscription requirements, but Readability argues that the move threatens small independent developers trying to make a go of something akin to "software as a service" (SaaS) as differentiated from the true content providers that have received most of the publicity with regards to Apple's subscription policies.

Apple of course has cast its subscription policy net as widely as possible, and many developers will find reasons why their offerings shouldn't be subject to the requirements. But Readbility's situation is somewhat unique if only for the fact that Apple worked closely with Readability to include the service's functionality as a feature of Safari 5, released last June. As a result of the collaboration, Readability's functionality appears as a built-in "Reader" functionality in Safari that strips away extraneous content of web pages to focus on the page's primary article content.

Update: As has been noted by several readers, Apple and Readability didn't actually work together on Safari 5's "Reader" functionality. Apple utilized open source aspects of Readability's work to create the Safari functionality.

Orange is now selling the iPad for £99 on its 24-month contracts and T-Mobile is offering the same to existing customers.

Previously, Orange was offering the iPad WiFi + 3G at £199.99 upfront on a £25 per month contract to existing customers and at £229.99 for new customers on a £27 per month contract - so the new pricing offers a saving of at least £100 on each.

T-Mobile, meanwhile, is only offering the discount to existing customers on a 24-month £25 tariff.

Orange, T-Mobile, and Three all launched subsidized iPad pricing back in December for customers willing to commit to two-year data contracts.

While we've already reported that new MacBook Pros are expected to launch on Thursday and reports have even surfaced claiming that sealed shipments are already on their way to retailers, it's worth noting that Apple's top-priority U.S. online store has now gotten in on the act by pushing shipment estimates for all new MacBook Pro orders out to 3-5 business days.

Some observers have questioned why Apple would release new MacBook Pros on a Thursday, as opposed to its traditional Tuesday release date. The most likely reason is related to the federal Presidents' Day holiday in the United States today. Apple generally prefers not to launch new products straight out of a weekend, in part due to ensure that media coverage is not diminished as some reporters may still be making their way back from the long weekend. Consequently, Apple has been known to deviate from its usual Tuesday and Wednesday releases in weeks with major U.S. holidays.

Others have noted that Thursday is Apple CEO Steve Jobs' 56th birthday (as well as MacRumors' own 11th birthday), which almost certainly simply makes for a nice coincidence.

Update: Some of Apple's online stores for other major markets such as the United Kingdom were not showing the uniform extended shipping estimates at the time of initial publication, but those stores have since seen their estimates similarly pushed out to 3-5 business days.

Early iPad 2 case from Orange-Byte

First, is the presence of a "mystery port" on early iPad 2 case designs from third-party manufacturers. The case designs have been remarkably consistent and seem to be clearly sourced from the same design document. These early design documents aren't perfect (third-generation iPod touch camera being a notable example), but early case designs have generally done a good job predicting upcoming Apple hardware. Some have tried to identify the additional port as a Mini DisplayPort connector.

Others, however, felt it may represent the rumored iPad USB port that has been predicted a couple of times (1, 2) over the past few months.

Prototype Light Peak connector photo from PCPro.co.uk

We should note that this is entirely speculative, but thought it could help explain some of the loose ends we've been seeing in the iPad 2 rumors to date. The addition of a new Light Peak port alongside the existing dock connector on the iPad seems like an inelegant solution for Apple, though it's certainly no stranger than Apple adding a standard USB port to the iPad.

Old photo of sealed "Apple Confidential" palette from 2005

AppleInsider now reports that resellers are being notified that they will start receiving sealed packages with the new hardware early next week. Resellers are prohibited from opening the packages until further instruction:

More specifically, the Mac maker this weekend began informing some of its larger European resellers that they could expect delivery of sealed product palettes to their brick-and-mortar stores as early as Monday, which coincides with one of ten federal holidays (President's Day) in the United States.

Both OS X Daily and Engadget are reporting that Best Buy's website inadvertently slipped the part numbers into their inventory this weekend:

The other wildcard for next week is whether or not Apple plans on unveiling their Light Peak implementation. CNet believes it could happen soon, but isn't certain if it will be implemented in the new MacBook Pros.

Photo from @reeldigitalpro

While AT&T hasn't publicly committed yet to providing the same wireless hotspot functionality to iOS users, we've known that iOS 4.3 (currently in beta) adds this functionality to the OS. It's simply up to each individual carrier to decide to support it. AT&T did announce support for such a mobile hotspot for other smartphones starting on February 13th, opening the door for iOS support soon behind.

One report today claimed that AT&T was just starting to offer this specifically, but many iOS 4.3 beta users have reported that the mobile wireless hotspot simply works with their existing AT&T tethering plans. The fees for AT&T's mobile hotspot service are identical to the tethering plans ($20/month, 2GB additional data).

iOS 4.3 hasn't yet been released to the public. It was originally expected to be released already, but now most signs point to late February. It seems mobile hotspot access will be available for those interested on AT&T.

Prototype Light Peak connector image from PCPro.co.uk

Apple is expected to adopt this Intel technology in the near future--but likely use a name other than Light Peak, a source familiar with this aspect of Apple's plans said. Intel has said in the past that the first products using Light Peak should appear in the first half of 2011.

While Intel has used the name "Light Peak", Apple will apparently brand the connection under another name.

Light Peak is significantly faster than USB 3.0, which may explain Apple's reluctance to adopt that standard if Light Peak is just around the corner. It's not clear if next week's MacBook Pro announcements will be related, but there were vague hints that the MacBook Pros would have additional enhancements beyond the upgraded Sandy Bridge processors.

It appears the GigaWire trademark Apple filed back in 2001 has been abandoned, so that's not going to be it.

Apple's patent is about a safe deposit box for securing important user files. In one aspect, when a user drags-and-drops a file representation onto a safe deposit box icon, the file is secured. In another aspect, when a user selects the safe deposit box icon and verifies his or her identity, the user could access secured files through a safe deposit box window.

By dragging your important files into the "Safe Deposit Box", files could be automatically encrypted and hidden from access. Original copies would be securely deleted and even copied into the cloud for backup.

One of the key attributes or selling points of Apple's Safe Deposit Box Application or OS X feature is that your digital valuables could be stored "off site" or beyond the home computer to safeguard your digital valuables which could be something like a Will or Living Will, agreements, life insurance policies, home insurance policies, a simple home inventory list or video or perhaps something that's really valuable to most every iTunes fan: a copy of your iTunes Library.

Kuo now claims that iPad 3 will deliver a Retina Display-like quality and resolution doubling to 2048x1536, an enhancement originally thought to make it into the more immediate release of iPad 2.

The iPad 2 has not even shipped yet, but The Wall Street Journal has said the 2nd generation iPad will not get a retina display. Instead, it's believed the iPad 2 will offer a thinner and anti-reflective screen for better viewing in sunlight.

Depending on who you believe, the iPad 3 may arrive as early as this September, accelerating Apple's iPad release timeframe from a 1 year to 6 month delivery schedule. Another analyst has also predicted a true Retina Display for the 3rd generation iPad, but he pegged its release in 2012.

Meanwhile, the iPad 2 is widely expected to be released by April.

MacBook Pro stock has been dwindling internationally and this morning two Italian sites listed give new MacBook Pro part numbers (MC720, MC721, MC723, MC724, and MC725) that are said to represent the new updates. The new machines are said to be making their way to Italian resellers towards the end of the month with a released date of Thursday or Friday.

We've since heard reliable confirmation that this information is accurate and that the expected release date is next Thursday, February 24th. The move would be a bit unusual for Apple to launch new machines on a Thursday. So, if you are about to buy a new MacBook Pro, wait until next week.

In this position, you will be part of pride developing innovative designs, which are implemented in products used by millions of people. The position primarily involves high-density offline power supply's development for Apple's next generation Macintosh platforms spanning from notebook computers, desktop computers, servers, standalone displays and TV.

While the reference could simply be related to the company's existing Apple TV offering, some observers have been hoping that Apple will one day launch an Internet-connected television set integrating a TV screen with additional hardware to connect to iTunes and the rest of the Apple ecosystem. Consequently, the "TV" mention in the new job posting may give a glimmer of hope to those waiting for an Apple television.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has long advocated for just such a product, arguing that an integrated TV with DVR-like functionality and access to an iTunes television subscription service could offer a compelling alternative to traditional cable subscription packages. For its part, Apple has noted that it has no interest in being in the actual TV market given the difficulty of generating a profitable go-to-market strategy in a crowded industry already operating on slim profit margins. Apple executives have been known, however, to publicly dismiss ideas and products even as they were working on developing them.

Following closely on the heels of rumors of Apple pursuing a new retail store location in Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal, The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is continuing its focus on the Chinese market with plans to open a new store in Shanghai that will stand as Apple's largest in that country.

The company is planning to open a new store - it's biggest in China - on Shanghai's famous Nanjing Road, an Apple spokeswoman has confirmed to China Real Time after news of the plan appeared in Thursday's Beijing Youth Daily.

The newspaper reports (in Chinese) that Ron Johnson, the company's senior vice-president of retail, said the company is now looking for bigger spaces to accommodate the crowds that routinely pack its China Apple stores, which are visited by more than 40,000 people per dayfour times the average traffic in their American stores.

The store would be Apple's third in Shanghai, with an additional two in Beijing. Johnson had noted in early 2010 that Apple was looking at opening up to 25 retail stores in China over the following 24 months, but according to today's report the company may be slowing that timetable slightly as it focuses on building larger stores than originally planned.

Apple has reported on a number of its earnings conference calls that it has targeted China for a concerted retail effort that has been paying significant dividends with explosive sales growth and retail stores that rank as the company's top performers worldwide in terms of foot traffic and sales.

Glass tower of Apple's Pudong store in Shanghai in foreground

MacBook Pro shipping estimates lengthening in Malaysia

The first report [Google translation] from Italian site iSpazio claims that it has received word from an Apple employee that Apple is preparing to launch five new MacBook Pro models carrying order numbers MC720, MC721, MC723, MC724, and MC725. The five new models will reportedly span all three current MacBook Pro sizes of 13-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch. The new models are also said to be making their way to Apple Italy over the next few days in preparation of a launch "towards the end of this month".

Apple currently offers six standard configurations of the MacBook Pro, with two 13-inch models, three 15-inch models, and a single 17-inch model. It is unclear where a reduction to five total models would be made, although the most reasonable bet might for the 15-inch size to see a drop to only two standard configurations.

Remarkably similar information is being offered [Google translation] by another Italian site, Slide to Mac, causing us to wonder whether the same source claiming to be with Apple Italy has provided information to both sites. This second report's details include claims that Apple's schedule calls for a release on Thursday or Friday of next week and that the update will not simply be essentially a spec bump of the existing models.

Finally, we've been watching supplies of existing MacBook Pro models tighten over the past month, particularly through third-party retailers, but according to Apple Bitch, the squeeze has begun to hit some of Apple's own farther-flung retail distribution points in Asia.

Apparently websites for Apple Stores in several Asian countries have been updated today to reflect longer shipping times for the MacBook Pro. For example, the Malaysian Apple Store updated its website today to show that shipping times for the 13 inch MacBook Pro have slipped from 24 hours to 1-5 days. This is also reflected in other countries such as Hong Kong, Vietnam and Taiwan.

A current survey of some of Apple's online stores in Asia does show shipping estimates bouncing around over the past few days, with many standard configurations showing estimates of 2-4 or 3-5 business days where availability had just recently been pegged at "within 24 hours". Apple's North American and European stores are still showing immediate turnarounds on new orders.

Update: AppleInsider is also reporting that Apple appears to be gearing up for a "significant product launch" as early as next week.