Apple Prepares to Launch New Macintosh Computers with OS X Lion - Report

Apple plans to release new hardware pre-installed with Mac OS X Lion early next year, component makers claim. The Cupertino giant is also expected to introduce a new version of the iPad around the same time.

Citing sources from upstream component makers, DigiTimes reports that Apple is gearing up to roll out upgraded MacBook Pro and iMac models in the first half of 2011.

Apple plans to release at least four upgraded MacBook Pros, and an all-new iMac featuring a new panel size and price point, the sources noted.

Not only did the sources leak hardware information, but they also weight in on Apple’s potential success with notebook shipments this year, noting that Apple should have no trouble shipping 10 million units by the end of this December.

Then, in 2011, Apple will sell an upgraded MacBook Pro with “a slight change in chassis design and an upgrade to the new Lion operating system,” the sources said, according to the same report.

Mac OS X Lion and the design change combines “should help Apple's notebook shipments grow 30-40% on year in 2011,” these people believe.

Finally, the report claims that Taiwan-based Quanta Computer and Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) are both expected to share orders for the new hardware.

Quanta, for its part, will see its revenues contribution by Apple rise from 20% to 28-30% next year, the sources added, according to DigiTimes.

Apple is also expected to launch the next-generation iPad 2 next year.

The same publication cited sources from Taiwan-based component makers as saying that “Foxconn Electronics' (Hon Hai Precision Industry’s) plants in Shenzhen, China had recently been notified of plans to have Apple's iPad 2 shipped “within the next 100 days.”

Citing said component suppliers, the site reported earlier this month that “iPad 2 will ship as soon as the end of February in 2011,” adding that Foxconn had declined to comment on rumors regarding its products or clients.