According to two sources (one of which we consider reliable), Apple is preparing for a March 24 Mac event, similar to the October 2008 MacBook event, where attendees witnessed the introduction of the unibody family of notebooks. This time around, Apple is expected to introduce new hardware upgrades, comprising of NVIDIA-based iMacs and Mac minis, as well as Xeon-enabled Mac Pros, while a surprise is also scheduled.

As noted above, two sources claim to have learned of Apple's plans for a March event aimed at introducing new Macs. World of Apple, for its part, cites a source that has disclosed to the site the following information:

“Apple is planning to hold an event on March 24 to unveil new desktop hardware. The source which has been confirmed to be in reach of such information stated that the event would be similar to the notebook event held by Apple last October. [The source] was unable to offer any details on hardware specifics but did speculate that the Mac mini, iMac and Mac Pro would all be refreshed.”

MyAppleGuide allegedly received the same piece of information, but with an additional tidbit:

“Last week, we received anonymous tips from two different sources that hint at an Apple media event in late March - possibly March 24th,” reads the report. “Apple is said to be announcing a new Mac mini, iMacs with the new NVIDIA chipset, Mac Pros with Xeon processors along with a pleasant 'surprise'.”

The site points out that, while they have no way of proving all this is true, “recent information that we have obtained has led us to believe that the information may be correct,” the post ends.

As you can imagine, everyone is holding their fingers crossed for a Snow Leopard preview. This may not be so far fetched, given that Apple plans to launch the new OS in the first half of 2009.