14 DAY TRIAL // New versions of the Mac Pro, Mac mini and MacBook Air are on their way from Apple, according to a person who claims to have learned that supply is now officially listed as constrained.
Citing multiple sources which we’re left to understand are Apple resellers, Mac-centric blog 9to5mac reports that shipments of OS X Lion, MacBook Air and Time Capsule are on their way.
In addition to these imminent shipments, a certain Mr. X tells the blog that the servers versions of Apple’s Mac Pro and Mac mini are “constrained with no shipment date yet in place for new models.”
Those who follow Apple in the news will undoubtedly see a pattern here.
First off, it is known that Apple has axed the Xserve, the expensive, rack-mountable server computer.
Following the product’s discontinuation, Apple touted the existing Mac Pro and Mac mini server-centric configurations as the appropriate replacements, but the computers are long due for a refresh.
The fact that they’re going to be brought up to feature parity with the rest of the Macintosh line (Sandy Bridge CPUs and Thunderbolt I/O) is one thing.
But Apple is known to be prototyping a new Mac tower that might just completely replace the big Mac Pro workstations. The Mac mini is likely to remain in place along with its current design.
So why wouldn’t Apple tout a brand new server offering when the next refresh is due out? It’s fairly possible, 9to5 believes, as Apple will not leave businesses out of a reliable server solution.
The MacBook Air line is also due for a Sandy Bridge & Thunderbolt refresh.
Finally, it has been revealed that Apple’s Airport Extreme and Time Capsule supplies are constrained as well, with revamped models likely on the way.
There is a chance Apple is waiting to introduce all these refreshes together as they will be selling each other.