Thinner MacBook Pro Models in 13-Inch and 15-Inch Sizes Coming in April

Sources in Apple's upstream supply chain indicated to DigiTimes that new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros with a thinner and lighter design are expected to launch in April "at the soonest," with an initial shipment of just under a million units.  A redesigned version of the 17-inch MacBook Pro is apparently not expected at launch.

Apple's upgraded MacBook Pro lineup along with new MacBook Airs and the forthcoming OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Mac operating system upgrade are expected in the industry to pose a "significant threat" to notebooks. Moreover, earlier this week Intel indicated that the company's next-generation Ivy Bridge chips are expected to debut eight to 10 weeks later than previously planned.

"Since Intel is delaying the mass supply of its Ivy Bridge CPUs from April to June, notebook vendors are concerned about... the postponed launch schedules of their ultrabooks, as it may give Apple advantages in terms of time-to-market," the report said.

But it's possible that Apple could still launch new notebooks powered by Ivy Bridge as early as April, if Intel were to give the Mac maker early access to its first run of processors. In the past, Apple has been given early availability of Intel's latest technology before other PC makers.