Everyone and their brother pretty much agrees at this point that Apple’s planning on releasing updates to their entire lineup, minus the MacBook Pro and iMac, to add Thunderbolt support to the devices. It appears that the only thing holding back an update at this point is Lion, and well, heat issues for the Mac Pro.
In addition to the Thunderbolt rumors, it’s also being said that Apple could be working on new cases and designs for the Mac Pro and possibly the Mac mini and MacBook Air. A new rumor has surfaced today pointing out that Apple may not be ready to update the Mac Pro case, and instead the update could just be a spec update.
MIC Gadget, in addition to noticing Mac Pro Thunderbolt references on the Apple Store online, has also been tipped off that the Mac Pro’s alleged new case is providing some difficulties for the company. Most notable from their article is that the new hardware under the hood is providing too much heat, and potentially damage, in the new case. Instead of changing it up for the first time in over half a decade, Apple may be forced to pull the trigger on an update, keeping the case we’ve grown to love over the years.
Apple has two options at this point: Release a spec update, or hold back a release until the machine has all of its little kinks worked out. Given the problems Apple is currently having with their pro video editors and Final Cut Pro X, Apple can ill-afford to release a Mac Pro that has some problems under the hood, especially major heat problems. Thunderbolt peripherals are on the way, including the Promise Pegasus RAID System, the device guilty of mentioning Thunderbolt in the same sentence as Mac Pro on the Apple Store website. The longer Apple goes without including the new technology, the more ornery professionals are going to get.
Currently Thunderbolt is available on the MacBook Pro and iMac machines, but is missing from the rest of the lineup. Sooner or later updates are going to have to be rolled out. Here’s to hoping it’s sooner rather than later at this point.
Source: MIC Gadget
