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New data suggests new MacBooks coming soon

New MacBooks could be on the way soon as new part numbers emerge on Mac rumors sites.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Brooke Crothers

Against a backdrop of rampant rumors about new MacBook Pros, the latest rumor is getting a lot of attention.

Rumors are coming fast and furious because MacBook Pros are due to be updated with new Intel silicon--that is, new mobile Core i5 and/or Core i7 processors. PC makers like Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Dell, and Sony have already moved en masse to the Intel chips, which came out in January.

This time the speculation seems more legit because blogs are citing new MacBook part numbers that Macrumors says it has independently confirmed as real. Others also seem to be taking the new data seriously.

Though timing is not certain, the emergence of part numbers may indicate the update will happen sooner rather than later.

9to5Mac speculates that the updates are 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros.

And that's not all. Best Buy is showing no stock for certain MacBook Pro 15.4-inch models, both online and in-store at many locations. Whether this is indicative of an imminent MacBook update is not clear, however.