Apple Mac Pro, MacBook Air shipping with custom CPU, Lion, and Thunderbolt?

By IBTimes Staff Reporter | June 21 2011 1:17 AM

The new Mac Pro, Mac Mini, and MacBook Air are set to buff up its hardware as speculations are circulating about their release date in late July or first week in August. Apple is rumored to equip and ship the upgraded devices with the powerful Intel Sand Bridge CPU processor, OS X Lion, and Thunderbolt. The Intel's Sandy Bridge have already been at work offering their Core i5 with 3.3 GHz up to its Core i7 Extreme with 3.7 GHz in PC computers.

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Rumors have reported that the new MacBook Air will expect an upgrade with Intel Sandy Bridge processors and Thunderbolt.

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According to MICGadgt, Apple may be using a different variation of the processor that is suited for Mac Pro.

Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt are coming to the new Mac Pro, and at the same time, an unique CPU will be developed for Mac. This unique CPU is not seen in PC, wrote MICGadget.

It is not confirmed if the Sandy Bridge equipped processors can be ready in time for the rumored late summer release. It is probable that Intel may collaborate with Apple in supplying custom CPUs. If the scenario works out, the tweet on Apple's timeline by CNET Brian Tong could most probably fall in line.

EXCLUSIVE: My sources tell me ALL NEW Next-Gen Mac Pros and Mac Minis will launch either end of July first week of August, tweeted Tong.

The launch date of the Mac Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac Mini may also be linked with OS X Lion's release, which is expected to be in July. Apple reportedly called a halt to the MacBook Air launch until Lion was in full motion. With this information, it may be safe to say that OS X Lion will be shipping with the new devices, placing a halt on Apple's previous OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. According to Philip Schiller, Apple senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, OSX Lion will push the limits of Apple's OS development.

The best version of OS X yet, Lion is packed with innovative features such as new Multi-Touch gestures, system-wide support for full screen apps, and Mission Control for instantly accessing everything running on your Mac, said Schiller.

In adding to the list of muscled up hardware, Apple hopes to integrate high speed data transfer and high resolution display through I/O Thunderbolt ports into the upcoming devices. The addition of Thunderbolt can enhance the high speed technologies enabling compatibility with USB 3.0, firewire, and eSATA.

Thunderbolt has already been integrated into Apple's current MacBook Pro and iMac, showcasing its strengths using Final Cut Pro. It may be an option for Apple to use Final Cut Pro to demonstrate Thunderbolt's enhanced capabilities on the new Mac Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac Mini come late July or early August.