This was NOT readily announced to Apple staff.

[revelated]

Went down to toy with the 2011 MacBook Pro - get a sense for battery life. Imagine my surprise to see that they still had the 2010 models out on display with a bunch of brats and chicks reading their Facebook on the iMacs. So I asked the manager if they received the new MacBook Pro, over by that helper table they have. Four people around us who were looking at the MacBook Pro, including some brat who had just bought one 3 days prior, perked up instantly at the news that the ones on the floor were already outdated. According to the staff, they literally found out when they came into work and saw the pallet sitting there. No advertisements, nothing.

Makes me wonder if the silence was intentional due to the potential for price shock - or if they just hadn't finished getting rid of old stock yet.

Either way, I'm looking forward to running the 2011 with HDD against my 2010 with SSD to see if there truly is a dramatic difference in overall performance. Saturday will be interesting to say the least.

 

[DesmoPilot]

It's how Apple has more or less always worked. It's meant keep sales consistent up until the refresh, get rid of stock. Furthermore, employees can be written up and or fired for discussing rumors about refreshes etc.

 

[vipergts2207]

Apple is always secretive with its updates. If they informed their thousands of Apple store employees in advance, the specs would've been leaked and confirmed much sooner.