Refreshed Coffee Lake MacBook Pros Reportedly On Tap For Apple WWDC Next Week

Apple's 2018 Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) is on the docket for June 4, which means that we should hear plenty about the next iteration of OS X and iOS at the event. However, Apple also often announces new hardware products at WWDC, which in the past have included new MacBooks, iPad Pros and in the case of WWDC 2017, the HomePod.

This year, at least one hardware family will be receiving some special attention: the MacBook Pro. A quick perusal of the Apple Store reveals that half of the pre-configured 13-inch MacBook Pro models are unavailable for immediate shipping, and instead will deliver on June 7-- three days after the start of WWDC. 

The availability of the MacBook Pro 15, MacBook Air and regular MacBook seem to follow the standard two- to three-day delivery window, but if the MacBook Pro 13 is going to be updated, it's a near certainty that the MacBook Pro 15 will also see an update. So, expect to see delivery times for those more expensive models to adjust accordingly in the coming week.

These professional notebooks are expected to adopt Intel's newest 8generation Coffee Lake processors. It's unknown if Apple will address the growing backlash surrounding the butterfly-style keyboards on its MacBook Pro (and MacBook) notebooks, which have resulted in two class-action lawsuits.

It remains to be seen if the mainline MacBook family will receive any attention (it was previously updated at WWDC 2017), but it is widely expected that the Apple will announce an all-new MacBook Air family, which is long overdue for an update.

We have been hearing rumors for years that Apple is looking to end its dependency on Intel for processors powering its MacBook/MacBook Pro, iMac/iMac Pro and Mac Pro product families. The company is instead looking towards installing its own custom ARM chips in its Mac products -- bringing them in line with the iPhone, iPad, HomePod, Apple TV and other Apple computing products – as soon as 2020.