Apple’s Mac Pro to get face-lift next week at WWDC, report says

A new report claims the Mac Pro will be joining the fleet of Apple computers set to be updated next week at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

If the Mac Pro, which is Apple’s heavy-duty line of computers, does indeed get touched up, it will the model’s first renovation since the summer of 2010.

There aren’t any details about what exactly will change with the Mac Pro, but it probably will be upgraded with USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt connections.

The computer also could be retrofitted to include space for more storage drives, and it could be updated with new Intel Xeon E5 chips as well as the latest graphic chips, according to 9 to 5 Mac, which reported the news, citing “reliable sources.”

And there may be three variations of the next Mac Pro, according to the report.

Also raising the possibility that the Mac Pros will be updated are reports that Apple Stores around the country are out of stock of the product, according to 9 to 5 Mac. MacRumors also reports that, saying that from a quick, rough survey of 100 Apple Stores, only four currently had Mac Pros available for in-store purchase.

But the Mac Pro isn’t the only line of Apple computers that is expected to get updated. The MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air and the iMac are also expected to be revamped in various ways and probably be outfitted with the company’s Retina display that is already used on the iPhone and iPad.

Apple is also expected to announce new features for its iOS mobile platform at WWDC’s keynote Monday, adding new features, renovating apps, and possibly launching a new map app to replace Google’s as well as including Siri on the iPad too.

And Apple might also announce some new accessories, such as cases for its mobile devices or new keyboards and mice, according to other recent reports.

Last year, Apple used WWDC to introduce its iCloud service, and the year before, Apple used WWDC to announce the iPhone 4. In 2009, the event was bigger -- with the announcement of updated MacBook Pros, the iPhone 3GS and the Snow Leopard operating system -- but it was not quite as big as the latest rumors indicate 2012’s event will be.

If the reports are true, then WWDC is shaping up to be the biggest of Apple’s annual summer event in quite some time.

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