Apple to ship mysterious new MacBook in March

Apple is working on more than just the next iPad and iPhone. Sources within the Cupertino company’s upstream supply chain told IT news site Digitimes this week that they’ve begun shipping parts for a mysterious new MacBook.

The anonymous source was uncertain exactly what Apple will end up producing with the requested components, but told DigiTimes that a new 15-inch MacBook Pro or MacBook Air were likely. The latter device saw a hardware revision in July that added dual-core processing and a back-lit keyboard. More recently, an updated MacBook Pro was released late last month.

The insider added that whatever the product is, it won’t hit shelves until March. Recent rumors have placed the release of a revamped iPad 2 within the same time frame. The enhanced tablet is believed to offer a longer battery life and higher screen resolution that its predecessors.

Meanwhile, recent Thailand flooding did not impact Apple’s MacBook shipment forecast, reported DigiTimes. As of November 15, the company left its fourth quarter numbers untouched. Others weren’t so lucky.

Hard disk drive manufacturers Western Digital and Seagate confirmed their production lines in the country were affected by the catastrophic floods. Following the companies’ statements, research group IHS warned that the production problems would cause a constricted supply of HDDs and higher price tags into 2012.