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Apple updating server lineup as Mac Pro and Mac mini server supplies constrain

Mark Gurman | Jun 9 2011 - 6:34 pm PT

It looks like the next month or so is shaping up to be a fairly busy month for the Mac. In addition to OS X Lion, our sources are already expecting new MacBook Airs and Time Capsules fairly soon – due to supply shortages and now Mr. X tells 9to5Mac that Apple’s Mac mini Server and Mac Pro Server are constrained with no shipment date yet in place for new models.

With Apple pushing Thunderbolt and speedy Sandy Bridge processors into their iMacs and MacBook Pros earlier this year, it would be a safe bet that Apple’s next server products will feature Sandy Bridge Processors and Thunderbolt I/O to boot. The interesting part about both the Mac Pro and Mac mini server models become constrained simultanously is that Apple might be looking to completely revamp their server offerings, not just update each respective product.

Apple is currently prototyping a new Mac tower that is smaller than the Mac Pro. This could either be the next-generation Mac Pro or even Apple’s next flagship server offering. In addition, Apple discontinued the Xserve last year.

Concurrently, Apple’s Airport Extreme and Time Capsule supplies are still constrained. Perhaps those two products have something to do with Apple’s future server offerings. On the other hand, Apple also sells non-server versions of both the Mac Pro and Mac mini. That being said, the servers being constrained could be signs of the standard models being contained soon, too. In that case, Apple may just be pushing out new Mac Pros and minis. This might be the more likely case.