Mac Pro Core i7 Coming February 2010?

Mac Pros Intel Core i7

Apple's iPad may not be the only product launch come March, if a recent rumor about new Mac Pros is to be believed.

MacRumors is reporting that "multiple sources" have relayed to Hardmac this week news that the Mac Pro may be getting a serious speed bump "in a matter of weeks," courtesy of Intelss latest and greatest, the Core i7-980X and Core i7-970 six-core processors. The latest partnership between Apple and Intel is expected to (ahem) bear fruit as early as March.

"So, if Apple and Intel are still engaged in a tight partnership," the Hardmac report reads, "Apple might have the exclusivity of such CPU *as the Nehalem Xeon) for a couple of days or weeks. So, if you are waiting for a new Mac Pro to change your current model or purchase your first Mac Pro, then get ready after the second half of February, it should come within the next three weeks."

Of course, such news is hardly a revelation -- the last two revisions of the Mac Pro were also the first to market with their respective Intel chips, as Macrumors notes. Hardmac also speculates that the new hardware will be based on the Mac-edition Radeon HD 5870 graphics cards as well.

Rumors have swirled for months about a Mac Pro based upon Intel's Core i7 980X, also known as the “Gulftown” architecture. With a 32nm processor and a clock speed of 3.33GHz, the chip is the first dual-socket, six-core processor from Intel, and has been widely expected to make a splash on the market in March 2010.