Intel confirmed on Monday that the updated version of its Sandy Bridge processor will begin to ship on February 20th. Early last week, Intel disclosed the existence of a flaw in the SATA chipset for its second-generation Core i5 and Core i7 processors. Over time, this flaw would degrade the performance of both internal DVD and hard drives.
Intel developed a fix for this hardware issue and began production of a new and improved chipset. Originally, Intel projected these updated chips would be available in mid-March, prompting speculation that this delay would alter the availability of Apple's 2011 MacBook Pro lineup.
