Rumors of a MacBook Pro 2011 refresh are absolutely on fire at this point, and now Apple’s very own online store is showing a shipping delay of 3-5 days for any MacBook Pro order online. This is the strongest indicator yet of an imminent product update, since Apple rarely has a shipping delay on existing products.

Release Dates of MacBook Pro 2011 Refresh: Thursday February 24 or Tuesday March 1?

There are two likely dates of the MacBook Pro refresh, one is this Thursday, February 24, which also happens to be Steve Jobs birthday, and the other is Tuesday, March 1. Apple traditionally releases new products on Tuesdays, but a 3-5 day shipping delay more closely matches with a release this Thursday. Of course, being rumors, it’s possible both days will pass without any product update.

Timeline of the MacBook Pro 2011 Refresh Rumors

It all started with reports from several EU resellers that their existing MacBook Pro inventory had dried up, and then an Intel ad appeared that sparked a slew of speculation and mockups suggesting the next MacBook Pro would have a significant chasis redesign. This was followed up with BestBuy’s internal inventory showing new model numbers and prices. Finally, this weekend, BestBuy.com slipped up and posted SKU’s and prices for five new MacBook Pro models before removing them from their public website.

Adding all of this together and the evidence certainly looks overwhelmingly in favor of an impending MacBook Pro refresh. The question now is whether or not the updated models will feature the same aluminum unibody enclosure that existing models have, or if a significant chasis redesign is in order, taking cues from the MacBook Air, and perhaps even resembling the Mac-like laptop appearing in the recent Intel ad.