The Macbook Pro line gets an update roughly every 7 months, and according to a report from AppleInsider, it must be that time of year again. The report states that Apple will be giving the Macbook Pro a speed bump with the inclusion of an updated processor for 2011, but there are no other changes expected.

According to people with proven insight into Apple’s future product plans, the late-2011 MacBook Pro refresh will deliver marginal speed bumps to the notebooks’ Core i-Series of Sandy Bridge processors but will otherwise introduce no material changes over the existing models.

Intel has recently updated its chipsets to include new 2.4, 2.5 and 2.7GHz quad-core Core i7 processors that are likely to replace the 2.0, 2.2 and 2.3 GHz Macbook Pro models currently offered.

Reports are also coming in of a new Intel processor code-named Ivy Bridge, which looks set to offer considerably lower power consumption than the current generation of Sandy Bridge chipsets. Integration of the new CPUs in to the Macbook Pro range would provide an appreciable increase in battery life – a huge selling point for any laptop.