Apple's MacBook shipments in the second quarter are expected to grow 10% sequentially as the company has almost finished digesting its excess inventory and should start placing new orders in mid-May, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

The orders in May are expected to be mainly Haswell-based models, the sources noted.

Since Apple did not have strong notebook shipments in the first quarter, a 10% sequential growth is expected to only have a limited contribution to the upstream supply chain and MacBook shipments in 2013 may only see a single-digit percentage growth on year, compared to around 30% growth in past years, the sources said.

The sources also noted that they have not receives any instructions from Apple for major modifications over industrial designs or equipment for its MacBook Pro and iMac, indicating that Apple's product upgrades in 2013 will mainly focus on specifications.