I stopped in at my local saw shop last friday and asked the gal behind the counter about the new upcoming MS 400.1. She didn’t know anything about it, but there was a random guy hang out in the repair side of the shop. He overheard our conversation and said, “are you asking about the new 400.1?” Yes, i replied. He told me that Stihl is hoping to release the saw sometime in the first quarter (jan~march). I asked him who he was, and he said that he works for stihl! He just happened to be at this particular saw shop that day. I did ask him about the availability of heated handles in the US and it’s a no go.
I don’t know just how accurate that release date it, but that’s what i was told.