Apple’s new 15-inch MacBook Pro to have USB3, Retina

A high-resolution Retina display, an ultra-thin design and a speedy USB 3.0 connection will likely make it to the list of features of Apple Inc.’s upcoming all-new 15-inch MacBook Pro laptop. Enthusiast site 9to5mac.com cited trusted sources in Apple’s supply chain who said the new MacBook Pro is now undergoing test production rounds. “The new 15-inch MacBook Pro is coming this summer, and it features an ultra-thin design, a ‘jaw-dropping’ Retina Display, and super-fast USB 3,” it said. 9to5mac.com said the new MacBook Pro is an ultra-thin version of the current MacBook Pro, with no tapering like the MacBook Airs. It said the new design may address Apple’s hinge troubles with the cancelled ultra-thin 15-inch notebook for late 2010. But it also said the new 15-inch MacBook Pro may lose the optical drive to reach Apple’s new standard for notebook thinness. “Apple has made it clear that professionals could lose the optical drive in favor of the wildly popular Mac App Store for software installations," it said. "Take Final Cut Pro X or Aperture for example. For those few who still need an optical drive, Apple has been selling a USB Superdrive since the first-generation MacBook Air launched,” it added. The new MacBook Pro also adopts a modified MacBook Air keyboard design, with the power button on the keyboard itself, taking the place of the disc eject key. Other components of the MacBook design, such as charging and connection ports along the sides, and a large glass Multi-Touch trackpad, are retained. 9to5mac.com said the prototype unibodies do not have room for Ethernet and may also drop Firewire. However, it said Apple may bring the Mac Retina Display to the new MacBook Pro. It noted that when Apple launched the Retina Display on the 3.5-inch screen of the iPhone 4 in mid-2010, people were shocked at its resolution. Citing sources familiar with software strings left behind in OS X Lion 10.7.4 and Mountain Lion betas, it said the Retina Display on the upcoming MacBook Pro features multiple Retina resolution modes, so users can adjust the sharpness and image sizes. “Unlike Mac display settings of today, these Retina Display settings will not be marked with numbers/resolution sizes, but with descriptions such as big, small, or optimal, according to these software-based findings. The long-awaited ‘resolution independence’ is upon us,” it said. Meanwhile, a USB3 port may round up the list of features for the new MacBook Pro, with support for USB 3 supposedly contained in Apple’s software strings in 10.7.4 and 10.8 betas. — LBG, GMA News