The rumor comes from AppleInsider, which cites “people familiar with Apple’s roadmap”. The publication reports:

This will include new, ultra-thin unibody enclosures that jettison yesteryear technologies like optical disk drives and traditional hard drives in favor of models with lightweight chassis that employ flash-memory based solid-state drives, instant-on capabilities, extended battery life, and rely on digital distribution for software and media.

“They’re all going to look like MacBook Airs,” one person familiar with the new MacBook Pro designs told AppleInsider. Meanwhile, existing MacBook Pro designs are expected to be phased out over the course of the year.

The late Steve Jobs was known for his focus on design, sometimes at the cost of functionality (see Antennagate). It sounds like design is still a vital part of Apple’s mentality under CEO Tim Cook so far.

The iPhone and iPad might be the sexier Apple products these days, but Macs continue to sell quite well too. Apple’s Q1 earnings report indicate that Mac sales were up 26%, having sold 5.2 million Macs in the quarter. In addition to that, over 100 million apps were downloaded from the Mac App Store in less than a year.

Interestingly, however, iOS has eclipsed Mac OS X in web market share, according to a recent study from Chitika.

This rumor follows several other reports related to Apple products lately. Last week we covered rumors that the next generation of Apple’s iPad would be releasing next year with a retina display. Meanwhile DigiTimes reported last month – again citing supply-line sources – that the MacBook Pro would be getting a thinner MacBook Air-style chassis sometime in the second quarter of 2012.

Though this report is still just a rumor, it is true that the MacBook Pro line will be coming due for a refresh soon. Though Apple quietly updated the line in October to include more storage and memory, the computers themselves have remained unchanged for a couple of years.

The ultra-high resolution retina display is so named because it boasts a pixel density so high that from a distance of more than just a few inches, the user’s eyes are not physically capable of distinguishing individual pixels. It made waves when it was introduced with the iPhone 4 last summer, and almost immediately speculation began on which devices would be the next to get it. To everyone’s surprise, the next device turned out to be the iPhone 4S, released just a few months ago. It was widely believed that the iPad 2 would be getting a retina display, and rumors circulated that the company would be putting it in everything from MacBooks to iMacs soon. These recent rumors – about both the MacBook Pro and the iPad 3 – may signal the beginning of this long-awaited rollout.

[Source: DigiTimes]

The folks over at Foundry, a research team at Mint Digital, decided to take one of Steve Jobs’ creations apart and make a little portrait of the icon.

And it turned out amazing.

Made from the innards of a MacBook Pro, the portrait features Jobs in his classic hand-on-chin pose. Check it out -

Here’s what the team had to say about taking apart a MacBook Pro:

We were in need of a few fans the other day for our smell dispenser prototypes. Collin kindly donated an old mac book pro to the cause and I meticulously tore it to pieces.

It was an incredibly humbling experience. Beyond the smooth sheen of it’s outer casing, lays one of the most beautifully set out assemblage of components I have ever seen. It’s hard to imagine the amount of detail, concentration and obsession that must go into the creation of one of these machines.

To be honest, I always thought Mac’s were a bit overpriced for what they were. Not anymore.

It’s true that Apple devices are known for their inner beauty almost as much as their outer beauty. I don’t know about you, but I’d sure like to see more pieces created with the insides of tech devices.

[Hat Tip to Gizmodo]

FaceTime has become a popular selling point of Apple’s iPhone, and the iPad 2 is expected to accommodate it as well. 

"The new MacBook Pro brings next generation dual and quad Core processors, high performance graphics, Thunderbolt technology and FaceTime HD to the great design loved by our pro customers," said Apple SVP of Worldwide Product Marketing Philip Schiller. "Thunderbolt is a revolutionary new I/O technology that delivers an amazing 10 gigabits per second and can support every important I/O standard which is ideal for the new MacBook Pro."

Apple says in its announcement, "MacBook Pro is the first computer on the market to include the groundbreaking Thunderbolt I/O technology. Developed by Intel with collaboration from Apple, Thunderbolt enables expandability never before possible on a notebook computer. Featuring two bi-directional channels with transfer speeds up to an amazing 10Gbps each, Thunderbolt delivers PCI Express directly to external high performance peripherals such as RAID arrays, and can support FireWire and USB consumer devices and Gigabit Ethernet networks via adapters. Thunderbolt also supports DisplayPort for high resolution displays and works with existing adapters for HDMI, DVI and VGA displays. Freely available for implementation on systems, cables and devices, Thunderbolt technology is expected to be widely adopted as a new standard for high performance I/O."

"With Apple’s innovative FaceTime video calling software, the new camera allows high definition video calls between all new MacBook Pro models and supports standard resolution calls with other Intel-based Macs, iPhone 4 and the current generation iPod touch," the company says. "FaceTime is included with all new MacBook Pro models and is available for other Intel-based Macs from the Mac App Store for 99 cents. The MacBook Pro lineup continues to feature its gorgeous aluminum unibody enclosure, glass Multi-Touch trackpad, LED-backlit widescreen display, illuminated full-size keyboard and 7-hour battery."

There is a 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro model, as well as a 15-inch and a 17-inch model. The 13-inch version is available in a 2.3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 and 320GB hard drive version for $1,199, as well as a 2.7 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 and 500GB hard drive version for $1,499. The 15-inch MacBook Pro is available in a 2.0 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon HD 6490M and 500GB hard drive version for $1,799 and a 2.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon HD 6750M and 750GB hard drive version for $2,199. The new 17-inch Apple MacBook Pro comes in just one version –  2.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon HD 6750M and 750GB hard drive, and is priced at $2,499.

Apple has an event scheduled for March 2nd, where it will almost certainly unveil the iPad 2. Stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, the iPad continues to dominate tablet shipments.