RumorTT: Apple's next-gen MacBook Pro's could adopt MacBook Air's form factor

I love my 2011 Edition 17-inch MacBook Pro, I use it to do all of my TweakTown work and its just a workhorse, it doesn't generally skip a beat. I love it for it's IPS-based 17-inch 1920x1200-pixel panel, which is absolutely gorgeous. But, this news scares me.

Apple are rumored to take a leaf from the MacBook Air's design, and push this into their professional notebook line: the MacBook Pro. Apple have been waiting for Intel's shrunken-down Ivy Bridge processors before launching a new MacBook this year, and now AppleInsider are claiming that the shift will see Apple move their MBP line to be along the lines of the Air's design aesthetic, which will cover 11- to 17-inch models later this year.

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 report says that Apple may not shift its entire MacBook Pro line at once, and might begin slowly starting with the 15-inch, then following with the 17-inch and so on. As long as they introduce the 17-inch with a 2560x1440-pixel resolution, I'll be happy. I don't need discrete graphics, I don't want to game. I wouldn't mind seeing the Pro range split into two ranges.

So I'm going to throw something out there - how about we have the MacBook Pro, with the design aesthetics of the MacBook Air, but then they could intro a MacBook Ultra, which could sport discrete graphics, higher-res screen, and more. Hmm, I like the sound of that. MacBook Ultra. You heard it here first, folks!