Ultra-thin 15-inch MacBook Pro to have Retina Display, USB 3.0

Mockup of the MacBook Pro Retina Display

Anyone expecting the rumors of Apple dumping the MacBook Pro and introducing larger MacBook Airs is going to be disappointed if 9To5Mac’s sources are correct. Apple is planning to revamp the Pro range of laptops, but the design is remaining in line with what has gone before.
Apparently, Apple has managed to redesign the 15-inch MacBook Pro to be an ultra-thin version of the 2008 design, suggesting there will continue to be a very clear distinction between the Air and Pro hardware.So how do you slim the Pro down to class as “ultra-thin”? You first of all remove the optical drive and the Ethernet port. Instead you offer a USB Superdrive for those that need it and an adaptor for plugging in an Ethernet cable. Both are going to be acceptable compromises to make for the majority of users wanting a new Pro.What will definitely get MacBook fans reaching for their credit cards is the line-up of features this new MacBook Pro will sport. Top of the billing is a Retina Display that is being described as “stunning.” The resolution is high enough that Apple has decided it no longer needs to offer resolution options to the user in the form of numbers. Instead, you’ll be choosing between small, big, and optimal sizes.The new Pro is also expected to include multiple Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 ports. The inclusion of USB 3.0 is thought to be because Intel’s latest Ivy Bridge chips have support for it built-in, plus it allowsanyone upgrading to continue 
 to use any USB 2.0 peripherals they have with the new machine.We’ve already covered the Geekbench benchmarks for a supposed Ivy Bridge MacBook Pro earlier today. What we didn’t know was what GPU Apple has decided to pair the processor with. Apparently, it is going to be the Nvidia GT 650M GPU, meaning this Core-i7 machine is going to offer up some serious performance regardless of what task you are asking it to perform.