Leaked - Fully Assembled Next-Gen 15-Inch MacBook Pro

Sources leaking this new photo, showing a fully assembled next-generation 15-inch MacBook Pro with a black display bezel, say they can confirm it is legitimate. The image shows that the new notebook borrows design elements from both the aluminum iMacs and MacBook Air, as previously hinted.

A source who has actually seen the new 15-inch MacBook is cited by AppleInsider as saying that the new generation of Apple trackpads lacks a dedicated button. In fact, a report issued later on described the MacBook Pro as sporting a black display bezel, and a trackpad which itself served as a button.

Under the hood, the new MacBook Pro will reportedly feature two NVIDIA graphics cards, an integrated GPU and a dedicated card. The former is aimed at normal use, while the latter is reportedly used for heavy load tasks. The two chips would thus combine to support Hybrid SLI. This means that the integrated graphics chip begins to assist the GPU when the MacBook Pro is plugged to a power socket, to boost performance. The dedicated chip would be shut down when the system is unplugged from the socket to lower power consumption, reads the report. The same sources believe Apple will be touting some "sick" battery claims thanks to the NVIDIA platform.

Others have spotted what appears to be a mini DisplayPort, rather than a mini DVI port on the new MacBook Pro. DisplayPort is a digital display interface standard originally approved in May 2006. Version 1.1 was approved on April 2, 2007, defining a new license-free, royalty-free, digital audio/video interconnect, intended to be used primarily between a computer and its display monitor, or a computer and a home-theater system.

It was previously reported that NVIDIA's MCP79 platform might also use a new set of GeForce 9300 and 9400 series integrated mainboard graphics processors, which would line up with Apple's plans for the next version of Mac OS X (10.6), Snow Leopard.

So, what do you think of the new design?