New MacBook Pros: lighter, better batteries, better screens, cheaper?

MacTrast claims that Apple is set to unveil major upgrades to their MacBook Pro line of notebooks including better displays, better battery life, and updated designs. First the report claims that the entire line will become 15-20% lighter due to a new “stronger, lighter, and more scratch resistant” aluminum material. The new laptops are said to be made through a new build process also that is “similar to injection molding.”

Next, the report’s sources claim that the new MacBook Pros will pack a new battery technology that allows for 20% more battery life all around. They say the new 13 inch will have 12 hours of battery life, 15 inch will have 11 hours of battery life, and the 17 inch will also feature 11 hours of wireless productivity. As for the weight, the report claims the 13 inch will go from the current 4.5 pounds to 3.7 pounds (close to the 13 inch MacBook Air), the 15 inch will drop from 5.8 to 4.6, and the 17 inch will drop from 6.6 to 5.3 pounds.

Next, the report claims that the 13 inch model will have a built-to-order option to allow for a matte display, and a better display at 1440 x 900 resolution will also be an option. The report claims that the 13 inch model will keep the slot loading disc drive in its current location, but they claim the CD drive will be an option on the 15 inch model. Users could choose to use the space for SATA storage or an extra hard drive. They also claim the 15 inch will get a third USB port.

They claim the 17 inch will get a new expansion slot in addition to a new graphics card option. Now pricing.

Base pricing is said to be as follows: $1099 starting for the 13″ MacBook Pro, $1549 for the 15″ MacBook Pro, and $2099 for the 17″ MacBook Pro, with Apple clearly being quite aggressive here on those price points.

Just a note: We find these claims to be pretty extreme/out of the ordinary ($1549 for a Mac?) so we’d recommend not putting any confidence in the report just yet. However, MacTrast has 170K twitter followers…