15-inch MacBook Air-like MacBook Pro Nearing Production?

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The MacBook Pro got a mild refresh a few days ago as Apple is now offering configurations with better processors and more storage. But if you didn’t buy your new Pro version you may want to wait a few months to see how Apple’s next-gen MacBook Pro models will look like, especially the 15-inch version.

This isn’t the first time I’m about to tell you Apple’s future MacBook Pro models will come with MacBook Air-like looks, but this time around there seems to be palpable proof that indicates the new ultra-slim design lines of the future 15-inch model.

According to Japanese blog Macotakara, usually a source of reliable information regarding upcoming Apple products, Apple has apparently “finished to develop MacBook Air 15’ LCD test component to add its line-up and to go product development of it [sic].”

The blog calls this device both a 15-inch MacBook Air but also a MacBook Pro that will come without a built-in optical drive. What’s certain is that people seem to love that MacBook Air design. They love it so much that the competition, encouraged by Intel, is promising more and more ultrabooks designs. So we’re not really surprised to hear that future MacBook Pro models may all come with a MacBook Air design.

Other specs and features, or release dates and pricing have not been leaked at this time and it may take a while until Apple announces its 2012 MacBook Pro and Air models.

What I’ll be interested to observe is how the upcoming Air and Pro models will differentiate themselves in case Apple adopts the ultra-thin design for all the Pro laptops. What would be the difference between a 13-inch Air model its 13-inch Pro counterpart? Why didn’t the “asian source” say anything about such a 13-inch, and more importantly about a 17-inch ultra-slim Pro model?

Maybe the 15-inch Pro model we’re talking about today is indeed an Air version and maybe Apple will keep two distinct product families, the Air and the Pro, without blurring the lines between them. What I’m fairly certain is that I almost never use the optical drive in my 15-inch MacBook Pro, and while once I thought I must have one, I’d much rather enjoy a slimmer overall design right now.

Anyone ready to buy a 15-inch MacBook Air/Pro that looks like a Air but feels like a Pro (although 2011 Air models did beat 2010 Pro models in recent testing, so the Air line is getting more powerful generation after generation)?