The Internet leaks were spot on this week as Apple’s “The Spotlight turns to notebooks” event kicked off this morning.  Both the casing and the glass mousepad surface were confirmed within minutes of Steve Job’s presentation, leading us to believe that we have some excellent inside sources.  The new MacBook Pro’s will now be built like the MacBook Air, using a “precision aluminum unibody enclosure” which minimizes waste and is more environmentally friendly.  Here is what we know about the new MacBook Pro:

• New MacBook Pros will offer either the NVidia 9400M or 9600M GT (optional)
• Glass display, all connectors on one side
• Instant-on LED display
• mini display-port socket
• built in iSight and microphone
• magnetic latch replacing the old design
• keyboard is backlit
• Battery life: 5 hours with Nvidia 9400M or 4 hours with 9600M GT
• Slot-load drive, magsafe power connector and battery indicator moved to the side
• Ethernet (gigabit), firewire 800, two USB and mini display port are now standard
• ExpressCard Slot and optional SSD drive
• 0.95 inches thick (thinnest MBP yet!)
• Built in WiFi N and Bluetooth
• $2499 for the top of the line CPU (2.53GHz), doube the cache, 4GB RAM, double graphics memory and 320GB HDD – 15.4 inch display: Available Today!
• $1799 for MacBook Air with 1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo (120GB HDD standard with Nvidia 9400M), 120GB HDD. Available in November
• $2499 for the Air with 1.86GHz CPU and 128GB SSD Available in November
• $899 24-inch cinema display: 1920 x 1200 resolution with stereo speakers, MagSafe connector to power your notebook, 3 USB ports and a display port.
• Entry-level MacBook now $999, down from $1099

The MacBook line is bringing a new sub-range with a metal enclosure, faster graphics and LED backlight using the same casing design as the MacBook Pro, same glass trackpad.  It will feature the Nvidia 9400M chipset for 5x better graphics performance, 5 hours of battery life, and it will cost $1299 ($700 cheaper than the MacBook Pro).  *160GB HDD, no backlit keyboard.* Shipping Today, in stores tomorrow

• $1599 for a 13.3-inch screen with a 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD with backlit keyboard and slot-load drive. (sub-range MacBook).  Shipping Today, in stores tomorrow
• Upgrades for the new sub-range include: 4GB of RAM, 320GB 5400rpm HDD, 128GB SSD, DVI, dual-DVI, and VGA adapters

Apple dropped the heavy news and enthusiasts like ourselves are delighted, especially for the new MacBook sub-range for $1299.  With the MBP being a bit on the pricey side, it is good to see an equally matched notebook with a smaller screen in Apple’s repertoire.  You can definitely count us in for one.

Via SlashGear Live Blog