In other words, virtually all of the changes in the MacBook Pro family are under the hood. The latest generation looks just like the previous few versions: unibody aluminum case, black chicklet keys with white lettering, a phenomenally bright LED-backlit screen, and the usual retinue of peripheral ports: two USB, the aforementioned Thunderbolt (which now replaces the Mini DisplayPort and works for external monitors) and an SDXC card slot. (The 17-in. model soldiers on with an ExpressCard/34 slot.)

Clearly, Apple focused more on function instead of form this time around, but I'm still hoping that the next generation will take on the slimmer, more unveiled last fall.

The model Apple loaned me for this review is the pricier of the two 15-in. MacBook Pros Apple now sells. It has a quad-core Core i7 processor running at 2.2GHz, though that speed changes depending on what you're doing. There's an integrated Intel graphics chip plus an AMD Radeon HD 6750M discrete graphics processor for more intense work. (You don't have to switch between the two; the MacBook Pro does that for you depending on whether you're, say, surfing the Web or playing a graphics-rich game.) It also comes with a slow (5,400rpm) but rather roomy 750GB hard drive.