Using another little benchmarking application, , I took the temperature of a first-generation 17-inch MacBook Pro: 158 degrees Fahrenheit. By comparison, the new MacBook Pro never got above 133 degrees Fahrenheit and generally stayed about 10 degrees cooler than that under light to moderate use. That's noteworthy -- especially given that the 17-in. model has more room to dissipate heat because of its larger aluminum chassis.

No doubt the redesigned vent at the rear base of the LCD screen -- glossy in this case -- helps. Instead of a row of tiny vertical slots, the new laptops have six horizontal openings, each about an inch wide that allow more air in.

"The better ventilation out the back of the computer helps us dissipate some of the heat," said Benjamin. "When we launched the original MacBook Pro, all of them featured dynamic fan control. The fans may run slow, they may run fast and they will adjust depending on what you're doing."

Apple then released an update that kept those fans running continuously at low speed. "It keeps the case temperature cooler for the user and keeps the components [inside] cooler," Benjamin said. "We heard users when they said they'd like the [MacBook Pro] to be cooler. Certainly, we have proceeded with that thought in mind: How do we keep case temps down and how do we keep [the laptops] quiet."

I asked about reports from other new MacBook Pro owners that the wireless card inside is designed to work with the upcoming 802.11n wireless standard in addition to the now-popular 802.11g and 802.11b standards. (Those users found out about the card when they used Boot Camp to install Windows and had to download a driver to get wireless networking working in Windows XP.)