We got our hands on Apple's latest Unibody laptop. This is Apple's first portable to sport a quad-core processor: Intel's Core i7.

This machine includes Thunderbolt, a new I/O connection that combines PCI Express and DisplayPort into a single connector.

Thunderbolt claims to provide 10 Gbps throughput for both input and output. It appears that both PCI Express and DisplayPort receive their own 10 Gbps data channel. That's nice, as you don't want your display competing with your external hard drive for bandwidth.

You can chain up to 6 Thunderbolt devices including up to 2 HD displays. That's not a problem today as we're not even aware of 6 products that support Thunderbolt yet. If the connection becomes widespread, the 6 device limit might be a problem for some people.

In comparison, FireWire supports up to 63 devices in a daisy-chain, while USB does not support daisy-chaining.

This machine is still model A1286. Apple's been using that same model number since October 2008.

Apple still includes the warning to not throw your MacBook Pro in the trash. These warnings were missing on the Verizon iPhone we took apart a few weeks ago.

The lower case is secured by ten Phillips #00 screws. There are no pentalobe screws since Apple still considers the RAM and hard drive to be user-replaceable. However, like the machine this replaces, the battery is not user-replaceable (at least according to Apple).

The RAM in this machine is PC3-10600 RAM. That's the same RAM used in the 2010 revision of the 21.5" and 27" iMacs, but different from earlier Apple laptops. PC3-10600 RAM is backwards compatible with the PC3-8500 RAM in older MacBook Pro Unibody machines, but you can't use older PC3-8500 RAM in this machine.

This machine boasts a 77.5 Watt-hour battery. That's the same capacity as the previous revision, but the reported battery life has gone from 8-9 hours to 7 hours. Has performance really decreased, or is Apple being more realistic with their estimates? We don't have 7 hours to wait and find out, so we'll have to leave that investigation to someone with a fully-assembled unit.

Just like the previous revision, the battery is secured by Tri-Wing screws.

A spudger makes disconnecting the battery easy enough.

On this model, you're able to disconnect the battery without having to remove it from the laptop. It's a nice design choice since you need to disconnect the battery before performing any repairs.

The wireless card includes support for 802.11n wireless with 3 antennas as well as what seems to be a dedicated antenna for Bluetooth 3.0.

After removing a soldered EMI shield, we find 802.11n wireless connectivity provided by a Broadcom BCM4331 "Single-Chip 802.11n Dual-Band 3x3 Wireless Solution." Bluetooth 3.0 support is handled by a BCM2070 in a separate, shielded section of the board.

According to Broadcom, the BCM4331 chip provides "three transmitting and three receiving streams of data in both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands. Increased number of streams and antennas results in faster speeds, longer range, fewer dropped connections, and better overall wireless coverage."

The BCM2070 Bluetooth controller is described as follows on the Broadcom site: "The Broadcom BCM2070 is a monolithic, single-chip, stand-alone baseband processor with a high performance integrated 2.4-GHz RF transceiver. It is fully compliant with Bluetooth 3.0 and all prior standard features...using advanced 65-nm LP CMOS technology,"

The wireless card bracket is aluminum, rather than the plastic in previous revisions. Perhaps this change was made for thermal reasons, as a visible pink thermal pad is used to transfer heat from the board to its aluminum bracket.

Like most 15" Unibody laptops, there are two fans. To make sure things stay cool, there's a plethora of temperature sensors scattered throughout the machine, including near the trackpad, in the battery, and on the logic board.