Today Apple announced new MacBook Pro models with the same upgraded, 7-hour battery life as the 17-inch MacBook Pro, more memory, a processor upgrade, and storage, as well as an SD-card slot. They are shipping today.

According to Apple, the battery will last 5 years or 1,000 recharges since it’s non-removable. The base model features a 3.06 GHz Dual Core Intel processor, 4GB of memory, a 250GB 5400rpm HDD, and an upgraded display at $1,699. That’s $300 less than the current model. If you want to upgrade to a 2.66GHz processor with a 320GB hard drive, that’ll cost you $1,999, while the 2.8GHz model with a 500GB hard drive will hit at $2,299.

Word on the street is that Apple is set to get one of the largest practical OLED displays as early as this summer. Reportedly, a senior executive from LG Display says that Apple will use a newly-developed 15-inch screen for a “brand new” notebook that’s due in June and will be one of the first companies anywhere to use the screen.

Specs as well as a notebook line name were not mentioned. The rumor is from Australia’s Smarthouse which cited a senior LG executive from LG Display as the source. The system is likely to be expensive, since the panel will be 2 to 3 times as costly to make as an equivalent LCD.

Another week, another rumor. Chinese site Apple.pro is saying there’s a 15-inch MacBook Air in the works. We can’t dismiss this one outright because a 15 inch MacBook Air would be an interesting compromise between portability and screen, so color us intrigued.

It’s very possible, but we are taking it with the usual grain of salt, even though Apple.pro was dead on about the leaked unibody MacBook pictures. As usual, I guess we will find out in time. Are any of you interested in a MacBook that’s thin and light with a big screen? I’m sure you are.