Yesterday, Macotakara reported that Apple is finishing up a “test phase” for 15-inch ultraportable MacBook Pro that will have no optical drive and replace hard drive with SSD. Many tech websites jumped on this news and started reporting that the new ultrathin 15-inch MacBook Pro is just around the corner with some even claiming that Apple will launch the new laptop by end of this year or early next year.

However, we believe that the redesigned ultrathin MacBook Pro won’t come to the market before Q2 2012 and many of our sources also agree. Apple could in theory launch a 15-inch MacBook Air earlier that Q2 2012, but it won’t be the new MacBook Pro. Two reasons behind this are performance and thermal efficiency. Yes, SSD will help but anyone who has used both MacBook Air and 15-inch MacBook Pro knows that the Air comes nowhere close to the raw performance power offered by the quad-core processor and dedicated graphics processor on the Pro. And the heat produced by the processor and graphics processor are the reasons why Apple will have to wait to releases the redesign ultrathin MacBook Pro.

One thing we have seen in past is that Apple always improves performance when they release new products, which would means Apple won’t release a new 15-inch MacBook Pro that doesn’t exceed current MacBook Pro’s performance. And for that they will need a new quad-core processor and a new graphics processor that are more powerful than current crop, but have better thermal efficiency.

Some have argued that Apple could completely remove the dedicated graphics processor from ultrathin 15-inch MacBook Pro and use the integrated Intel Graphics. However, even the new graphics engine on upcoming Ivy Bridge processors, which Intel claims is twice as fast as current Intel graphics engine will be 5-10 times slower than AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics processor. This would mean that to achieve same kind of or better graphics performance Apple will have to use a dedicated graphics chip.

So how will Apple release an ultrathin 15-inch MacBook Air that will have better performance than current MacBook Pro and yet be thinner, lighter? For that Apple will have to want for next generation Intel Ivy Bridge processor and 28nm AMD graphics chip. The Ivy Bridge processors will have configurable TDP (Thermal Design Power) allowing Apple to decrease the cooling requirement in an ultrathin laptop by slightly decreasing the performance of the processor. Even with lowered performance the Ivy Bridge processor will be 10-20% faster than current quad-core chip.

On the graphics side, the 28nm AMD graphics processor will not only decrease the size of the graphics chip by half, but it will also reduce the power requirement by over 40% bringing done TDP for graphics chip.

Both the Intel’s new Ivy Bridge processor and AMD’s new 28nm graphics chip will come to market in Q1 2012. And by combining both these new technologies, and removing the optical drive for more space, which can be used to design better cooling system, Apple could make a ultrathin 15-inch MacBook Pro that is more powerful than current model and ship it in Q2 2012.