Ah, but while Apple giveth something new, it also taketh something old but useful. The EC/34 slot is now only available on the 17" MBP, which means those eSATA RAIDs and stuff the folks hook up to externally are not going to be possible on the 13" or 15" MBP. The FW800 is nice to see across the line, but only one slot on the smaller models and no provision for anything but daisy-chaining for more drive access, and that cuts throughput.
The SD slot is a bit odd also. Looks more like something for the consumer line than the professional line. Even if it is the "future" and CF starts to go away, there are still tons of cameras and devices using CF, and now, with only a relatively poor performing USB2 or a single FW800 port, the days of high speed card offloads and back-ups away from the office just got more difficult for all but the 17" MBP.
Finally, only the 17" MBP has the matte screen option. Some may not care, but I think a lot of folks would like to have seen the matte screen back on the 15" MBP at least. No luck there.
So, while a bit of speed boost is nice to see, some of the other valuable pieces of the puzzle are no longer there or still not offered on the smaller models. In the end, the 15" is probably still the most attractive for overall size and features and speed, but it has now fallen to a decidedly less professional level than its 17" big brother with respect to connectivity and screen options, and the 13", while nice to see its return for small yet powerful capability, is also a bit hamstrung, but it always was with respect to the other MBPs. The price drop is a plus all the way around, so at least a good note to end on, eh?
LJ