Peter Cohen and I had a brief exchange on Facebook/Twitter regarding my speculation about the future of the 13-inch MacBook Pro. For the benefit of those of you not on Facebook, here is a repost of the conversation:

Ted Landau
Idle speculation: Might Apple discontinue 13″ MacBook Pro when updates come out — directing that market to MacBook Air?

Peter Cohen
Interesting idea. Or, what will styling cues and technical changes will the 13-inch MacBook Pro inherit from the MBA?

Ted Landau
Yes. There are now three different 13″ MacBook models: white, Pro and Air. Each other size only has one model. Do we really need three 13″ models? Can Apple redesign the 13″ MacBook Pro to be more like the Air without it being TOO much like the Air? Seemed to me like eliminating the 13″ Pro would be the simplest answer.

Peter Cohen
You’re right – the 13-inch form factor is suddenly very crowded. You speak sense, Ted – the 13-inch MBP is suddenly looking very redundant. Of course, if Apple does something significant to differentiate a 13-inch MBP from the MBA or the MB, that’s a different story…i.e., Sandy Bridge, USB 3, 3D holographic display, sharks with laz0rs, etc.

Update: February 24: Turns out, I was wrong. The new MacBook Pro models announced today include a 13-inch version.