2016 MacBook Pro May Include OLED Display Touch Bar and Touch ID
Apple plans to introduce a revamped high-end MacBook Pro this year that'll include a thinner and lighter form factor, Touch ID and a new OLED display touch bar above the keyboard, according to a new report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The new MacBook Pro would come in 13- and 15-inch variations and arrive in the fourth quarter of 2016.
While long overlooked, the MacBook line is the brightest spot for Apple’s 2016 rollouts. This is particularly true of the two new MacBook Pro models, to be introduced in 4Q16, as they will have a thinner and lighter form factor, Touch ID, use OLED display touch bar (to replace physical function keys, located above the keyboard) and adopt USB- C / Thunderbolt 3.
Kuo calls the new MacBook Pro updates the "most significant upgrade ever undertaken by Apple." The new "thin and light" design will be helped by new metal injection mold-made hinges and the butterfly-mechanism keyboards that debuted in the 12-inch MacBook. There has been speculation Apple would introduce Touch ID to MacBooks and, in the meantime, Apple engineers are working on a way users could unlock their Macs with Touch ID on iPhone.
The 12-inch MacBook will also be joined by a 13-inch MacBook, according to Kuo. The analyst believes that Apple will move forward with all three MacBook lines this year, with the MacBook Pro occupying the high-end slot, the MacBook will replace the Air as the medium-level model and the MacBook Air will serve as an entry-level model with comparatively low prices.
In April, it was reported that the new MacBook Pros would see slimmer designs and new hinges. Additionally, speculation indicated the new MacBook Pros could adopt Thunderbolt 3 with USB-C. Today's report confirms both rumors. Apple's refreshed MacBook Pros are also expected to sport faster Skylake processors, with the top-of-the-line MacBook Pros also sporting AMD's new 400-series Polaris graphics chips.
Popular Stories
Apple is preparing to launch a dramatically thinner iPhone this September, and if recent leaks are anything to go by, the so-called iPhone 17 Air could boast one of the most radical design shifts in recent years.
iPhone 17 Air dummy model alongside iPhone 16 Pro (credit: AppleTrack)
At just 5.5mm thick (excluding a slightly raised camera bump), the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air is expected to become ...
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
In a victory for Epic Games, Apple was today found to be in violation of a 2021 injunction that required it to allow developers to direct customers to third-party purchase options on the web using in-app links.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who has been handling the Apple vs. Epic Games dispute for the last five years, said that Apple is in "willful violation" of the injunction she issued to ...
Spotify today submitted an app update to Apple that will include information on Spotify plan costs and options to subscribe through weblinks without using the in-app purchase system. Spotify will not need to pay a fee to Apple when customers subscribe to the service using alternate payment methods in the Spotify app.
In a blog post announcing the changes, Spotify said that yesterday's ruling ...
Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors.
Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard...
A subset of Apple's software engineers started internal development of iOS 19.4 last month, according to the MacRumors visitor logs.
iOS 19.4 is expected to be released in March or April next year, so the software update is still nearly a year away. However, Apple develops both "Fall" and "Spring" versions of iOS each year, with our website's analytics logs indicating that both iOS 19.0 and...
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney today said that Fortnite will return to the U.S. App Store next week, and he offered a "peace proposal" with a pledge to bring Fortnite back to iOS worldwide if Apple follows certain steps.
"Epic puts forth a peace proposal: If Apple extends the court's friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we'll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop...
Google has announced that first- and second-generation Nest Learning Thermostats will lose support in October 2025, disabling their connected features (via ArsTechnica).
After October 25, 2025, these devices will no longer receive software updates or connect to Google's cloud services. Users won't be able to control them via the Google Home app or voice assistants, though basic temperature...
