Previewed at WWDC, launching in the fall.
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.
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.
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.
Tags: KGI Securities, Ming-Chi Kuo
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Top Rated Comments
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28 months ago
For once, Apple, DON'T make the Pro thinner. Make it quieter/cooler instead. For once! I'm so tired of my current MBP being a vacuum cleaner/oven every time I so much as watch a Youtube video. We DON'T need thinner in the Pro line! Save that for the Macbook line, the Air line.
28 months ago
Also, if you press the Unicorn button, a unicorn will appear and whisk you away to a magical land.
What? I can make predictions too.
What? I can make predictions too.
28 months ago
ew. i do not want to look down on the keyboard to make sure i pressed mission control on the touch bar accurately
28 months ago
The new "thin and light" design will be helped by...the butterfly-mechanism keyboards that debuted in the 12-inch MacBook
Please, no. There is no reason to do this. Apple already slimmed down the keyboards in the 2015 MBP. Just keep using that.
28 months ago
God damn it.
They'd better not. I had hopes that the butterfly keyboard was intended to tell consumers which MacBooks were the "cheap and crappy" ones. As long as the Pros kept real keyboards I didn't really care.
But are they really delusional enough to think those things are suitable for all of their Macs?
I've always thought that the Macbook Pro was Apple's most solid product. I really hope this rumor isn't true.
They'd better not. I had hopes that the butterfly keyboard was intended to tell consumers which MacBooks were the "cheap and crappy" ones. As long as the Pros kept real keyboards I didn't really care.
But are they really delusional enough to think those things are suitable for all of their Macs?
I've always thought that the Macbook Pro was Apple's most solid product. I really hope this rumor isn't true.
28 months ago
God damn it.
They'd better not. I had hopes that the butterfly keyboard was intended to tell consumers which MacBooks were the "cheap and crappy" ones. As long as the Pros kept real keyboards I didn't really care.
But are they really delusional enough to think those things are suitable for all of their Macs?
I've always thought that the Macbook Pro was Apple's most solid product. I really hope this rumor isn't true.
28 months ago
I remember when Lenovo ditched function keys in their popular Carbon laptops for a row of adaptive touch "keys". It was nearly unanimously disliked and they went back to function keys the next year.
28 months ago
4th quarter? So uh ... Nothing at dub dub then? Back to the waiting for skylake thread.
28 months ago
The OLED display touch bar? Dear Apple, stay away from the gimmicky features.
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