Apple this week received FCC approval for an unreleased MacBook Pro with a model number of A2159, which is one of the model numbers that was recently registered with the Eurasian Economic Commission.
In the FCC documentation, Apple specifies that the unreleased A2159 machine is a MacBook Pro, which is curious as the MacBook Pro already received a 2019 refresh in May.
A2159 is a model that was not included in the May update, and it's not entirely clear what it is. As a Reddit user points out, the back of the machine says that it's rated at 20.3V - 3A Max, which is equivalent to 61W, perhaps suggesting a refreshed 13-inch MacBook Pro.
From the FCC filing
There's a possibility that Apple is planning to launch an updated 13-inch MacBook Pro without a Touch Bar, which is one of the machines that did not receive a May update. The non-Touch Bar 13-inch MacBook Pro has not seen a refresh since 2017.
Apple is also said to be developing a 16-inch MacBook Pro that features a new design and larger display perhaps enabled through slimmer bezels, though it's not clear if that is the machine outlined in the FCC document given the power information specified.
A mockup of what a 16-inch MacBook Pro might look like
FCC approvals tend to be published right when a new machine launches, so we could see the A2159 MacBook Pro model quite soon.
Update: The FCC has pulled all of the documentation on the new A2159 machine.
But the Touch Bar does not remove any functionality that didn't exist before with the physical keys. I do agree that taking your eyes off the screen can be adjustment, and maybe that's where the disconnect is for people? You need to "look at the keyboard" when touch-typing is meant to avoid that?
You act as though having to look down at your keyboard to use it merely "an adjustment." It's a major regression, not to mention what I already pointed out: the touchbar goes to sleep, so you have to tap it gingerly somewhere to wake it up, THEN peer at it to poke at it... to step over a line of code.
So yes, it DOES take away function. Not to mention the fact that it should be an OPTION. Why is Apple forcing an emoji bar on so-called "pro" users?
Please, please, please, No butterfly keyboard. We don’t care what promises you make this time around that now you’ve fixed that junker. You’ve said that too many years in a row.
I’d like an updated no-touchbar MBP 13. Touchbar is a terrible addition to an even worse keyboard.
The emoji bar is an embarrassing gimmick that's worse than useless; it deletes a dozen USEFUL keys and replaces them with a featureless strip that goes to sleep. So even if you set it to show function keys all the time, you have to wake it up if you want to press one. Craven stupidity, and insulting on a "pro" computer.
And to add further insult: There's still no real Delete key on Apple's laptops, and you can't even add one to the emoji bar. WTF?
What is wrong at Apple to result in this perpetual state of incompetence in regard to HIDs? Hideously defective keyboards, laughably incompetent mice, and even the trackpads are now way too big... constantly in contact with the heels of your hands and working overtime (and not always successfully) to filter out spurious touches.
Oh... and again, we pay a penalty for the incompetently giant trackpad while Apple fails to provide what would be an obvious benefit: making the Pencil work on it!
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So yes, it DOES take away function. Not to mention the fact that it should be an OPTION. Why is Apple forcing an emoji bar on so-called "pro" users?
I’d like an updated no-touchbar MBP 13. Touchbar is a terrible addition to an even worse keyboard.
And to add further insult: There's still no real Delete key on Apple's laptops, and you can't even add one to the emoji bar. WTF?
What is wrong at Apple to result in this perpetual state of incompetence in regard to HIDs? Hideously defective keyboards, laughably incompetent mice, and even the trackpads are now way too big... constantly in contact with the heels of your hands and working overtime (and not always successfully) to filter out spurious touches.
Oh... and again, we pay a penalty for the incompetently giant trackpad while Apple fails to provide what would be an obvious benefit: making the Pencil work on it!