The 2016 Apple MacBook Pro may actually come out this year after all. Apple is slated to hold an event on October 27 in the UK where it is expected to launch its latest lineup of Mac computers and more importantly, its latest laptop.
Interestingly, the event shall come a day after the October 26 event of Microsoft in the US where the Redmondian company is expected to launch its Windows 10 upgrade and its Surface PC, among other things.
There are also rumors suggesting that Microsoft shall be launching its latest laptop, the Surface Book 2, and its hybrid laptop-tablet, the Surface Pro 5. The Surface Book 2 is reportedly being positioned by Microsoft against the 2016 Apple MacBook Pro so having the two laptops in the market one after the other would redound to the benefit of consumers.
Typical of Apple, the American tech giant has not confirmed yet which of its products are going to be launch on October 27 but based on the press invitation it sent out, Macs are definitely going to be on the agenda, reports The Week of UK.
But the star of the show is the range-topping 2016 Apple MacBook Pro since it is reportedly a major upgrade from its predecessor.
It has been four years since the American tech giant gave its most powerful laptop any meaningful upgrades and the reported radical redesign of the 2016 MacBook Pro and its all-new features shall make it truly a groundbreaking laptop.
Rumored specifications and features are consistent
Consistent with the previous rumors, the 2016 Apple MacBook Pro shall come out in two variants featuring a 13-inch and a 15-inch model. It shall be very slim with thinner bezels and a flatter keyboard.
The laptop shall also be featuring a Touch ID and an OLED touchscreen bar replacing the standard function keys on the keyboard.
The strip will display virtual keys that change depending on the application being run – a word processor would show editing keys and options, while player controls would feature when playing games and watching videos.
On the downside, there are reports saying that the 2016 Apple MacBook Pro could ship without some industry standard ports, including the USB Type-C port and that an adaptor will be needed for USB-A inputs. The same reports are saying that a Thunderbolt port will remain, but the HDMI port and the SD card reader could also disappear.
Another interesting pre-launch rumor is that the laptop shall feature an Apple Pencil support, which seems to have emanated from the fact that all upcoming Microsoft Surface devices shall have support for the Surface Pen as well.
Accordingly, the iPad Pro’s stylus is tipped to be compatible with the upcoming MacBook’s trackpad, so users would be able to write and draw on it naturally.
An update to the MacBook Air
There are also reports saying that the October 27 Apple event shall release possible minor updates to the MacBook Air, reports C/Net.
This goes against previous rumors saying that the American tech giant would already do away with its notebook line for good in order to streamline its MacBook line.
The 2016 Apple MacBook Pro is the third major iteration of the laptop line beginning with the 2006 original and the 2012 MacBook Pro with Retina display.
Incidentally, the secondary OLED display of the 2016 Apple MacBook Pro shall offer contextual shortcuts to the user, making it even easier to interact with frequently used features that are going to be just one touch away.
The OLED bar should offer system-wide shortcuts, but also app-specific shortcuts, on the assumption that developers shall extend support to the feature.
Apple has yet to officially name the OLED display on the 2016 Apple MacBook Pro but insiders say that the company refers to it internally as the ‘Dynamic Function Row.’
The best feature of the 2016 Apple MacBook Pro seemed to have been confirmed no less by reputable Apple analyst Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities as early as May this year.