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2016 MacBook Pro May Include OLED Display Touch Bar and Touch ID

TheNewLou said:
The blog post talks about the iPad Pro, not the Surface.

On an iPad Pro, the Smart Keyboard is very short because it doesn't have the function keys; this allows your fingers to reach the screen for Control Center or for the new keyboard toolbar (autocorrect word choices, bold/italic/underline, font, etc.). Very handy!
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I know, I read it. Odd choice of devices for your argument.

In other words, why are the Surface products any different to the Macbook?

Also, what use are function keys for iOS?!
 
TheNewLou said:
Yes, I wrote that article. There's a reason the iPad Pro smart keyboard doesn't have the top row of function keys—you can reach the screen with your hands still on the keyboard and use Control Center to adjust volume, etc.

The rumored OLED strip seems to be Apple's way of adding touch to a laptop without making the screen a full touchscreen display (which adds cost and is awkward to use).

Perhaps the OLED strip is just the beginning—doesn't Apple have patents on a full-touchscreen keyboard with simulated key presses using haptic feedback? Maybe the future is a full-size OLED "keyboard" that becomes a trackpad and/or even a second screen for laptops (& desktops? Magic Keyboard 3?).
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Interesting.

But if used as a second screen - doesn't that then become awkward to use?

BTW - I don't think a full touchscreen display would be awkward to use. Yes it adds cost. But there's no "rule" that says the touchscreen has to be used in the same manner as an iPad. I liken it to people balking at me when I suggested that the iPad have a camera. Everyone told me what would be the point - it would be way too awkward to use as a camera and/or for skype/facetime. And now?

Just like you wouldn't use an Apple Pencil for everything - you wouldn't have to use a touchscreen for everything either.
Am I suggesting it's the way to go or that it's needed? No - not really. But I don't buy into the standard line that it would be awkward.
 
niun said:
Question..

Why do you need to touch the screen on the Surface Pro/ Surface Book when using the keyboard and trackpad?
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It comes naturally. The fine thing is that there's no need to but sometimes it is useful. Once you use the Surface Pro for a longer time you find yourself naturally skipping from pen to keyboard to trackpad to screen without being forced to do so.
The most important thing is that you don't have to, but you may want to use the touch screen. And you have the chance for it
 
4th quarter?!? I was going to get my daughter a laptop as a graduation present. She was totally cool with waiting until June to see if something was announced at WWDC. I'd really like to see something new before she heads to college this fall.
 
sofila said:
It comes naturally. The fine thing is that there's no need to but sometimes it is useful. Once you use the Surface Pro for a longer time you find yourself naturally skipping from pen to keyboard to trackpad to screen without being forced to do so.
The most important thing is that you don't have to, but you may want to use the touch screen. And you have the chance for it
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I know, I use one daily. I have done for over a year and it totally changed the way I work. :)
Just had an issue with the article.
 
My wife just bought me a 13" rMBP on the assumption that the update would only be slimmer and with a new chip.

This is devestatingly good news.
Because now I have to return this 2015 13" rMBP :(
 
Just out of interest.
How many people have ever complained about the MBP keyboard compared to the MB keyboard?

My fingers tried to tear themselves off of my hands when using the MB keyboard. But that's my own opinion.
 
Looking to upgrade my 2014 15" Iris Pro rMBP to a 2016 model with dedicated graphics. Looks like this is the right time to do so with the new design coming... My wallet is not going to like this.
 
sniffies said:
Not happening. Mid-2017 at the earliest.

This year's refresh will just be thinner, lighter, faster + Skylake. Nothing dramatic.

Drama is saved for 2017 to coincide with MacBook Pro's 11-year anniversary.
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Actually, I think Apple will pull out all the stops and add on every feature they have available. The drop in iPhone sales has spooked investors and Apple needs to shore up confidence...which they'll do with a loaded MBP.
 
bobob said:
A tablet that weighs almost as much as an rMB!
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True, but it's hell of a machine. I mean a device that small having a Core i7 and 16GB of RAM plus fast large storage, if you have the money, and whist Apple's products are good they don't offer that kind of product.

I will be buying this new computer and an iPad PRO 9.7" pretty soon. I do admire the Surface line though, I think the non Pro Surface model is great but it needs more power, the Core M pro version is good but expensive when the i5 is not a lot more.
 
Frankly - i would kiss my wife and keep them both (the 13" and the wife ;)) The new MacBook will be 5% faster and have USB-C - so what? Is it worth to disappoint the wife? Maybe my personal math works different but 'Happy wife - happy life'. I would not dare to risc that equation for less than 10% benefit :)

soco said:
My wife just bought me a 13" rMBP on the assumption that the update would only be slimmer and with a new chip.

This is devestatingly good news.
Because now I have to return this 2015 13" rMBP :(
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apolloa said:
As someone already stated on here, Apples 4th quarter starts in June. And someone said next year is the MacBooks Pro 11th year, so this year will be the 10th anniversary, sounds right for a full redesign.
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You don't need to. It's an option I guess, the Surface Pro is a tablet in design so it makes more sense to have a full touch screen, and then it has the pen of course.
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Intel ensuring Kabylake is ready for the 2016-2017 back to school season. I would hope Apple waits for the Kabylake.
DDR4 support along with native 3.1 and new video architectures formats would certainly soften the $2500+ blow to the wallet vs the processor being obsolete before taking delivery.
 
laz232 said:
For those of us that do actual work on our rMBP (you know: circuit design, thermal transfer simulations, measurement instrument control, perhaps some programming), then you realise that:
1. OLED strip: who cares
2. Thinness? The computer is thin enough, we would like more battery so that the battery life under load is 8+ hours (rather than currently 4 hours under load and 10 hours when faffing about on the internet)
3. Standard USB3 ports are very useful, heck it's annoying to need a dongle for Ethernet. Aagain, working at a real job, you know designing ICs etc then WiFi is a PITA (latency, throughput, number of supported clients), and I say this as an engineer getting paid real money to do microwave & RF design: wired connections are preferable.
4. Keyboard: the MB1 keyboard is not very comfortable. I hope they stay with the existing one.
5. The MBP design is fine, make some minor updates if you want to Apple, but don't dummify your product lineup even more...
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You haven't been around here much have you? Everyone here seems to be going crazy about "the rMBP design is sooooooooooo old!!!!!" "We need a new rMBP design".

I agree with you. The rMBP design is perfectly fine. No need to change it. I do not know what all the fuss is about anyway. Who cares if the design is old? It is a very good design.
 
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bruinsrme said:
Intel ensuring Kabylake is ready for the 2016-2017 back to school season. I would hope Apple waits for the Kabylake.
DDR4 support along with native 3.1 and new video architectures formats would certainly soften the $2500+ blow to the wallet vs the processor being obsolete before taking delivery.
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So are Intel going to launch a suitable Kaby Lake for the MacBook Pro before next month then? Considering they are currently laying off 11% of their workforce, have scrapped all their Intel Atom processor work, and delayed by several months the Sky Lake processors that are suitable for the MacBook Pro line?

I am pretty confident that if YOU want to want for Kaby Lake you will be waiting until next year before they make a chip Apple can use.

I would personally rather have Sky Lake now.
 
OLED? Touch ID? A DEDICATED GPU?! That sounds awesome. I just wish they weren't changing the keyboard, I have never used a Butterfly keyboard, but from what I've heard, the aren't that great. I don't really understand the extra thinness, but as long as they keep ALL of the ports and the same battery life, I'm cool with it. The main bombshell would be a dedicated GPU. That would make my life so much easier.
 
Thinner. Lighter. Ugh. I guess the time for a true, loaded-out professional machine is long gone. Last year I augmented my 15" rMBP (2013) with an HP zBook 17 G2 -- and yeah, it's big & heavy but holy hell I finally have a decent sized screen again, Thunderbolt 2, a proper docking station, tonnes of ports, support for three (and possibly four: I only use three) screens and all of the CPU and graphics horsepower I could want. 2 internal SATA SSDs plus a PCIe-based boot SSD make for killer I/O performance and I can move from the 16GB of RAM I have up to 32GB to take further advantage of the surprisingly elegant Hyper-V virtualization solution for systems testing. Battery life? Not so good and I'm opting to stick with the primitive-feeling yet still very useful Windows 7. It ain't for everyone but as an engineering station Apple just doesn't have anything that comes close ... yet. Fingers crossed for this autumn.
 
asfdasdf said:
It's your problem if you don't know how to choose the correct tool for your job. What you need is a workstation windows pc, you are just willing to buy a macbook because of some irrational personal preference. If you're not into photography, video, music, iOs programming... then macbooks are and have always been just a gimmick fancy hardware buy. Grow up, there is no standard engineering program designed natively for Mac OS, if you want to be hip it's entirely your problem. I don't go to Porsche forums and complain because they don't have a truck, van or excavator.
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If you believe what you say then the only use for Macs is really iOS programming. You can do everything else you mentioned on a PC running Windows or Linux for a fraction of the price.
 
JohnnyCanadian said:
Thinner. Lighter. Ugh. I guess the time for a true, loaded-out professional machine is long gone. Last year I augmented my 15" rMBP (2013) with an HP zBook 17 G2 -- and yeah, it's big & heavy but holy hell I finally have a decent sized screen again, Thunderbolt 2, a proper docking station, tonnes of ports, support for three (and possibly four: I only use three) screens and all of the CPU and graphics horsepower I could want. 2 internal SATA SSDs plus a PCIe-based boot SSD make for killer I/O performance and I can move from the 16GB of RAM I have up to 32GB to take further advantage of the surprisingly elegant Hyper-V virtualization solution for systems testing. Battery life? Not so good and I'm opting to stick with the primitive-feeling yet still very useful Windows 7. It ain't for everyone but as an engineering station Apple just doesn't have anything that comes close ... yet. Fingers crossed for this autumn.
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Why do you need laptop? Desktop will suit your better for fraction of price
 
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