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

[lowkey]

.Enough thinner and lighter.All this means is that there will be no room for anything but thunderbolt and usb c (one of each). There is no way that I going to have a whole bunch of adapter cables in my bag.

It's all going to be USBc and thunderbolt in the future. I wonder whether USBc will take over thunderbolt too? Ports are always changing and getting smaller. I remember 25 pin SCSI ports back in the day. A USBc port can handle more data at a tiny fraction of the size.

FireWire is really on the way out and can be used with a thunderbolt to FireWire adapter for those who need it. It's not much of a problem for me. The adapter stays attached on the end of my FireWire cable.

 

[rezwits]

Another thing I know, is they better "Feature" a replaceable SSD NVME, future developed by OWC or offered as a replacement by Apple. If it's got this OLED Function Bar, and definitely a Finger Print Reader, I want mine to go at least EIGHT YEARS!

 

[Stingray454]

Nooooooo apple, 4th quarter? WTF... I was selling my old mbp already!!!

As it says just a few posts above yours, 4th FISCAL quardter, which means July - September. So at least soonish.

 

[mortenandersen]

Wait really? Where gonna do away with function keys for the sake of being "innovative". Come on! They are just added features for the sake of adding features.

Yes, that's one of the most commen errors today - in many fields of designing products. It's most often totally misunderstood and useless/pointless "developments".

 

[vmachiel]

Yes, that's one of the most commen errors today - in many fields of designing products. It's most often totally misunderstood and useless/pointless "developments".

Indeed, They were the ones that always said that "design is not just how it looks, it's how it works." Well, the function keys are working because they are tactile. Don't make them touch because it looks good!

 

[pablosito]

I still hold onto hope for a return to the 17" MBP, especially with the trend to bigger phones and iPads. I have maxed out my two 17" 2011s so I have no upgrades left.

I wish I could join your hope on this. I really do. The 17" was a thing of beauty. A newer, thinner one would take out some weight. They've gone huge on the iMac, and even the iPad, but I just don't see this dream coming true. :-/ So many people want more portability. There's just no market for giant laptops.
A 15" retina is what you get now. See if they bump it to 15.5" in a month.
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It's all going to be USBc and thunderbolt in the future. I wonder whether USBc will take over thunderbolt too? Ports are always changing and getting smaller. I remember 25 pin SCSI ports back in the day. A USBc port can handle more data at a tiny fraction of the size.

FireWire is really on the way out and can be used with a thunderbolt to FireWire adapter for those who need it. It's not much of a problem for me. The adapter stays attached on the end of my FireWire cable.

I'm realizing, now, that I've always had dongles and adapters in my bag. Going back to my 12" MBP from 200x. Firewire 400 to 800, mini-display this/that/other to DVI, HDMI, .... now USB-C, thunderbolt ... different adapters but I don't think we ever escape them.
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If it was a good ergonomically to make a keyboard with so little travel, they would have done it a long time ago. It's not exactly cutting edge technology. You're also totally forgetting how fingers work.
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My fingers aren't numb, dude. And if you look up at the posts in this thread hating on the keyboard and how many likes they have, you'll see I'm not exactly some fringe case. It's a divisive design at best. People's fingers are used to tactile feedback, and key travel is the #1 way to accomplish that. That said, maybe it's not the *only* way to get tactile feedback -- the haptic trackpad on this thing is pretty mind-blowing.

Divisive design: perfect description. And maybe they really have gone too far this time. It's just not glass, that's all. Glass is impossible for any real typist. Forget it.

I used to love the old silver MBP keyboard which had huge travel. But then I got used to the current black keys they've had for years now. Maybe I am just trying to be optimistic but will eat my words later. I may chicken out and grab a MBP while I can, with the old keyboard. But I'll bet anything this new keyboard will go on all models within the next 1-2 years, like it or not.

Lighter touch. That's the adaptation required on this keyboard, and yup 90% of us probably don't want to change. "Forgetting how fingers work" - LOL yeah maybe!

 

[aloshka]

Yea, but was it a screen, touchscreen or just a surface like a trackpad with some static buttons engraved or printed on the surface?

This rumoured features is a secondary sub-screen with touch sensitivity. I've never seen that before and since Apple have the best UI for touch, then it would have the cache of being really good.

Yes, that's what I'm talking about. An actual LCD with a touchscreen. I think it would have been better if it was engraved or something at least then you wouldn't have to look down to see if what you are pressing is actually what's displayed on the LCD.

 

[Chopper62]

I can't understand what the benefit of a proprietary display above the keyboard would be. I was really hoping that they meant it would use OLED for the main display and ditch LCD entirely. What I would love to see is integrated Pencil support... there hasn't been a notebook with a built in graphics tablet since the old Thinkpad W710 (the insane one that had two displays). As for graphics, I don't care as long as it includes TB3 so I can run a GeForce 1080 in an external chassis.

That was precisely what caught my attention. That Apple found a way to fix the OLED nagging problems and was going to implement it in the new MB Pro line up. Even a programmable OLED function row would be a tired, non starter for me.

Honestly I thought the pro update was going to happen in June, not December. I haven't to admit though I love using the pen on a ip pro instead of my finger. More precise, fewer non-clicks.

This article has fuelled my de sire to begin re-researching the dark side.

 

[phas3]

when is the expected release date for the new macbook pro?

 

[Henkna]

when is the expected release date for the new macbook pro?

2018

 

[Manuelrodrigues]

Yep. A MacBook replaced my 2013 rMBP for daily work duties here and abroad. The rMBP sits at home in my studio for when I need CPU power with Cubase and VST plugins.
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What do you do that requires more than a 2.8ghz quad i7 when you are on the road?
Just asking cause my 2013 2.3 quad i7 can lift a shed load of VST plugins in Cubase or AUs in Logic where the CPU load is constant and critical.

Did a Google search. Didn't find many faster than 2.8gHz i7s. One with a quad Xeon!

I work in (realtime) graphics which is much more demanding than audio. I'd be very happy with quad Xeon, a1080 gpu and 64 Gb ram.

 

[ignatius345]

Divisive design: perfect description. And maybe they really have gone too far this time. It's just not glass, that's all. Glass is impossible for any real typist. Forget it.

I used to love the old silver MBP keyboard which had huge travel. But then I got used to the current black keys they've had for years now. Maybe I am just trying to be optimistic but will eat my words later. I may chicken out and grab a MBP while I can, with the old keyboard. But I'll bet anything this new keyboard will go on all models within the next 1-2 years, like it or not.

Lighter touch. That's the adaptation required on this keyboard, and yup 90% of us probably don't want to change. "Forgetting how fingers work" - LOL yeah maybe!

I've definitely made some huge adjustments to different styles of keyboards before, both built-in laptop keyboards and external ones of varying types -- I've also had Mac laptops for about the past 15 years. I've gotten pretty good at adjusting to different keyboards, but this new one is... not good. Worst Apple keyboard I've used, and I suffered through the old mushy Powerbook keyboards. I've put many thousands of words down using it, and I still think it's just unpleasant to use. As much as I like the MacBook otherwise (except the monoport situation), I'm going to sell it and keep on trucking with my old 11" MacBook Air.

 

[davidalxndr]

Im looking to buy a macbook pro to use as my daily driver, and i would mainly use it for photo editing and video, so should i get one now or should i hold on and wait to see what the new model has to offer ? because Q4 seems like a bit late for a mac release

 

[thermodynamic]

Indeed, They were the ones that always said that "design is not just how it looks, it's how it works." Well, the function keys are working because they are tactile. Don't make them touch because it looks good!

I dunno. Regular keys and numbers have a needed tactile use. Function keys are rarely used at all, Apple's idea is pretty nifty. If Apple is going to do, the headline amusingly suggests it is not since Apple may do it which also means Apple may not. Maybe it's trolling for free R&D from customers since it can't afford to hire anyone anymore?

 

[vmachiel]

I dunno. Regular keys and numbers have a needed tactile use. Function keys are rarely used at all, Apple's idea is pretty nifty. If Apple is going to do, the headline amusingly suggests it is not since Apple may do it which also means Apple may not. Maybe it's trolling for free R&D from customers since it can't afford to hire anyone anymore?

I don't think Apple is in a position where they can't hire anyone anymore.

 

[printrenori]

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.

That's an oxymoron. The noise is from the fan, which is what keeps it cool. The only three ways for Apple to make a cool and quiet MacBook Pro would be to:

• Put a processor in the MBP that's even weaker than the 1.1Ghz 12" MacBook. (Obviously never gonna happen on a Pro.)
• Invent a new CPU that doesn't produce heat. (Not Apple's area of expertise.)
• Make OS X and software more efficient so they use less clock cycles. (Doesn't have anything to do with hardware.)

 

[navaira]

I don't think Apple is in a position where they can't hire anyone anymore.

Well, if you judge by iTunes, it looks like the entire team consists of Dilbert and Pointy-Haired Eddy.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Apple does with the touch bar. I've been surprised by them many times, thinking "this is going to be the whole new category of useless", then finding out how wrong I was. I thought iPhone would never catch because "who would want a phone without a keyboard"... well... then I got three iPhones and the entire mobile industry has undergone prompt (r)evolution. So perhaps I'm not the best replacement for Tim Cook. Bring it on Apple, and make it so good I'll spend 1/4 of my savings on another Mac.

 

[goaliefight]

So the force touch trackpad is awful, retina display is awful, thinner device is awful, any innovation is awful.

If it were up to you we would still be using floppies on Apple II

First of all, you CAN still use floppies on the Apple II. Second, that keyboard sucks and everyone knows it. There is no innovation there. They just got rid of everything that makes a mechanical keyboard great and called it "innovating thinness".

 

[Voley]

Many people like new keyboard and I do like it.

 

[polbit]

That's an oxymoron. The noise is from the fan, which is what keeps it cool. The only three ways for Apple to make a cool and quiet MacBook Pro would be to:

• Put a processor in the MBP that's even weaker than the 1.1Ghz 12" MacBook. (Obviously never gonna happen on a Pro.)
• Invent a new CPU that doesn't produce heat. (Not Apple's area of expertise.)
• Make OS X and software more efficient so they use less clock cycles. (Doesn't have anything to do with hardware.)

Let's think about that for a second. If Apple makes a thinner laptop with similar thermal envelope ad heat/noise levels (like they did with MBP vs rMBP), that means that they were able to design the same thermal efficiency into a thinner chassis, based on newer CPU/GPU, etc. That also means that if they were to keep the thicker design, they would've had more room for the cooling design, and therefore ability to make it quieter/cooler.

 

[vmachiel]

Well, if you judge by iTunes, it looks like the entire team consists of Dilbert and Pointy-Haired Eddy.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Apple does with the touch bar. I've been surprised by them many times, thinking "this is going to be the whole new category of useless", then finding out how wrong I was. I thought iPhone would never catch because "who would want a phone without a keyboard"... well... then I got three iPhones and the entire mobile industry has undergone prompt (r)evolution. So perhaps I'm not the best replacement for Tim Cook. Bring it on Apple, and make it so good I'll spend 1/4 of my savings on another Mac.

Problems are more complicated than "hire more people". You have to come to an idea of what iTunes should become first.

 

[navaira]

Problems are more complicated than "hire more people". You have to come to an idea of what iTunes should become first.

Yup. I don't think anybody in Apple has that idea.

 

[dpx55]

A 5-6 month wait for a MBP refresh is pretty bad, especially for the 15" MBP that's been neglected for a couple of years now.

 

[Taj Armstrong]

Maybe something like this?

 

[moonjelly]

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.

Thinner goes with your quieter, cooler wishes. The new MacBooks are thin, cool, and quiet because they use low wattage chips, thereby losing the fan. Its unlikely they will go as thin as the MacBooks. If they can marry adequate processing power with passive cooling it will be a real hat trick.

Apple's high end market segment has been the creative professional. Imagine how attractive a solid midlevel GPU and pixel level pencil support on the trackpad would be for artists and photographers.