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This would allow easy access to the dock (via touch) even when in fullscreen mode.

This is where I'm putting my money as well: the dock often gets in the way as vertical space is very limited on a notebook. Having the dock above the keyboard would eliminate that problem.
 
Ok, maybe I'm going to get flamed but who would be interested in getting a MacBook Pro with a detachable screen a la, Microsoft Surface Book?

::slowly raising my hand::

Me too, but we will have to wait a couple of years for this to happen :/
 
Great news from apple for a change.
I love my rMBP 13" just starting after a year to understand how great macs are, its worth the effort.

Just two negs on my rMBP 2015 that I hope they address on the refresh

I have the i5 8GB RAM 512 GB in parallels W7 & W10 it gets hot struggles with fan kicking in which irks me.

Also watching amazon prime video even on Chrome it heats up and rpm of fan is high.

Strangly also this happens during remote access of a Google 'Nest' Thermostat- the rMBP gets HOT!

Love the idea of touch ID even if it works 95% of the time.
 



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.

macbook_pros_2015.jpg

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.

Article Link: 2016 MacBook Pro May Include OLED Display Touch Bar and Touch ID
 
Apple redesign the Mac and people (somehow) come to the conclusion it's going to be rubbish. They can't wait can they? A Q4 release? Who cares? Just be patient.
 
I've been waiting for this refresh for so long.. But if they really do away with the function keys entirely AND/OR go to the AWFUL butterfly keyboard instead of the classic mac chiclets keys.. I will have no choice but to skip buying a new mac. I would love to have the OLED function bar across the top for just media and utility options, but the actual f-keys are absolutely necessary.
 
Ok, maybe I'm going to get flamed but who would be interested in getting a MacBook Pro with a detachable screen a la, Microsoft Surface Book?

::slowly raising my hand::

I thought about this, but battery life would be terrible, and the inability to use two devices at a time is kind of a bummer. But most importantly, the tablet life on the SurfaceBook sucks. I'd gladly take an iPad as a tablet over the SurfaceBook.

The MacBook Pro would have to basically be an iPad Pro. Which, it would cost the same. A SurfaceBook costs roughly the same as a MBP + iPad. You get better battery life for tablet, better ecosystem, and most importantly to me, the ability to use two devices at once.

I like the iPad for taking handwritten notes and using the MBP for reading documents or books.

Also, those of you who think they'd get rid of the function keys lack imagination. The report also mentions a new hinge design. Take a look at a rMBP. If they can redesign the hinge to make it flat, there's enough room for an OLED display on the top of the keyboard above the function keys.

I agree with what previous people have said, I imagine this being used for a dock at first. But, perhaps opening it up for other uses as well.
 
Ok, maybe I'm going to get flamed but who would be interested in getting a MacBook Pro with a detachable screen a la, Microsoft Surface Book?

::slowly raising my hand::
Apple call that an iPad with keyboard
 
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.
 
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Lenovo X1 Carbon anyone? The worst idea ever to replace the button row with a touch strip. Then again, if they're going to butcher the computer with Macbook 12" crappy keyboard even the touch strip will feel pretty much the same as the rest. Then again, why not get rid of the keyboard completely and replace it with an iPad for fully adjustable keyboard layout? It won't feel any worse than that useless ultrathin keyboard.

I truly hope that rumor has no basis in truth. Otherwise I'm stuck with this rMBP15 for the rest of it's life and then forced to move away from Macs. :(
 
What I am hoping for:

16 GBs of DDR4 RAM Standard, expandable to 32 GBs
This shouldn't be a huge problem though I expect RAM to be soldered in. That is we will have two RAM options at the time of purchase.
Latest Intel Kaby Lake processors
That won't happen! Intel just released a SkyLake suitable for the MBP that is barely in mass production.
4K or 5K Retina Display
Interesting idea. I'm so old I'm not sure I would see the difference, however retina, first on my iPad then on my MBP has made me a believer.
USB C ports, 4 of them, HDMI and all the rest.
USB C ports, 4 of them, HDMI and that is about it. I'd still would like to see an analog jack and SD card slot though.
Still have no plans to upgrade, my Early 2015 MacBook Pro is serving me well.

This is my problem, I purchased a 13" MBP in 2015 (old MBP died) and it would be hard to justify an upgrade. However if these machines are the big step forward I think they will be I would love to think about an early upgrade.
 
If it is Apples financial fourth quarter it could very well be two weeks after WWDC in the first week of July. That would be pushing it though.

I'm thinking/hoping:

1. Next version of MacOS unveiled at WWDC.
2. Testing with developers starts soon afterwards (hopefully).
3. Testing of Touch ID features baked into next MacOS will work with compatible iPhones.
4. And the new MacBook Pros equipped with hardware Touch ID (so you don't have to use the iPhone) follow the launch of the final release of MacOS.

So realistically we probably won't see the new MacBook Pros until around August.
 
Apple redesign the Mac and people (somehow) come to the conclusion it's going to be rubbish. They can't wait can they? A Q4 release? Who cares? Just be patient.

As for me I'm sending my kid off to college this fall and part of that necessarily involves buying her a new MacBook Pro. (What college student in North America does NOT have a new MacBook Pro for Back To School?) It would suck to high heaven to have to buy her one of the current, long-in-the-tooth MacBook Pros in August and then a couple weeks later have up-to-date stuff come to market.
 
Well why not just make it a piece of glass then? It feels exactly like typing on an iPad and at least then it could change the keys per application.

Right now you have the worst of both: a glass pad feel but without the ability to change what it displays.

I'd also hate a glass pad keyboard, fwiw, but at least then I'd understand why they did it. With the butterfly I just don't get it.

whats so hard to get? Its a thinner mechanical structure, enabling a thinner computer. It's short throw is much more precise and it feels more accurate and less mushy. It doesn't feel like typing on an iPad. there is enough throw in the keys for feedback in my experience with it.

id say that the next technological advance will be to have each "key" like the new taptic feedback trackpad, but just having glass like the iPad would be very unforgiving.
 
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What's everyone's problem with the 12" MacBook keyboard? I think it's the best keyboard Apple ever made, and I wish it were available on the Pro line as well. I can consistently write much faster on this one than on the current Pro keyboard (and I am a fast typer). I guess to each his own...

The problem is key travel, it feels like you are typing on a touchscreen, my fingers can't tell if i actually pressed a key. I had to return my 12" macbook because of it. Its insanely slow performance didn't help either..
 
Touch panel.. No thanks, my Work computer was a Lenovo X1 with a touch panel.. Ugly and unusefull.

Dont make the same mistakes Apple.

You're assuming Apple would make the same mistakes Lenovo did without having seen what Apple's engineers could do with such a touch panel, should this rumour be correct.

Don't get me wrong, I am struggling to see how it could be useful, but I am open minded towards the idea.
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The MacBook keyboard is awesome. Use it for a day and you won't want to go back to those fat and sloppy keys.

MacBook keyboard with a little more travel per key = best ever keyboard on a Mac
 
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The problem is key travel, it feels like you are typing on a touchscreen, my fingers can't tell if i actually pressed a key. I had to return my 12" macbook because of it. Its insanely slow performance didn't help either..

seems its more "love/hate". i certainly think its better than the previous designs and wouldn't really want to go back.

maybe its going to be the new argument to replace matte vs glossy screens.
 
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