That is pure speculation. And, even if they were, we do not yet know the reliability of this "new and improved" keyboard revision.
Apple's confirmed that third gen keyboard devices (e.g. 2018 MBPs) will be replaced by gen 3.1 keyboards if they fail.
This MBP is already on the Keyboard Replacement Program and it hasn't even shipped yet.
What a clusterf**k.
https://www.apple.com/support/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-notebooks/
I find this reassuring and makes me a little more likely to buy a 2019 model. If I have issues out of warranty, I don't have to hope that Apple eventually extends the repair program; I know up front that it will be covered.
Now, I'd be much more reassured by a longer extended warranty. Four years from the date of purchase isn't that much - I expect my $3k devices to last longer than four years.
This is 2nd gen Coffee Lake. I suspect there could be another refresh in the fall. Ice Lake will be the real upgrade but these CPUs are definitely better than what they were selling just yesterday. Hopefully the octa-core i9 delivers solid performance gains. If anyone just bought a MBP less than 2 weeks ago, return it ASAP.
Ice Lake will be low power CPUs that might be good for the MacBook or Air line, but not for MBPs.
Hopefully next year Intel will get some high performance 10nm CPUs out that are appropriate for the MBP, but given their issues I'm not holding my breath.
2. 2019 models are on the repair program.
3. Thermal issues not addressed.
4. Still using T2 chip, which is behind audio issues plaguing ALL 2018 (and now 2019) MBP models. We're on page 57 on a thread here. No fix, no admission of fault, no ETA.
5. An upgrade bump 1.5 months out from the yearly refresh date doesn't look like good news for an actual fixed redesign in 2019. Looks like I'm stuck on 2012 ancient hardware for another year or more.
2: As I said above, this is designed to reassure.
3: You're probably right but we'll need to wait for testing and teardowns to see whether any improvements have been made.
4: If there's an issue with the T2 chip, the 2019s are sure to carry the latest stepping of the T2 chip which is more likely to have a fix incorporated.
5. I still think there's a chance a redesign (maybe that 16" rumor) will launch in the Fall. Apple did something similar in 2012, where they had a minor refresh of the old models, then introduced the 15" retina, then rounded out the line with a 13" retina months later and then eventually discontinuing the old line.
