I'm not surprised about a thinner model. Broadwell is a die shrink to 14nm, which means the processor itself will not only be physically smaller, it will also require less energy and produce less heat. This means Apple can shrink the internal components and make the laptop thinner.
This is a very likely scenario, in fact, it's quite possible Apple has already finalised the designes but are simply waiting for Broadwell to become available, which will not be until at least February or March, or possibly even Summer 2015.
I'm very skeptical about these claims, to be honest. It's highly unlikely Apple will release a 17" MBP again, let alone a touch screen version. OS X is not optimised for use with touch screens, it is optimised for use with a mouse and keyboard. Apple will not make the same mistake Microsoft made with Windows 8 and produce an all-in-one operating system.
In theory, it is possible that iOS will one day grow to be the successor to OS X when tablets have enough processing power to compete with laptops, but it will take some time to get there (and it might not even be Apple's intention at all).
Furthermore, Apple pretty much patents everything, but that doesn't mean they will actually use them. Since Microsoft 'stole' their operating system a long time ago because they didn't properly patent it, they are simply not taking any chances today.
I wouldn't worry about a touch screen Mac coming any time soon. If you need a Mac now, just buy one now. They are fantastic computers and they will still be fantastic 5-6 years from now. Heck, I'm typing this on a 2010 MBP which still rocks almost 5 years after I bought it.
