I wonder if they reduced the bezels if they could make a 17" MacBook Pro nearly the size of the current 15" ones? As I posted the other day, it would be neat if Apple just consolidated it like this: 12" and 15" MacBooks, 15" and 17" MacBook Pros. Get rid of the Air and add an extra port or two to the MacBook and call it a day. I mean, after all, the original Air expanded ports over time.
With the A9X having a better Geekbench score than the fastest MacBook (5466 vs. 5284), and Apple being rumored to acquire Imagination Technologies, I'm looking forward to seeing a MacBook/iPad crossover device. Apple uses "A" for their iOS devices, "M" for motion co-processors and "Hey Siri", and "S" for Apple Watch. I wonder if they would come out with another chip line that is the ultimate in performance.
Think three A9X cores on a single die using a 10nm process, Geekbenching around 16,000, in a MacBook Pro/iPad Pro 13" hybrid device. Think about using the smart connector like a Thunderbolt 3 connector to attach to a keyboard base. You could store a discrete graphics card, extra battery, and extra ports inside the keyboard part. When it snaps on it clocks up the processor and has access to the additional graphics resources and USB 3.0 speed ports for accessories. Apple has a patent on an OS that quickly switches from touch-based to mouse-based. When you dock, the display and apps morph to being a mouse-friendly desktop OS. Unification across the lines will happen eventually. And providing an SDK for (more easily) scaling iOS apps for the desktop could really help the Mac gain more market traction and help Apple achieve growth in the enterprise which, as Tim said the other day, is ripe for expansion with tons of users using really old PCs.
Everyone keeps saying that Apple's growth isn't sustainable. A hybrid device that isn't rushed and well thought out could bridge the gap to other markets that are ripe for growth. Or maybe it's just my wishful thinking. I think that Apple could figure out how to do it properly, and if they are then they are certainly taking their time. Such a machine would be really expensive to start out, but I think costs would come down over time. I know I'd easily drop $3000 on a machine like that—one that is an iPad Pro and MacBook Pro in one with great performance? That supports the Apple Pencil? It would be fantastic. Apple has been doing a lot of things lately that people never thought they would do. A stylus? Another 4" iPhone? A new iPhone with new, fast components for only $399? iPad Pro? A phablet? A watch? A $17,000 watch? Maybe even a car and removing the headphone jack? Anything is possible. Heck, it wasn't even long ago when people said they would never make an iPad Mini. Steve was famous for saying they wouldn't make something and then making it.