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Kuo: New MacBook Pro Models to Feature Flat-Edged Design, MagSafe, No Touch Bar and More Ports
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i guess doing away with the touch bar was expected since they never did much with it(similarly to 3d touch), and they never even released a standalone keyboard with that functionality, which for users such as myself(my laptop mostly sits on my monitor stand in a closed position) could've been useful... i never had it, so i won't miss it, should that be the case, but it was pretty to look at.
and i love losing all of the extra ports to a single(at first) usb-c, just to start brining them back years later. very apple - here's something we took away from you years ago - you're welcome!
and i love losing all of the extra ports to a single(at first) usb-c, just to start brining them back years later. very apple - here's something we took away from you years ago - you're welcome!
Unfortunately they also killed off 3D touch which I really liked.
My guesss is that it can still be done and the Magsafe is in addition. I hope they ship a MagSafe to USB-C cable. I am using a third-party version for my late 2012 MBA so that I can run it and a 2019 Mac from the same HyperJuice charger and it works fine.
I would guess they keep that.
I have the Touch ID on my Air, and that has physical F keys.
I'll believe it when I see it. No way Apple just listened to customers lol
Lots of laptops have proprietary chargers and USB-C charging.
Your professional laptops with 240 Watt power bricks probably wouldn't do that well with USB-C charging. There are some Gaming laptops with dual high-wattage power bricks.
So charge with MagSafe or USB-C: give the customer the choice.
There are two different types of magsafe-style connectors. The straight in and the one that is aligned with the side of the macbook. Those are nice when the left side of the mac is very close to a wall or other obstruction.
honestly... I wish they would make the edges of the "front" rounder!! The Macbook air is fine since it is lowerd where your hands rest but the Macbook Pro's sometimes are really uncomfortable to type on with their rather sharp edges right at your wrist!!!
I'm a big fan of the Macbook design, but this is design over function. Either make that edge rounder or lower the chassis like a Macbook air!
I'm a big fan of the Macbook design, but this is design over function. Either make that edge rounder or lower the chassis like a Macbook air!
I'm not sure I see it as backwards, really. I think this machine is the first laptop based on their efforts—publicized a couple of years ago—to reach out and get feedback from pro users. The things that seem "old" are probably just a realization that they can make their pros happy without alienating the consumer side—i.e., it's no big deal to ignore features you don't need (consumer), but is a very big deal to have features you need taken away (pro). I very much doubt they'll put the additional ports on future MacBook Airs, for example. As for ports, I have to admit it's hard for me to imagine what they'll actually choose to include; probably just the "big hits" from what you typically see on those annoying hub/docks.
FaceID would be nice (not bothered about the webcam, but I get it). I would love to see upgradable SSD, though I realize that's extremely unlikely (obviously RAM won't be upgradable with Apple Silicon, but that's a welcome change, imho). I miss MagSafe less that I thought I would, honestly, though I'm sure they'll do a good job of designing the new version. I definitely agree with others who love the single cable/charge-from-any-port option, so it will be interesting to see what they come up with—could be a magnetically "breakable" cable... Or maybe something like the new iPhones (as mentioned by others)... I suppose maybe a magnetic charging pad/contact that has the USB-C port on it? Dunno, I'm not an industrial designer!
I think the TouchBar was an interesting idea that just never really worked in practice. I often want to use it, but since I touch type, I never look at the keyboard and thus never notice it. At the end of the day, it seems to me the QWERTY keyboard is just a very specific interface that's kind of impervious to innovation... I do think it's a bit odd that they'd go back to standard function keys, but I realize that's just me—maybe they'll have those little LED screens mentioned here a while ago, to make them more flexible/learnable? Of course, I get that some people have the function keys in their muscle memory—I'm just not one of them, so I'm kind of indifferent. Mind you, I certainly do prefer the physical ESC key on my 16" MBP (btw, I previously had a 2016 MBP which genuinely was Hot Garbage—worst Mac I've owned in 20+ years). One thing a new design probably could improve is the way the key caps (surfaces) wear down and become shiny after a relatively short period of use (i.e., less than a year, in my experience). Obviously that's an aesthetic detail, but it would be a welcome (if minor) improvement, to my mind.
Oh! And a matte screen option would be awesome! I had a matte 2012 MBP and the screen was brilliant—maybe not as sexy on the desk, but much better in actual use.
....one other thing... I know people seem obsessed with edge-to-edge displays/tiny bezels, but I kind of hope they don't got that route. This is one of those areas where people seem to have the weird idea that Apple "can't do it" (which is obviously absurd). It's a design choice not to make them tiny, and I'm totally in favour. I've never tried to find the actual research, but in my experience it's not so nice to be reading right at the edge of a display—the boundary is visually helpful, imho. I'm absolutely just guessing, but I'd imagine the research supports my experience.
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This is exactly why I bought a 2015MBP in 2017. Magsafe, ports, and physical keys for things like volume, key backlight and screen brightness. Maybe it'll be time to upgrade to the 2021 version now.
It's still mind-blowing to me that someone at Apple thought removing these most-loved features was a good idea.
It's still mind-blowing to me that someone at Apple thought removing these most-loved features was a good idea.
I'd also say they've kinda followed a single ideology (thinner, smaller, faster, more wireless) to destruction over three generations of MBP, starting with the unibody. It's just been the same design pushed to the next level each time. But then where do they go from here? They could probably go another step on this route with Apple Silicon, but the butterfly fiasco shows the limits. I think this might be them finally breaking out of that and completely reevaluating the product to go with the new era of silicon inside.I'm not sure I see it as backwards, really. I think this machine is the first laptop based on their efforts—publicized a couple of years ago—to reach out and get feedback from pro users. The things that seem "old" are probably just a realization that they can make their pros happy without alienating the consumer side—i.e., it's no big deal to ignore features you don't need (consumer), but is a very big deal to have features you need taken away (pro). I very much doubt they'll put the additional ports on future MacBook Airs, for example. As for ports, I have to admit it's hard for me to imagine what they'll actually choose to include; probably just the "big hits" from what you typically see on those annoying hub/docks.
FaceID would be nice (not bothered about the webcam, but I get it). I would love to see upgradable SSD, though I realize that's extremely unlikely (obviously RAM won't be upgradable with Apple Silicon, but that's a welcome change, imho). I miss MagSafe less that I thought I would, honestly, though I'm sure they'll do a good job of designing the new version. I definitely agree with others who love the single cable/charge-from-any-port option, so it will be interesting to see what they come up with—could be a magnetically "breakable" cable... Or maybe something like the new iPhones (as mentioned by others)... I suppose maybe a magnetic charging pad/contact that has the USB-C port on it? Dunno, I'm not an industrial designer!
I think the TouchBar was an interesting idea that just never really worked in practice. I often want to use it, but since I touch type, I never look at the keyboard and thus never notice it. At the end of the day, it seems to me the QWERTY keyboard is just a very specific interface that's kind of impervious to innovation... I do think it's a bit odd that they'd go back to standard function keys, but I realize that's just me—maybe they'll have those little LED screens mentioned here a while ago, to make them more flexible/learnable? Of course, I get that some people have the function keys in their muscle memory—I'm just not one of them, so I'm kind of indifferent. Mind you, I certainly do prefer the physical ESC key on my 16" MBP (btw, I previously had a 2016 MBP which genuinely was Hot Garbage—worst Mac I've owned in 20+ years). One thing a new design probably could improve is the way the key caps (surfaces) wear down and become shiny after a relatively short period of use (i.e., less than a year, in my experience). Obviously that's an aesthetic detail, but it would be a welcome (if minor) improvement, to my mind.
Oh! And a matte screen option would be awesome! I had a matte 2012 MBP and the screen was brilliant—maybe not as sexy on the desk, but much better in actual use.
....one other thing... I know people seem obsessed with edge-to-edge displays/tiny bezels, but I kind of hope they don't got that route. This is one of those areas where people seem to have the weird idea that Apple "can't do it" (which is obviously absurd). It's a design choice not to make them tiny, and I'm totally in favour. I've never tried to find the actual research, but in my experience it's not so nice to be reading right at the edge of a display—the boundary is visually helpful, imho. I'm absolutely just guessing, but I'd imagine the research supports my experience.
I actually like the touchbar! Keep touchbar, add an SD card reader and 4 USB C ports, and I'm a happy camper.
Drop the touchbar unless you're going to make external keyboards with it. I like consistency between my keyboards.
I agree with the external keyboards. I thought I saw something that Apple was working on one.
Apple’s fiscal years runs from October through September.
So Apple’s 3rd quarter 2021 would be beginning of April through June.
Do we know which ones Ming-Chi Kuo uses?
(EDITED: April through June of course. October start for the fiscal year should be correct).
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They can always do Touch Bar on the screen if they want to bring it back. No reason to have it on the keyboard. That way iMacs can have it.
I hope it's the one you're talking about!
(Mind you, my biggest reason for hitting the "pause" button on M1 is about software compatibility, so I'll be waiting for that anyway.)