The trusted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today unveiled interesting details about the upcoming MacBook Pro. Kuo describes it as the first major redesign of the laptop in five years, and will represent a significant upgrade of even the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro of 2019. The new MacBook Pro comes in sizes of 14 inches and 16 inches and has ARM Apple silicone instead of Intel processors.
However, Kuo shares many more surprising things, namely that the Touch Bar will be gone in favor of physical function tests; the MagSafe charging connector returns with more built-in IO ports which means most users do not have to buy additional dongles according to Kuo …
The new chassis design is said to feature square sides in both the upper and lower halves of the machine, which joins the flat-edge design trend, starting with the 2018 iPad Pro and accepted into the 2020 iPhone 12 series. (Of course, the new MacBook Pro series includes Apple ARM CPUs, but Kuo does not share details on how the chip will fare in today’s report.)
The Touch Bar has apparently been completely removed, with the new MacBook Pro simply offering a physical drive of function tests. This is interesting in light of the fact that the low-end 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro was released last fall, and did come with a Touch Bar, although all of the first M1 Macs had essentially identical hardware designs in comparison with the previous generation.
Apple announced the Touch Bar as the future of the Mac import method when the 2016 MacBook Pro was launched, but the feature never really reached its potential or was met. Many Mac users simply want physical keys that they can feel with their fingers without looking at a touch screen. Five years since its launch, it appears Apple is listening to the feedback, and the Touch Bar will be phased out of the MacBook range.
Kuo does not specify exactly which IDE ports are offered. Current MacBook Pro models have four Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, two on each side. The context offered before 2016 and the SD card slot, HDMI and USB-A ports are related. USB-C ports are technically superior and can carry much higher bandwidth data, but the fact that the current MacBook Pro includes USB-C only means that users have to buy and carry a variety of dongles. Things like the SD card slot are much more elegant.
A big advantage of the USB-C design is that customers can charge their MacBook Pro with their port on either side of the machine. Kuo says that a MagSafe power connection will return, but does not mention whether this means that the ability to charge left or right is lost. Note that the report explicitly specifies that MagSafe is sent back via a magnetic power connector like MacBooks of old, and not through a wireless inductive charging system like the MagSafe from the iPhone 12.
In summary, it sounds like Apple will meet the demands of customers who miss the 2015 MacBook Pro – or may still use it – with the return of more traditional IO ports, physical function tests, and MagSafe for power. This traditional feature set will feature a brand new external design, and of course the machines are powered by fast ARM chips designed by Apple. The new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro is expected to launch in the third quarter of 2021.
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