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Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today released some interesting details about the upcoming MacBook Pro. Kuo describes this as the first major laptop overhaul in five years and will represent a significant upgrade even from the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro 2019. The new MacBook Pro will feature 14- and 16-inch sizes and feature silicon. Apple ARM instead of Intel processors.
However, Kuo shares much more surprising information, namely that the Touch Bar will disappear in favor of the physical function keys, the MagSafe charging connector is coming back with more IO ports integrated, which means that most users will not have need to buy additional dongles according to Kuo…
The new chassis design is said to feature square sides in the top and bottom halves of the machine, joining the flat-edge design trend started with the iPad Pro 2018 and adopted in the 2020 iPhone 12 series. (The new series MacBook Pro will of course feature Apple ARM processors, but Kuo does not share details on how the chip will perform in terms of performance in today’s report.)
The Touch Bar is apparently done away with entirely, with the new MacBook Pro simply offering a physical row of function keys. This is interesting considering the fact that the low-end 13-inch MacBook Pro M1 MacBook Pro launched last fall and came with a touch bar, although all early M1 Macs essentially featured identical hardware designs compared to the previous generation.
Apple heralded the Touch Bar as the future of the Mac input method when the 2016 MacBook Pro was unveiled, but the functionality never quite lived up to its potential. Many Mac users just want physical touches that they can feel with their fingers without looking at the touchscreen. Five years after its introduction, it looks like Apple is listening to these comments and the Touch Bar will be phased out of the MacBook lineup.
Kuo does not specify exactly which IO ports will be offered. Current MacBook Pro models have four Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, two on each side. For the context, the pre-2016 models offered and the slot for SD card, HDMI and USB-A ports. USB-C ports are technically superior and can carry data with much higher bandwidth, but the fact that the current MacBook Pro has USB-C exclusively usually means users have to purchase and carry a range of dongles. . Things like the SD card slot are much more stylish built-in.
One of the main benefits of the all-USB-C design was that customers can connect to power and charge their MacBook Pro with any port on either side of the machine. Kuo says a MagSafe power connector is coming back but doesn’t mention whether that means the ability to charge left or right will be lost. Note that the report explicitly specifies that the return of MagSafe is via a magnetic power connector like the MacBooks of yore, and not an inductive wireless charging system like the “MagSafe” in the iPhone 12.
In summary, it looks like Apple will meet the demands of customers who are missing – or perhaps still using – the 2015 MacBook Pro with the return of more traditional IO ports, physical function keys, and MagSafe for power. This traditional feature set will be incorporated into a brand new external design, and of course the machines will be powered by super-fast Apple-designed ARM chips. The new 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros are expected to debut in the third quarter of 2021.
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