This year, the MacBook Pro is in line for the “most significant upgrade ever undertaken by Apple”, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Touch ID and a new OLED display touch bar will be included in a thinner and lighter enclosure for both 13- and 15-inch models.
Referring to the MacBook line as “the brightest spot for Apple’s 2016 rollouts”, Kuo says that the new MacBook Pro models will be introduced in the fourth quarter of 2016 and also adopt USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. The OLED display touch bar will reportedly be located above the keyboard and replace the usual physical function keys.
In further details reported by MacRumors, we can also expect, as rumored last month, new metal injection mold-made hinges and, as already featured in the 12-inch MacBook, butterfly-mechanism keyboards. In a note obtained by AppleInsider, Kuo also predicts that a 13-inch MacBook will join the 12-inch variant in 2016’s third quarter – leaving the MacBook Air as an entry-level notebook.
Bringing some of the MacBook’s form-slimming features to the Pro line seems a natural progression, while the inclusion of Touch ID should help to expand Apple Pay’s availability. It has been rumored that the mobile payments service could soon be incorporated into retail websites.