Word on the tech street is that Apple will launch a new generation MacBook Pro next month when its WWDC event gets underway. The current crop of 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro is well past a year – having been launched in March and May, 2015 respectively and its high time Apple comes up with their successor soon enough.
However, while that might be the ground scenario, there seems considerable confusion as what the upcoming MacBook Pro devices will be like. Here are some pointers of what to expect based on what the rumor mills have been churning out on this off late.
To begin with, an upgrade to the new sixth generation Skylake processor is almost a surety. The new chips stand for significant performance increment while also enhancing battery life, things that Apple will no doubt make good use of in the new gen MacBook Pro devices. More so considering Microsoft, HP and Dell have already come up with Skylake based devices.
Also, with new GPUs due from AMD and NVIDIA, it would be quite logical to assume those making into the next MacBook Pro as well though specifics are missing here at the moment.
Apple might also go for a touchscreen makeover for the 13 and 15-inch displays of the new MacBook Pro devices with some even predicting detachable displays as well. However, Apple has shown a dislike for both on its high-end laptops justifying those are already on offer with its iPad Pro in 13.3-inch and 9.7-inch size configurations. Further, the OS X 10.11 El Capitan just isn’t optimized for touch based inputs which makes the above rumors that much more unlikely.
Meanwhile, a touch sensitive keyboard is also being touted on the new MacBook Pro in place of the traditional keyboard. That’s not all as the keyboard will also be able to pick up pressures of varying intensities as well for varying levels of feedback.
Design wise, both the new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro devices are expected to come in a more refined and slim form factor. Further, the upcoming MacBook Pro is also expected to feature a new hinge design that has been manufactured using metal injection molding tech. And for this, Apple is believed to have roped in the services of specialists Amphenol which again is the same company that designed the hinge of Microsoft’s Surface Pro range of devices.
So far as ports are concerned, the 2016 MacBook Pro might come with several USB-C ports along with maybe Thunderbolt 3 as well that supports data transfer speeds of 40gbps.
