Rumors pertaining to the 2016 MacBook Pro have been swirling online for some time and the latest murmur is that the Apple laptop will get a major overhaul. The MacBook Pro 2016 will reportedly be unveiled soon, but not alongside the iPhone 7 in September.
The latest news comes courtesy of Bloomberg, which reveals that Apple will not take the wraps off its new MacBook Pro 2016 lineup at its Sept. 7 event, where it is anticipated to introduce the new iPhone and Apple Watch. This will be the first major overhaul to the laptop since 2012.
"Apple Inc. is preparing the first significant overhaul of its MacBook Pro laptop line in over four years, according to people familiar with the matter, using one of its older products to help reverse two quarters of sliding sales," notes the publication.
The report also confirms the assertion by Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with KGI Securities, that the MacBook Pro 2016 will sport an OLED touch bar in place of the function keys. It will also boast Touch ID and be sleeker than its predecessors.
The sources of the publication also confirm that the overhauled notebooks from Apple will have a wider trackpad, as well as a more efficient GPU that can be put into good use by gamers. One of the models will likely have the AMD Polaris graphics chip.
Apple has reportedly tested different variants of the impending laptops, which will integrate a "scanner beside the new function key display."
The MacBook Pro 2016 will not only benefit from Touch ID fingerprint reader, but also USB Type-C support. The overhauled device's most exciting inclusion, however, will be the secondary screen or OLED touch panel, which will be placed above the keyboard and replace the function keys.
This screen, according to the current report, will look like a strip and show off functions based on tasks. This panel will serve to simplify the shortcuts for keyboards. It could possibly show the media controls when a user opens the iTunes or copy/paste commands on MS Word.
Rumors have also suggested that Apple's MacBook Pro 2016 could replace the MacBook Air for good. Apple is also said to be considering different color options such as gold, silver and gray for the MacBook Pro 2016.
The new MacBook Pros are also rumored to house Intel's Skylake CPU, which will be an upgrade over the Haswell and Broadwell processors on the existing models.
The MacBook Pro 2016 was previously rumored to launch in June. We will now have to wait and watch if Apple announces any special event for its MacBook Pro 2016, which will finally get a refresh after four years.
