With Apple's big event just a few days away, one thing people are most looking forward to is its line of Macs, which have reportedly received a much-needed revamp for the final quarter of 2016.
Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst for online trading firm KGI Securities, said that the tech giant will unveil new models of its MacBook Pro this Thursday, Oct. 27.
While details about these latest versions of the popular Apple laptop have yet to be confirmed, some potential specs have surfaced in the weeks leading up to this week reveal.
Here is all of the things we know about the upcoming MacBook Pro 2016 units so far.
Design And Features
According to reports, the new MacBook Pros will be available in 13-inch and 15-inch frames. It could also feature a new design for its hinge said to be created by Amphenol for Apple. Amphenol is the company that worked on the hinge system for Microsoft's Surface Pro.
Kuo said the MacBook Pro 2016 units will be made thinner and lighter compared to earlier models. They will also field new features such as a Touch ID sensor and an OLED touch bar above the Mac's keyboard.
Instead of physical function keys, the OLED touch bar will be used to access software keys, which users can customize to fit their needs. One tap on the bar will bring up a set of controls as well as notifications related to a particular application.
There is also talk of a possible gold-painted MacBook Pro that will be introduced on Thursday, but it is more likely that Apple will reserve this version for the 12-inch MacBook.
The latest MacBook Pro 2016 models will also feature four USB-C ports, two on each side of the laptops, as well as Thunderbolt 3. These ports will have Gen 2 USB 3.1 support to allow for faster data transfer speeds of up to 10 GB per second.
MacBook Pro 2016 Specifications
Analysts expect the new MacBook Pros to have newer and better processors than previous models.
Several price lists were discovered from Intel earlier this year that pertain to Skylake chips fitting the upcoming 15-inch MacBook Pro. This was later followed by reports of Skylake chips being developed for the 13-inch MacBook Pro in September.
Reports say that these Macs will also be fitted with advanced graphic cards powerful enough to suit both professional and gaming needs of users. One name that was dropped pertains to a "Polaris" graphics chip said to be developed by AMD, which will provide the MacBook Pro improved power efficiency.
