“Leaked photos of what is claimed to be Apple’s next-generation MacBook Pro all but confirm it will ship with a new OLED touchpad above its keyboard,” Killian Bell reports for Cult of Mac. “The images sent to Cult of Mac also hint at four USB-C connectors.”
“These photos, sent into us by an anonymous source who claims to work for one of Apple’s manufacturing partners in China,” Bell reports, “reveal a new cutout above the MacBook Pro’s keyboard — where the function keys would normally sit — that could house that OLED touchpad.”
“These photos also suggest that almost all of the connectors on the machine will be replaced by USB-C ports,” Bell reports. “There appear to be two on the right and two on the left sides of the device, while the only other hole looks like a headphone jack.”
More info and photos in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: A little birdy tells us that this is the real deal.
Soft keyboards are infinitely malleable.
The problem is… these control buttons that are fixed in plastic and are the same for every application. Well, every application wants a slightly different user interface, a slightly optimized set of buttons, just for it. And what happens if you think of a great idea six months from now? You can’t run around and add a button to these things. They’re already shipped… It doesn’t work because the buttons and the controls can’t change. They can’t change for each application, and they can’t change down the road if you think of another great idea you wanna add to this product. Well, how do you solve this? Hmm. It turns out, we have solved it! — Steve Jobs, unveiling the iPhone, January 9, 2007
SEE ALSO:
Thinner, lighter 2016 MacBook Pro may feature OLED display touch bar and Touch ID – May 24, 2016
My poor Mac is long in the tooth. I have been debating on getting another desktop, but i have been leaning towards a MacBook Pro for some time, since i only want one device, and probably a mobile one. This just solidifies my desire for a MacBook Pro. I want one of these beauties!
The whole trackpad-palm rest area can become a notification, display, trackpad, mouse and button area and is likely to become one on the high end MacBook Pro at some point.
If this is real, its only a strip replacing the function keys.. your hand rest trackpad will be exactly the same..
so basically they are adding what high end gaming laptops have had for like 5 years now.. WAY TO INNOVATE.
Google is planning to use the paml rest space for OLED display ads on the next Chromebook. Don’t ask how I know (wink, wink).
The profile pic I saw from this lot looks like the body is the same thickness as the current MacBook Pro. That does not jive with all the talk of this version losing a lot of weight. These pics are also exactly inline with the reports a couple do weeks ago that describe the OLED strip.
I’m not convinced any of this is real — yet…
I always thought that a visual programable function key was a good idea…the keys could reflect the specific functons of a particular application AND you could see/read on the strip what those functions were. The interesting thing is that there was a computer in 1983 called the Apricot that had a rudimentary implementation of this idea. The Apricot didnt take off in that early era of PCs, but I have never forgotten about it and that I thought it a great idea:
http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=499&st=1
“In 1983, ACT produced its own computer, the Apricot PC. Several features made this computer quite technically innovative :
• the Apricot PC was possibly the first computer outside Japan to use 3.5” disk-drives (315k or 720k),
• the graphics quality and features were excellent (800 x 400) and came directly from the Victor Sirius,
• the keyboard was quite original with 8 “normal” and 6 flat programmable function keys along with a built-in LCD screen (40 characters / 2 lines) which displayed the function of the flat keys beneath it. This feature was largely used by the included software, but not much by third-party software. This small LCD screen could also display the current line of text you’re working on and there was even a contrast knob on the right of the keyboard.
Name Apricot PC
Year September 1983
Manufacturer ACT
Origin United Kingdom
Built in language Microsoft Basic-86 and Basic Personal delivered on disks
KEYBOARD Full-stroke keyboard, 101 keys, 8 function keys, 6 dynamic/programmable function keys (membrane keys) Built-in 40 characters x 2 lines LCD screen (display current line text or function key text)
CPU Intel 8086 “
China:
These photos, sent into us by an anonymous source who claims to work for one of Apple’s manufacturing partners in China.
If they worked directly for Apple, they’d be hunted down and fired.
China.
Apple please make the MacBook Pro thinner by aborting the the keyboard all together & installing a iPad Mini screen keyboard instead. Also make trackpad wider & capable of sketching on it for Mac OS.