Around a week or so ago, a well know Apple insider Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI securities let slip that Apple will be announcing its latest line of MacBook Pro’s in the 4th quarter of this year. And that these new MacBook’s would come with some serious improvements over there predecessors. These improvements would come in the form of a much thinner and a completely redesigned touch sensitive OLED display bar that will have Touch ID integrated into it.
New MacBook Pro
As always it seems as if Kuo may be correct once again, as recently some leaked images of what looks like a 13-inch MacBook Pro have surfaced. If he is correct, what we can see in the images will fall in line with rumors and the claims of the analyst.
The images in question where supposedly leaked by one of Apple’s manufacturing partners over in China, and clearly show that this MacBook Pro has what can only be described as a display-less chassis. Also it is easy to see an empty strip in place of what used to be the function key row at the top of the new macs keyboard. This is where the supposed OLED touch panel is going to be situated and that is also / possibly where the Touch ID sensor could be placed.
From what I can tell from the image, this new MacBook Pro does not look at all much slimmer than the previous model, but side views do show that it has four USB-C ports offering two on each side. What you can also see are speaker grills running along the top of the chassis, on both sides of the keyboard.
I’m a little disappointed that the available images did not capture all sides of the MacBook as it is difficult to tell if there is an SD Card slot or that if there is even a place for a MagSafe connector. However it is possible that both ports have been moved to the back of this years MacBook Pro range.
One way of looking at the absence of the two ports from their obvious and traditional spots is that Apple has decided not to use them in this years model. However I and possibly every other MacBook Pro user will probably hope that this is not the case. But what is clear is that Apple is looking to clear out what it considers to be dead wood and anything it considers to be replaceable.
Final Thoughts
Whatever Apple decides to do, there’s a good chance that we’ll hear more MacBook rumors prior to WWDC in few weeks time. And seeing as they will make us yearn for the truth even more, these next few weeks are going to be difficult ones.
