I've been desperate for a new MacBook Pro for over a year now... patiently waiting for rumors, announcements, refreshes, anything.
But...
Almost all of the rumors have me sitting here asking "why, as a professional who uses Mac products, is this good for me?" The ultra-low travel keyboard from the MacBook is probably my biggest complaint. I'm willing to buy dongles for USB-C... It's annoying but isn't something that would make me really not buy a computer... But.. goddam, that terrible keyboard in the MacBook... ugh. In an ultra mobile, iPad competitor like the MacBook, it's fine and it doesn't bother me, I wouldn't buy the device, but I get how somebody who wants an ultra-light, iPad competitor but with a full OS and physical keyboard might prefer super-slim over a better typing experience. But, on a full size computer, I'm not sold on the benefits.
I'm hoping Apple sells me on the benefits of these changes, versus their salesmanship on the iPhone. Like, "We removed the universally agreed upon greatest laptop keyboard on earth and replaced it with one with mixed reviews because this, this, this and this." If they say, "Because courage" or "Because striking, beautiful design..." I'll be dissatisfied. If they say, "BEcause we can cram 4 more hours of battery life, and drop a 0.8lbs, and it has these unique new features..." then I'll be open to them.
With the bar at the top, I don't really get the benefit yet but I'm willing to keep an open mind. I like the immediacy of hitting my audio buttons, and using escape in virtually every application I use regularly... So I'm keeping an open mind to it. I don't see how it's much of an improvement from function keys now, especially when you can easily map function keys to different functions in all of the applications that I use regularly, but I'm willing to keep an open mind.
But I really want Apple to sell me on these design decisions. Don't tell me about courage or how forward thinking you are. Show me why it benefits me as a power user of your devices. OTherwise, I'm like you, I might buy a 2015 MacBook Pro instead, something I held off on doing for a year.
*edit*
If it's not the new low-travel keyboard, then I'll probably buy it.