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[Guess Who]

Q4 is a huge disappointment but considering the lack of rumors or leaks leading up to WWDC it's unsurprising.

 

[Earthanoid]

The Carbon X1 had a LCD capacitive strip to replace the function keys. People hated it so much that Lenovo switched back to physical keys in the last iteration. My X1 has it and it's okay, not horrible but kind of gimmicky.

Maybe Apple will do something cool with the idea.

 

[SourBear]

The only thing true about this rumor is Q4. The rest is bullshit.

 

[Spectromixer]

This sounds amazing.

 

[icespide]

The only thing true about this rumor is Q4. The rest is bullshit.

explain

 

[Zeyphersan]

God I hope they mean Q4 of their financial year and not the calendar year

Because if not I will RIOT

 

[Mortemis]

Eww, no thanks to the bar. I guess it could be cool if every dev gets to put whatever controls they want on it, and I don't really use the top keys all that much, but still doesn't outweigh the negatives.

Hell yes to a lighter and thinner pro, the XPS line has been one upping Apple for a while now and I'm surprised hey still haven't answered. And yes please to Touch ID too.

The only thing true about this rumor is Q4. The rest is bullshit.

You gon need to back this up breh.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

I'm not against the idea of an OLED touch strip, but it seems incredibly un-Apple-like. I call BS.

 

[Protome]

Aw man, i was hoping for a WWDC release. Q4 is a bummer, i might buy a Mac mini or something to use until then.

 

[DJwest]

Am I the only one who wants a 17 inch MacBook?

 

[RoadHazard]

It would be fine for function style buttons. You can have nifty things like a volume slider and buttons can change.

That said it does sound kind of gimmicky.

Those keys double as F1-F12 though. They are somewhat important in many programs. What happens now? Guess it could still just show those keys when you hold fn (or switch to make them the primary keys), but eeeh.

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Hopefully Q4 means we get Cannonlake or whatever the SL successor is, and Nvidia's new mobile GPU - even if the lowend model.

 

[dc89]

An OLED strip?
Hmmmm. Not sure what to think.

Hopefully Q4 means we get Cannonlake or whatever the SL successor is, and Nvidia's new mobile GPU - even if the lowend model.

Cornflake.

 

[LeleSocho]

Hopefully Q4 means we get Cannonlake or whatever the SL successor is, and Nvidia's new mobile GPU - even if the lowend model.

No way, Iris Pro Skylake has been released this month seems unlikely they are going to release Kaby Lake Iris Pro within few months.

 

[enzo_gt]

For the life of me I can't figure out what that strip would be used for or what would warrant such a thing, unless the strip is the TouchID scanner, much like fingerprint scanners on existing laptops.

Knowing Apple it has to be worthy of a few bullet points on their website, which has me ruling out things like caps display, shortcuts, etc. One thing that comes to mind is ambient lighting but even that sounds kind of silly to me.

 

[PodcastFips]

-touchscreen
-stylus support
-LTE
-32gb ram options
-surfacebook like versatility
-vr support

Sounds like Surface Book 2, but 32GB is unlikely.

 

[Doctor Ironic]

Kuo is stupid. The Air is obviously going to die off once the MacBook is mature enough. It's only a matter of time. There will be no "mid-range" model. There will be Consumer and Pro. The Air is just there for now because the MB isn't up to the challenge yet. It hasn't been updated in forever and won't be. If he can't tell the MacBook is the new Air then he is lost. The Air is the new optical-enabled MacBook Pro. Eventually it'll slide to the bottom of the Buy page where no one will ever look. But not until the MacBook gets a drastic price drop to match. That's really its only other problem. It costs more than an Air. But give it a few years and it'll probably come down much like the original Air did. (The original Air cost $1,799US) It took 4 revisions for the drop. (2007-2010)

I would have agreed under Jobs but Cook seems pretty intent on the "three tiers" thing.

 

[Business]

Q4??? I've been waiting for ages already,,,

 

[Gobbly]

There will be one key for TouchID, not a strip. The rest of the keyboard will be normal.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Thinner and lighter? Smh. This is the Pro, Apple. :/

 

[oti]

It would be fine for function style buttons. You can have nifty things like a volume slider and buttons can change.

That said it does sound kind of gimmicky.

You know god damn well they'll use it as an Emoji keyboard.

 

[Zeyphersan]

The only thing true about this rumor is Q4. The rest is bullshit.

There will be one key for TouchID, not a strip. The rest of the keyboard will be normal.

We got some Nostradamus juniors up in here, huh?

 

[Jzero]

Great, more fingerprint magnets to clean.

 

[Gobbly]

We got some Nostradamus juniors up in here, huh?

Hah, should have added an 'I think'. Just can't see a reason for an entire strip being used.

 

[curls]

Hmmm Is it viable for a laptop?

I also saw a patent file a while back for a mechanical force touch/display keyboard.

http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2016/05/apple-to-advance-apple-pencil-to-work-with-next-gen-magic-trackpad-for-macs.html

 

[NinjaCatfish]

Hmm.. 4th quarter you say?
Guess my little old 2011 MacBook Pro is gonna have to hold on a little longer!

TO be fair, it does an admirable job in my studies/web/general development/podcast production tasks so it's not like I *need* a new one, but man I want a new machine sometime soon!

 

[jts]

Butterfly keyboard... no pls.

All I want is current format + USB-C.

Also, Q4? Not WWDC?

 

[SuperSah]

Ehhhh, no thanks.

Sounds odd. Also it will be USB C and a thinner design.

I'll keep my already very slim 2015 rMBP with the ports of which I use fairly often. (Also Magsafe is a great connector)

 

[Chittagong]

Sounds amazing. And I bet it'll have a large touch area that can be used with Apple Pencil. So you don't need a separate stylus. That 'Pro' feel.

Spoiler

And price.

 

[jelly]

Reminds me of what Microsoft showed last year.

 

[sc0la]

Reminds me of what Microsoft showed last year.

The trackpad can do all the things at the bottom currently (except pencil support)


Edit: under quoting (I need a term for this)

this sounds like what you would get as a stupid gimmick on a samsung/asus etc laptop. the function keys are a mess anyway since they just activate the shortcuts like adjust brightness etc instead of acting like function keys, not sure what the point of this is.

I believe this is just poorly worded in the article. By "function keys" I am sure this means brightness, volume etc. the actual function keys (F1-F12) would stay on the keyboard.

 

[pronk420]

this sounds like what you would get as a stupid gimmick on a samsung/asus etc laptop. the function keys are a mess anyway since they just activate the shortcuts like adjust brightness etc instead of acting like function keys, not sure what the point of this is.

 

[glaurung]

That touch strip sounds super weird.

Anyway, won't be replacing my MBP until the new ones are out then. My current 15" model's screen is fucked and flaking like hell. No free replacement service where I live either.

 

[Milly Osworth]

The screen should be a touchscreen already.

 

[TVexperto]

Apple has the worst research focus groups it seems. I mean so many people just want a retina macbook air. Nobody I know likes the new macbook keyboard and touchpad

 

[burnside13]

Even thinner? I think I'll be going back to windows PC. I prefer beefier specs than a paper thin computer.

I thought the macbook air would be the thin notebook and leave macbook the work horse (so to speak)

 

[TheExecutive]

Huh. Not interested. Sounds like a bunch of hand waving while they try to ignore the trend of 2 in 1's.

 

[freenudemacusers]

rumor is too vague to pin any hate/love on buuuuuuuuuuut if Q4 is a real thing that would suck, was hoping to snag one before aug.

 

[Anion]

In order for me to upgrade as I just sold off my 2011 MacBook, I will need apple to add:

- touchscreen cause it's rediculous at that price point to not have it
- quad core 13 inch. Come on with 6th gen they shouldn't have to worry about heat as much...especially when rival Windows pcs can...

 

[MrS]

Not sure my poverty 09 MBP can hold out til Q4

Damn you, Apple!

 

[K.Jack]

How much "thinner and lighter" do they need to go? Not sure why they're racing to the bottom like this.

Keep killing that performance, Apple.

 

[giga]

Hopefully Q4 means we get Cannonlake or whatever the SL successor is, and Nvidia's new mobile GPU - even if the lowend model.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaby_Lake

How much "thinner and lighter" do they need to go? Not sure why they're racing to the bottom like this.

Keep killing that performance, Apple.

The Pros are relatively thick and heavy, comparatively speaking. Competitors have caught up and surpassed its weight and dimensions.

 

[entremet]

The MBA resolution is totally gross in this day and age.

 

[deefol]

Ew, just keep the MacBook Pro as it is, maybe change the design to the MacBook aesthetic, add usb-c and thunderbolt 3, and include a powerful gpu for once.

Then maybe I'll consider dumping my 15 inch pro for that

 

[Diprosalic]

i don't think i want a touch strip. why does nobody else step up and make good notebooks.

 

[deefol]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaby_Lake


The Pros are relatively thick and heavy, comparatively speaking. Competitors have caught up and surpassed its weight and dimensions.

They are actually still very thin for their class but I agree they're really heavy

 

[Renekton]

Will it use the new 14/16nm GPUs?

 

[giga]

They are actually still very thin for their class but I agree they're really heavy

It needs to match the Dell XPS line.

 

[Vanillalite]

Kuo says the device will have a new “thinner and lighter” design with design cues taken from the 12-inch MacBook,

The keyboard on the Mac book blows fucking ass now all due to this bullshit it must be paper fucking thin mantra in the tech industry these days.

 

[deefol]

It needs to match the Dell XPS line.

Not really, the current retina MacBook Pro was released in 2012 and was(and still is) 18mm thick.

The Dell XPS 15 InfintyEdge or whatever it's called was released 7 months ago and is 17mm thick.

Apple can easily shed a lot more than that as shown with the new Macbook which is only 13mm thick.