The latest set of features that will be on offer in the new Macbook Pro from Apple might have been a closely guarded secret but well known analyst Ming Chi-Kuo had revealed them a some time back and now it has been confirmed by Mark Gurman at Bloomberg.
A report by TechCrunch has laid out the expected features in some detail, "The new MacBook Pro should be thinner and lighter, but not wedge-shaped like the MacBook Air or 12-inch retina MacBook. The bezels around the display should be smaller, and the overall frame of the device should be smaller. The fact that the new MacBook Pro won't look like a MacBook Air is a good sign for those who rely a lot on the multitude of ports on the existing MacBook Pro - there will be more than one port. Apple could switch to USB Type-C ports to replace USB ports, the MagSafe port and even Thunderbolt ports as USB-C ports can support the Thunderbolt protocol. Maybe Apple will drop the HDMI port and SD card slot to save up on space, maybe not.Under the hood, Apple will most probably use the Intel Skylake processors, giving a performance boost and improving energy consumption. You can expect better Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips as well."
The report went on to add, "But the most significant addition will be a narrow OLED display right above the keyboard. It should replace the physical function keys with a touchscreen. This could be the most surprising element of this MacBook Pro as nobody knows exactly how Apple will use this strip. You could control basic laptop functions from this screen, such as volume and media buttons. But Apple could also take advantage of this screen to display shortcuts and information depending on the app you're using.
Apple also plans to integrate a Touch ID sensor in your Mac. This would let you unlock your laptop without having to type your password. More importantly, the Touch ID sensor would ship with a secure enclave, making your Mac more secure than before. It would let app developers use Touch ID for other things - password managers could take advantage of Touch ID for example. And finally, it would make Apple Pay for macOS Sierra more secure."
