Kuo: Redesigned MacBook Pro models with MagSafe, no Touch Bar, more ports coming in Q3

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 91
    I will miss the Touch Bar if this is true.
    williamlondontyler82watto_cobra
  • Reply 22 of 91
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,332member
    This may sound trivial to some folks, but when it comes to ports I’m just as concerned about port placement as the number of ports. The new MacBook Air has both of its only TB ports on the same side of the chassis. I would far prefer one TB port on each side. I just don’t like cables sticking out the sides too close to the keyboard, especially when using an external mouse. If adding more ports means bringing the ports closer to the front of the chassis, I’m going to have a problem with these. Ideally the ports that are plugged/unplugged less often, like the power connector or a dock connector, would be placed on the rear, but the current screen hinge designs prohibit such placement. There’s a reason the product “glamour photos” of MacBooks (and all laptops) never show stuff plugged into the ports, it starts to look like claptrap very quickly. But who knows, perhaps Apple will redesign the MacBook such that its screen “floats” like the screen on the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard so they can put some ports in the back.
    edited January 2021 avon b7asdasdwatto_cobraroundaboutnowanantksundaram
  • Reply 23 of 91
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    Why assume that the MagSafe used on the new MBP models will be the same as the old one? Apple resurrected the name for the iPhone 12 for a wireless charging system. Possibly there will be NO charging plug and the MBP would be charged wirelessly. 
    dewmesphericAI_liaschiacanukstormwatto_cobrabala1234TRAGanantksundaram
  • Reply 24 of 91
    As a creative professional I would look forward to the possible return of an SD card slot and HDMI port. However I would mourn greatly the loss of the Touch Bar. I know it is popular to complain about it in Internet forums, but in the real world every Mac user that I know loves it. And, yes, almost all of them are creative professionals. But guess what, most creative professionals I know have NEVER visited AppleInsider or Mac Rumors. They are too busy creating graphics and videos and using their Touch Bar’s to scrub audio.
    sphericwatto_cobra
  • Reply 25 of 91
    I have a hard time believing they would completely ditch the Touch Bar when it is used so prominently in current MBP marketing on Apple's web site. An updated version of the technology perhaps?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 26 of 91
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member
    rcfa said:
    I love the Touch Bar, especially the version with a discrete esc key.

    The only issue with it: it doesn’t default to function keys during boot, but is blacked out. This makes dealing with booting a boot-camp partition in Windows recovery mode problematic without external USB keyboard.
    And that’s a problem the ARM based Macs won’t have to worry about until M$ officially releases Win10-ARM.
    So, yeah, I’d miss the Touch Bar! 

    Also: who needs a stupid proprietary MagSafe power cable, when there are plenty aftermarket USB-C MagSafe-like cables?
    I was surprised a desktop version was never released. I guess only Apple knows how popular that feature was, or wasn’t and made a business decision on it. Personally I liked it, but never found it a necessity.

    I have a feeling MS will have no choice but to reinvest itself in to a Win 10 ARM version. Now that it sees what Apple has done to its operating system under ARM, they really don’t have a choice. Might take 2-3 years, but it will come.

    Put me down for a proprietary MagSafe cable. Would I still want to be able to charge via USB-C? Sure why remove something that works? But why not relegate that to a secondary means of powering a device and make the far superior MagSafe the new standard again?seanj said:
    More ports, good;- ie USB-C/Thunderbolt4

    More variety of ports, bad;- sure there’ll be someone who wants a VGA or RS232 port but why lumber the rest of us with obsolete ports 🤷‍♂️
    I have a pretty good feeling that’s not what we’re going to get. An HDMI port would be well received. No manager wants to walk in to a conference room and have to remember to bring his USB-C to HDMI adapter with him for his presentation.
    bala1234 said:
    Both are welcome but I have a my doubts about magsafe coming back. Removing an unpopular feature (apologies to the touch bar aficionados) is one thing. Bringing back an old port in my opinion is no Apple style....
    I see you have a small number of posts, did you use a different screen name when MagSafe was first removed? It was an extremely well loved “old port”.
    Rayz2016 said:
    AI_lias said:
    Yes to Magsafe, and more ports/less dongles. Hard yea to removal of TouchBar. Unnecessary feature adding cost needlessly to an already expensive laptop. Also yes on larger 14” screen. 
    Removing it won’t make the laptop cheaper. 


    It will make the cost cheaper, I doubt it will reduce the sell price.

    frantisek said:
    And what about more powerful Mac mini. There is no single rumor about it.
    You mean the one that just came out a couple months ago?
    No, the rumored one that would sit between the current version and the Mac Pro.
  • Reply 27 of 91
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    bala1234 said:
    Both are welcome but I have a my doubts about magsafe coming back. Removing an unpopular feature (apologies to the touch bar aficionados) is one thing. Bringing back an old port in my opinion is no Apple style....

    With the relaunch of the MagSafe name for the new iPhones, it wouldn't surprise me if they also reintroduced a MagSafe type of charging system for the MacBooks.Probably won't be exactly the same form factor as the original.
    razorpitwatto_cobrabala1234
  • Reply 28 of 91
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    frantisek said:
    And what about more powerful Mac mini. There is no single rumor about it.
    The Mac Mini was just updated with the M1.  Why would you think they'd be releasing a new one anytime soon?  
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 29 of 91
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    Good news keep coming for MAC. Better days are ahead for MAC. It is all about market share and not just a niche market and Apple is doing everything right to make it happen.
    edited January 2021 watto_cobra
  • Reply 30 of 91
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member
    DAalseth said:
    Why assume that the MagSafe used on the new MBP models will be the same as the old one? Apple resurrected the name for the iPhone 12 for a wireless charging system. Possibly there will be NO charging plug and the MBP would be charged wirelessly. 
    Intriguing thought! 

    Now that you mention it, it seems obvious that the MagSafe brand must be the same across platforms — so a wireless charging pad connector must be. 

    Problem I see with this is that I'm not sure it is possible to deliver the power requirements of a 16" "pro" machine via inductive charging — which would mean that it wouldn't be available across all mobile product lines. 

    Who knows, though: maybe a combination of drastically reduced power requirements for even the 16" machine and higher-specced proprietary wireless charging will be the solution?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 31 of 91
    I love the technology and the potential of the TouchBar but personally don't find it very useful.  To me, the biggest drawback of the TouchBar was that it's treated as an extension of the keyboard.  The power of the keyboard in many people's eyes is that it's a rapid input device that doesn't require you to take your eyes off the screen.  The TouchBar is the exact opposite of this and I believe Apple should treat it as an extension of the TouchPad. 

    If you moved the TouchBar to be to be above the TouchPad and only make it as wide as the TouchPad instead of the whole keyboard as today, then I think it becomes far more useful.  It can be controlled by your thumbs without taking your hands off the keyboard, which I believe would be far more convenient than the lifting your wrists and stretching your fingers to reach the TouchPad of today. 

    I don't claim to have any usability studies to back this up, just my 2 cents.  What do you guys think?
    edited January 2021 muthuk_vanalingamasdasd
  • Reply 32 of 91
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member

    frantisek said:
    And what about more powerful Mac mini. There is no single rumor about it.
    You mean the one that just came out a couple months ago?
    If that’s all we hear about the Mac Mini for a couple of years it will be very disappointing. The M1 Mac Mini, while an impressive performer, clearly has a lot more potential. Half of the internal is just air!
  • Reply 33 of 91
    AI_liasAI_lias Posts: 434member
    Rayz2016 said:
    AI_lias said:
    Yes to Magsafe, and more ports/less dongles. Hard yea to removal of TouchBar. Unnecessary feature adding cost needlessly to an already expensive laptop. Also yes on larger 14” screen. 
    Removing it won’t make the laptop cheaper. 


    Well, laptops did get more expensive when they added the touchbar. OLEDs aren't free, right? The price of the laptops with touchbars did drop in the latest iterations, but you could argue that the prices could have dropped even more without the touchbars. Overall, the touchbar feels like an overengineered solution like the 3D Touch. A touchscreen seems much more straightforward for those who do like the touchbar. But I wouldn't even want a touchscreen. For me, they should include the Face ID in the laptops (I like Microsoft's Hello on my work computer), leave the Touch ID also, get rid of the Touchbar, Add more ports (no more two-port laptops please, add USB-A back, and introduce a consumer-level 16" laptop, or at least make the 13" larger at 14". I feel like Apple were really looking for reasons to increase the ASP by introducing the touchbar.
    razorpit
  • Reply 34 of 91
    flydogflydog Posts: 1,123member
    bala1234 said:
    Both are welcome but I have a my doubts about magsafe coming back. Removing an unpopular feature (apologies to the touch bar aficionados) is one thing. Bringing back an old port in my opinion is no Apple style....
    What is this based on?  Did you conduct a survey of the 30 million or so people who own a touchbar Mac?  Please share the results with us.


    watto_cobrarazorpit
  • Reply 35 of 91
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    crowley said:

    frantisek said:
    And what about more powerful Mac mini. There is no single rumor about it.
    You mean the one that just came out a couple months ago?
    If that’s all we hear about the Mac Mini for a couple of years it will be very disappointing. The M1 Mac Mini, while an impressive performer, clearly has a lot more potential. Half of the internal is just air!
    Why would one assume that that's "all we'll hear" for a couple of years?  I don't see why that's even plausible.  They just updated it.  I can't understand people complaining about no rumors of an update.  
    watto_cobrafastasleep
  • Reply 36 of 91
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    The biggest strike against the TouchBar IMO was that they have never added it to the Magic Keyboard. Sure a subset of users have access to it, but the millions of existing Mac users and people who use a MK with an iPad, (I’m both) have never been able to try it. It’s not just limited to MacBooks, but only a few models of MacBook Pro. It’s not a surprise to me that many users, and so many developers just ignore it.
    firelockdewmecanukstormwatto_cobrarazorpit
  • Reply 37 of 91
    tyler82tyler82 Posts: 1,100member
    Controversial opinion: I like the Touch Bar
    It's great and very useful and accurate for scrubbing through videos. Much more effective than Trackpad, which always "slips" when you want to get to an exact spot.
    chiawatto_cobrarazorpit
  • Reply 38 of 91
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,622member
    DAalseth said:
    The biggest strike against the TouchBar IMO was that they have never added it to the Magic Keyboard. Sure a subset of users have access to it, but the millions of existing Mac users and people who use a MK with an iPad, (I’m both) have never been able to try it. It’s not just limited to MacBooks, but only a few models of MacBook Pro. It’s not a surprise to me that many users, and so many developers just ignore it.
    I think you're spot on with this. If the cost of development has come down since it was launched, it would make it a perfect fit for an external keyboard. They could even make it bigger which I'm sure Touch Bar fans would love. 
    AI_liassphericrazorpit
  • Reply 39 of 91
    Had a touchbar 2017 MacBook Pro...and honestly, I couldn't see the point in it.  I constantly triggered things on the touchbar as I was typing and could never figure out what was going on with it. But I'm also one of those people who feels customizability is actually less useful/important than consistent behavior of the user interface, physical or otherwise.

    I'd *love* to have an HDMI port back on my MacBook.  Couldn't care less about MagSafe, either - Owned several MagSafe MacBooks and can honestly say I don't miss the expensive proprietary power supplies.  Like the touchbar, it seemed to create more problems for me than it solved - was always fiddly when connecting my laptop, forcing me to "tweak" it to get the computer to charge.  I notice that the connector also liked to pick up staples and paperclips off of my desk...

    But those are just my own personal experiences, and I totally get that other people have different workflows/requirements.  That said, I replaced the 2017 15.4" MBP with a new M1 mac mini... :)
  • Reply 40 of 91
    Tr*mp and the Task Bar both gone.
    2021 is starting quite well.. ;-)

    AI_lias
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