danwells

If it's thinner and lighter, I start to worry about what ports might get lost, and whether they have to drop the GPU or move down the CPU power scale for heat reasons... I've been hoping for a version with upgrades to RAM and/or SSD capacity, and not in Q4, either...

I don't care WHAT the MBP looks like (within reason)... What I want is a machine that isn't two years old inside... If the same old case housed a top Skylake chip, a modern GPU, a 2 TB SSD option (I wince at the probable price of that option) and 32 GB of RAM, I'd say "it's a handsome machine - the only real design flaw is the keyboard layout from the old 12" PowerBook G4" (that's how Apple decided how wide their keyboard could be - it had to have full-size keys and fit in the 12" case, and the layout hasn't changed since). Even the 17" MBPs (and PowerBooks before them) have always been constrained by the keyboard being able to fit in that 12" case that hasn't been made in many years. The 15" could have a numeric keypad or (perhaps more interestingly) a couple of columns of programmable keys or buttons - if Apple's feeling REALLY innovative, how about some keys with eInk on them that change function based on the current program - maybe the layout of a numeric keypad (which is exactly what they are if you're running Excel or Numbers), but they become a bunch of formatting keys in Word and Pages, tool selectors in Photoshop and common transport and editing functions in Final Cut. Not all that hard to do! They could even be a touch surface instead of physical keys, meaning that it's one eInk display instead of a bunch of tiny ones. 

Assuming nothing so innovative as that, though - I'd be very happy with something that looked JUST like a 2012 Retina, but with 2016 insides (and a 4K and/or wide gamut display if they're feeling generous). What concerns me is LOSING pieces to Apple's quest for thinner and thinner Macs. I think we're relatively likely to lose the HDMI port, and perhaps the SD reader as well. Even those losses would impact my work - I use HDMI to connect to projectors, and it's nice to know that I can hit any projector on campus without worrying about a dongle. I use the SD reader all the time as a photographer! Yes, the Thunderbolt to HDMI dongle is cheap, and external SD readers are a dime a dozen (even USB 3 ones are relatively cheap and widely available). Each of them is just one more piece to carry!

There is some potential of losses worse than just the easily adapted  HDMI and SD interfaces. I'm somewhat concerned that they'll eliminate conventional USB and Thunderbolt ports, replacing them with ONLY USB-C. As of May 19, 2016, B+H Photo doesn't list a single USB-C SD card reader, meaning that the simple act of transferring photos to my computer would require BOTH a dongle and a card reader. USB-C can drive a projector just as well as Thunderbolt/DisplayPort, but it means a new dongle, a dongle that, at least at first, will be much less common. The major university I teach photography at STILL has many more of the old Mini-DVI dongles around than the newer Thunderbolt/DisplayPort ones - and many of them are VGA on the other end, even though most of our projectors support higher quality HDMI connections. In most buildings, there's at least one Thunderbolt to HDMI dongle around if you know whom to ask, but it is rarely the one in the classroom or in the bag with the projector, and the library doesn't issue them. It'll be years before big institutions get around to stocking USB-C adapters (which means that anybody with a USB-C only computer needs to carry a couple of them - there's no recourse if one breaks)!  

Adapters from Thunderbolt 3 ports to Thunderbolt 1/2 devices exist, but they aren't just a cable... It's a $100 active adapter that's one more pain in the a$% to keep on hand. 

In the worst case, I could see them eliminating discrete graphics, leaving us with a giant MacBook...

At least for me, the ideal MBP would be something like a redesigned 16" Retina 4K model around the same weight as the existing 15.4" Retina (I won't complain if it's even a bit heavier), with Skylake and a new GPU, options for more RAM and SSD than the existing model, and all existing ports PLUS a couple of USB-C ports. I'm not even going to ask for Ethernet back, because I know Jony Ive's not listening, even though it's very useful at big institutions, where WiFi is often slow or overcrowded. It might have the programmable keypad I mentioned above if they were REALLY feeling generous, but I think it'll probably have a 12" PowerBook keyboard, maybe with a (welcome) larger trackpad.

A perfectly reasonable MBP would be in the existing case with Skylake and a new GPU, adding a couple of USB-C ports at the expense of SOME (not all of either one) of the USB and Thunderbolt ports (something like 2 USB-C, 2 USB 3.0, 1 Thunderbolt, 1 HDMI, the MagSafe charge port  and the SD reader). It would be nice if it had extra RAM or SSD, and/or a 4K or wide-gamut screen. Depending on how the CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD and screen options looked, my reaction to this machine would run anywhere from "oh, well, ho-hum update - still a nice machine, I'll buy it and be happy with it" on up to "looks the same, but REALLY nice under the hood - I like that top model a LOT and am happy to pay for it"

A MBP I'd grumble about, but almost certainly buy in the end, would lose HDMI and the SD reader, but keep at least one USB 3.0, one Thunderbolt 2.0 and the MagSafe charge port. It would have to gain almost nothing in other ways for me to decide to buy a remaindered 2015 MBP instead. If they did a reasonable update to the CPUs and GPUs, especially if it had RAM, SSD or both options beyond what the 2015 has, I'd not be happy about the lost ports, but I'd still prefer the newer chips to a remaindered machine that's two years old in many ways.

The MBP that would REALLY cause me to go looking on the remainder shelves would be something like no ports other than USB 3.0 (probably plus MagSafe, but who knows), a 35 (or even 15) watt processor that's not much faster than the 45 watt Haswell, and no discrete graphics. Sure, it's 3.5 lbs and has a 12 hour battery life, but it's SLOW - that's not a MacBook PRO!

I'm sure everyone else has their own priorities, and has priorities for different Macs - what I generally own is a top-end PowerBook, which has evolved into the 15" MacBook Pro Retina(I've had at least 7 Mac laptops, going back to the PowerBook 170, and 5 of them have been at that position in the line). iMac enthusiasts are perhaps even more concerned about getting a slimmed-down machine at the expense of power than top end  PowerBook fans; while those whose preferred Mac is the PowerBook Duo/12" Aluminum PowerBook/MacBook Air lineage may be happier?

What I'm really hoping for is MacBook Pros (MacBooks Pro?) - anyway, the object that old-timers occasionally still refer to as a PowerBook! At a bare minimum, some new CPUs and GPUs would be appreciated. I'm in the market for a 15" model (and resigned to a $3000+ price tag - I generally buy a well-configured one, and haven't paid much less since the PowerBook 170), as a professional photographer and photo teacher.

The three features (beyond a speed bump) that would excite me the most are:

1.) 2 TB SSD (obviously optional, and I'm not 100% sure I want to know what the upgrade charge would be)
2.) 32 GB RAM (probably optional, maybe standard on the top model)
3.) Improved display - 4K, wide-gamut or both (almost certainly standard on 15" models if they do it - I can only remember one brief period when there were 2 display choices on the same MBP - from 2010 until the start of the Retina era, a high-res panel (that also had better gamut, although they didn't advertise that fact) was a CTO option)
4.)

I'd like to see (in addition to my requests above and inevitable CPU/GPU bumps):
1.)USB 3.1/Thunderbolt 3 (in addition to conventional USB - PLEASE leave us some USB 3.0 ports, Apple - also leave my SD reader alone!).
2.) Slightly larger than 15.4" (larger screen, less bezel?)
Everything below this is probably "un-Apple", and won't happen, no matter how hard we beg.
3.)Upgradeable RAM
4.) Upgradeable SSD (standard form factor)

I wouldn't even be concerned if an MBP with a lot of this was half a pound HEAVIER than its predecessor... A 16", 4K, 2TB/32GB MBP with a top Skylake (or a mobile Xeon), a great GPU and full ports would be worth lugging around 5 lbs for.  

The machine that would NOT excite me is half a pound (or even a pound)b lighter, slower (because it moved down the power curve from a 45 watt processor to 35 watts or less, eating up the improvement from Haswell to Skylake), lacks a discrete GPU option, and loses all the standard ports! If that turns up (a giant MacBook), I may buy a leftover top Haswell model unless something (display, RAM, drive?)  is irresistible enough to resign me to carrying adapters.

Even the HDMI port on the old model (easily emulated over Thunderbolt) serves a purpose - while I'd always use something better than HDMI on a display, HDMI comes in awfully handy for dealing with projectors.