Apple issues a major refresh to its MacBook Pro lineup with Touch Bar and Touch ID in keyboard

  28 Oct 2016 , 11:16

Apple’s high-end Mac laptops are getting a touch control strip above the keyboard, part of a long-awaited update aimed at reviving interest in a product often overshadowed by newer gadgets like the iPad and iPhone.

The new Touch Bar, which is both a narrow display and a control panel, replaces the old physical function keys on a traditional laptop. It will offer a variety of controls that change according to the app or website that’s open. It also has functions that will be familiar to many iPhone users – showing word suggestions as you type, for example, or letting you scroll through a library of emojis.

New features, higher price

The company unveiled the laptops at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, where executives showed how the Touch Bar works with a variety of apps and software – providing playback and editing controls for videos or music, for example, and search functions for Apple’s maps and photos apps. Apple is also opening the Touch Bar to work with outside software, including Adobe’s Photoshop editing program and Microsoft’s Word, PowerPoint and Skype.

Along with faster processors and brighter screens, two of Apple’s new laptops will also get a fingerprint sensor, similar to the one on iPhones. The sensor can unlock the device, authorize software installations or recognize a different user and quickly switch to that person’s settings. It works with Apple Pay, so users can authorize an

Rumour: New Apple MacBook Air and Pro lineup to launch by October end

Image: Martin Hajek

By tech2 News Staff /  18 Oct 2016 , 15:31

Apple has been hitting the right notes this year with its iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models. However, its MacBook line-up has not been updated for years. They still feature the same old designs with some updated fifth-generation chipsets, that will still burn a hole in your pocket when compared to similarly priced Windows 10 offerings. But things may change soon, and according to a new rumour, Apple could launch its new range of MacBooks as soon as the end of October.

Japanese blog, Macotakara points out that Apple is already geared up to release its new range of MacBook Pros and a new MacBook Air by end of October as conveyed by a reliable Chinese supplier. In fact, retailers are readying themselves to receive the new shipments which will also drop in by the end of the month.

Diving into the details, the new MacBooks will be skipping on the standard USB ports and will go in for the USB Type C ports instead, along with support for the Thunderbolt 3 standard. The USB C ports will be used for charging, so it is indeed time to wave goodbye to the MagSafe connector.

While the MacBook Pros are expected to arrive in 13-inch and 15-inch models, the same source also points out that Apple will kill the 11-inch MacBook Air. The reasons for the same seem to be related to the existence of the iPad Pro series. The 13-inch MacBook Air model is expected to see a complete redesign.

Last we heard, the MacBook Pro lineup was expected to feature Touch ID and an OLED touch panel that sits over the keyboard. The options displayed would change according to application in use. In addition to the usual improvements, some reports indicate that Apple may be dropping Intel chipsets in favour for AMD chips.

New MacBook Pros arriving in the second half of October

Apple’s popular MacBook Pro range is due for an update soon. With the iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2 launches out of the way, the company is reportedly gearing up to ship the new laptops "some time in the second half of October,” and is currently hard at work on macOS 10.12.1 to finalize support for the rumored Touch ID sensor and OLED bar.

According to reports, Apple plans to introduce completely revamped 13 and 15-inch Retina MacBook Pros with a thinner and lighter form factor. The new models might ship with Intel’s seventh generation Kaby Lake processors, if the companies' release schedules line up, and are expected to feature multiple USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 support.

Apple is said to be introducing its fingerprint scanning Touch ID feature to its new family of MacBook Pros, integrating it into the power button. Just like on the iPhone, the fingerprint reader would remove the need to type in a password and allow users to authenticate Apple Pay purchases, a feature that just expanded to the web with macOS Sierra and iOS 10.

The new laptops are also expected to see the physical function keys along the top of the keyboard replaced with a new OLED display touch bar, which will present different function keys to users depending on the applications they're using.

In addition to redesigned MacBook Pro models, Apple may also introduce updated MacBook Air models and new iMacs with AMD graphics chips before the end of the year.