MacBook Pro 2016, MacBook Air 2016: Q4 Release Date, OLED Touchscreen, Touch ID, Rumors, and New Features

By Edwin Kee
Apple
Don't you think that it is long overdue for Apple to roll out a successor to the MacBook Pro 2016 and the MacBook Air 2016? Obviously thinner and lighter will be part of the agenda, with rumors of Touch ID and an OLED touchscreen, not to mention a Q4 release date for the MacBook Pro 2016. As for the MacBook Air 2016, that might be a non-starter for all concerned with whispers that Apple is going to discontinue the model. An Apple logo is seen inside the Apple Store in Palo Alto, California November 13, 2015. REUTERS/Stephen Lam/Files

Apple’s MacBook Pro and MacBook Air series of notebooks have made quite a name for themselves over the years, and the time is long overdue for a refresh where both devices are concerned. It has close to one and a half years since a new MacBook Pro has been revealed to the masses, and whispers of the upcoming MacBook Pro 2016 have started to surface -- with pretty tantalizing options to boot.

MacBook Pro 2016
It seems that the new MacBook Pro 2016 will keep the designer crowd happy, and let us tell you why. Not only will the MacBook Pro 2016 maintain the general design cues that we have all come to know and love from Apple, it will also be thinner and lighter than its predecessor. Those are qualities that everyone can appreciate, especially for the long haul. Whispers have also pointed to features such as Touch ID and a reactive OLED touchscreen, which we will talk about in greater detail below.

In a patent that was filed by Apple a couple of years ago, it pointed to a stylus that will see action alongside a laptop trackpad. Fast forward to 2016, and such a patent starts to make plenty of sense. The patent’s explanation stated, “Inertial sensor input may be gathered when operating the stylus in one or more inertial sensor input modes such as an air mouse mode, a rotational controller mode, a joystick mode, and/or other inertial sensor input modes.”

The Apple Pencil was released last year, and that stylus that targeted the iPad Pro might be the precursor to what we will see on the MacBook Pro 2016. After all, the MacBook Pro line has long been hailed to be an indispensable tool among the creative types and designers, but throw in a trackpad that plays nice with the Apple Pencil and we could see the birth of a design revolution.

Rumors also point to the likes of USB-C connections embedded within a thinner chassis. Your eyes too, will be pleased as punch to check out the potentially new OLED touchscreen on the MacBook Pro 2016. As for its unibody chassis, there will apparently be no function keys -- as the hollow area on the MacBook Pro 2016’s chassis will be installed with a reactive OLED screen.

Macrumors claim that the MacBook Pro 2016 will make use of Intel’s Skylake processors, with higher end models running on the AMD Polaris graphics chipset to boot.

Could we also see the MacBook Pro 2016 arrive with the butterfly-hinged keyboard that currently sees action on the new 12” MacBook? Only time will be able to tell. There are also suggestions that the new MacBook Pro 2016 will work with Touch ID -- and if so, that would add yet another layer of security to the mix. Touch ID happens to be an extremely popular method of biometric identification at this moment, and with Apple obtaining a steady stream of biometric identification technology supply at the moment, it would not be far-fetched to see it be part of the new MacBook Pro. Does this mean that it will be linked to Apple Pay as well? That would be an interesting idea for sure.

All eyes are on Apple to roll out the new MacBook Pro 2016 in time for Christmas this year as it targets a Q4 2016 release.

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