A new 16-inch MacBook Pro could be just months away, according to tech analysts IHS Markit. In an email shared to subscribers, Jeff Lin, the firm’s associate director of consumer electronics, said the device could make a splash at Apple’s September 2019 event “if there’s no unexpected development issue.”
Rumors have been swirling in recent months of an all-new 16-inch MacBook Pro, and this latest news adds fuel to the fire. Reliable analyst Ming Chi-Kuo has previously stated that a redesigned 16-inch MacBook Pro was on the horizon, for example, and with the last design update coming in 2016, the time could be right for a new look for the MacBook Pro.
Currently, Apple’s largest notebook is the 15.4-inch MacBook Pro. Apple often reserves many of its high-end features and components — such as eight-core Intel Core i9 processors and Radeon Pro Vega graphics cards — for its largest MacBook Pro models, so it could have something special in store for a 16-inch device.
According to Lin, the new device would come with a 3,072 x 1,920 resolution and a TFT-LCD screen made by LG Display. That puts it in line with Apple’s previous MacBook Pro laptops, which have also come with LCD displays. Although there is some clamor in corners of the tech press for Apple to equip its notebooks with OLED displays, solid evidence for this has been lacking.
Earlier this month, Apple registered seven new laptops with the Eurasian Economic Commission. While we suspect the majority of these will be MacBook Air updates, we also have a sneaking suspicion a 16-inch MacBook Pro could be among the secretive devices registered with the Commission.
Those updates to the MacBook Air are likely to include new Intel Ice Lake processors, which are due out later this year. If the MacBook Air is getting Ice Lake chips, it seems likely that a new high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro would too.
As well as that, previous rumors have pointed toward a redesigned chassis for the 16-inch device featuring even thinner bezels than on previous MacBook Pro laptops. That would help boost its resolution up from the 2880 x 1800 on the current 15.4-inch MacBook Pro to the rumored 3072 x 1920 on the new model, without having to expand the physical dimensions of the device by much.
We’ll have to wait for Apple’s September event for the final word on this, but expect more leaks to come between now and then. And when they do, we’ll be right here reporting them for you — so keep your eyes peeled.
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