Apple Inc is preparing the first significant overhaul of its MacBook Pro laptop line in more than four years, according to people familiar with the matter, using one of its older products to help reverse two quarters of sliding sales.
The updated notebooks will be thinner, include a touch screen strip for function keys, and will be offered with more powerful and efficient graphics processors for expert users such as video gamers, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named.
The new computers have been in testing within Apple since earlier this year, one of the people said.
The MacBook Pros are not likely to debut at an event currently scheduled for Sept. 7 to introduce next-generation versions of the iPhone, according to one of the people.
Apple spokesman Bill Evans declined to comment.
This year’s MacBook Pro overhaul is aimed at increasing notebook sales at a time when consumers are taking longer to buy or replace iPads. Apple research suggests customers upgrade iPads roughly every three years, while they buy new iPhones every 18 to 24 months, according to a person familiar with Apple’s strategy, which helps explain why iPad sales numbers have fallen from a peak in 2013.
The most significant addition to the new MacBook Pro is a secondary display above the keyboard that replaces the standard function key row. Instead of physical keys, a strip-like screen will present functions on an as-needed basis that fit the current task or application. The smaller display will use organic LEDs; a thinner, lighter and sharper screen technology, KGI Securities Co (凱基證券) analyst Kuo Ming-chi (郭明錤) said earlier this year.
The new top-of-the-line MacBook Pros will be slightly thinner than the current models, but are not tapered like the MacBook Air and latest 12-inch MacBook, one of the people said.
The new MacBook Pros have a smaller footprint than current models and the casing has shallower curves around the edges. The pressure-sensitive trackpad is also slightly wider, the person added.
An option for a version featuring a higher-performance graphics chip from Advanced Micro Devices Inc will be available, another person familiar with the matter said.
It is unclear which provider Apple will use for the main processor, but Intel Corp has supplied this in the past.
The new design will also include USB-C technology and Touch ID fingerprint technology, one of the people said, adding that Apple has also considered bringing gray, gold and silver colors to the new line.
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