The last major design overhaul of the MacBook Pro lined happened roughly 4 years ago when the retina display was introduced to those laptops way back in 2012. Now, in a large-scale attempt to save falling sales figures, reports state that Apple will release new MacBook Pros later in the year with a whole load of major design changes.
The first design change, according to a report from Tech Crunch, is the introduction of Touch ID technology to the MacBook Pro line. The addition of this feature is becoming more and more likely, as a lot of trusted news sites have picked up on it. This technology is not particularly new, as it has been present in Apple's portable devices (i.e. the iPhone and iPad lines) since the release of the iPhone 5S a couple of years back. However, any change that will allow ease of accessibility is a welcome change in most consumers' books.
Other touch-accessible features have been reported to be on the upcoming MacBook Pro as well. The next feature rumored to be included in the next iteration of the MacBook Pro is the addition of an OLED mini screen. Bloomberg reports that this mini screen would change according to the application being used in order to improve user experience. If a person is watching a movie for example, volume controls and fast forward/rewind buttons may be present. Likewise, reader-friendly controls may be present if a person is browsing a website.
Accessibility is definitely one of the key targets of the upcoming models of the MacBook Pro. Many reports also claim that this overhaul is just what Apple needs to spark a reversal of their fortunes regarding dropping sales figures in 2016. The thinner and lighter MacBook Pro is rumored for an October release date, just in time for the holiday season.