A new report on Tuesday morning brings good news and bad news for Apple fans eager to finally check out the hotly anticipated next-generation MacBook Pro. The good news is that the updated high-end notebook computer will supposedly still be launching later this month, despite Apple’s silence so far. The bad news, however, is that the late 2016 MacBook Pro will supposedly not include any standard USB ports, which was one of users’ biggest complaints about Apple’s refreshed MacBook — and it remains one of the biggest complaints to this day.
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Apple has never been afraid to ruffle feathers in the short term in order to realize a vision or achieve a long-term goal. The most recent manifestation of that often-painful truth came in the form of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, neither of which include a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Instead, the phones include a 3.5mm adapter that plugs into the Lightning port, or people can choose to use wireless headphones or Lightning headphones instead.
On last year’s MacBook, Apple didn’t even bother including an adapter when it ditched standard USB 3.0 ports and chose instead to use a single USB Type-C port in order to make the notebook as thin as possible. Many fans were miffed by the move, and they’re still upset at having to purchase a hub in order to connect more than one device at a time to the laptop.
It looks like we may soon get to relive that agony if Apple releases its updated MacBook Pro later this month.
Most rumors leading up to the new laptop’s launch have focused on the addition of a new “Dynamic Function Row,” which is rumored to be a long, narrow OLED touchscreen that replaces the function key row. This new screen will display different buttons and controls dynamically depending on which app is in use at the time. According to Japanese blog Macotakara, however, another big change will be the complete removal of all standard USB ports from the new MacBook Pro. Instead, the laptop will sport only USB Type-C and Thunderbolt 3 ports — it reportedly won’t even have a dedicated MagSafe charging port.
Apple’s new MacBook Pro will reportedly be unveiled next week alongside a minor MacBook Air refresh, so we shouldn’t have long to wait before we find out whether or not this report is the real deal.
