What new features will be in the new 2016 MacBook Pro? Here’s what I expect to see.

The current 13″ Retina MacBook Pro was last updated in March 2015. The 15″ Retina MacBook Pro was last updated in May 2015.

It’s rumored that the new 2016 Retina MacBook Pro models will be announced at the March 21 Apple event. If they don’t get announced in March, they will probably be announced during the 2nd week of June at WWDC.

The new Retina MacBook Pros will most likely feature Intel’s latest 6th generation Skylake processors. Currently the 13″ MacBook Pro still has Broadwell from 2014 and the 15″ still has Haswell from 2013. Hopefully the 15″ MacBook Pro doesn’t get released later than the 13″ like last year because by then Intel will probably release their 7th-gen processors. PC competitors have already released machines that are featuring the Skylake processors. New Skylake archiecture will lead to faster CPU performance, massively improved internal GPU, and better power efficiency leading to longer battery life.

Will there be a new MacBook Pro design? The last redesign was in 2012 so we are due for a new design. Here are my expectactions based on the rumors for the 2016 MacBook Pro:

  • No major redesign, same shape but slightly thinner and lighter
  • Low-profile keyboard similar to MacBook
  • USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3
  • Same resolution but with new minor features like DCI-P3 color space
  • Color options of silver, space gray, and gold similar to MacBook
  • Thinner bezels
  • Keeping Magsafe charger

What do you think?