Partners: Apple's Reported Revamp Of The MacBook Pro Is 'Encouraging' And 'Sorely Needed'

Apple partners say the MacBook Pro remains popular with many professional users and fully deserves a major upgrade to its specs and features that may be in the works.

A Bloomberg report says Apple is planning to launch the most substantial refresh of the MacBook Pro in more than four years.

’If the details are correct, it’s a really compelling upgrade,’ said Jerry Zigmont, owner of MacWorks, an Apple partner based in Madison, Conn..

[Related: 5 Apple Products That Need A Refresh This Fall (Besides The iPhone)]

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As reported by Bloomberg, the new version of the MacBook Pro would be thinner with a wider trackpad and offer improved graphics processors. it will integrate USB-C connectivity and Touch ID fingerprint technology, and, perhaps most notably, add a touch screen ’strip’ above the keyboard in place of the typical row of function keys.

The touch screen strip would provide functions that are tailored to the needs of the application currently in use, according to the report.

’The programmable strip across the top could be a game-changer for people,’ Zigmont told CRN. For instance, graphic designers might be able to customize the strip for saving time on cutting, pasting, adding new layers and other functions.

Regardless of whether or not the touch screen strip is included, upgrades to specs and hardware on the MacBook Pro would be very welcome, said Michael Oh, CTO of TSP LLC, a Cambridge, Mass.-based Apple partner. The most current version of the laptop uses Intel's previous generation of processors, for instance.

’Certainly it should be a pretty big change in terms of processing and graphics power, and hopefully the form factor as well,’ Oh said. ’They’ve been using the same case form factor for [the past] four years. Which has actually held up really well. But it’s time for Apple to make a change.’

Zigmont agreed that an upgrade to specs on the MacBook Pro, such as battery life, is "sorely needed" at this point.

The MacBook Pro has traditionally been Apple's top-of-the-line laptop in terms of processing power. But the last time a new version was released was in May 2015, when Apple launched an update to the 15-inch version. The 13-inch MacBook Pro was last updated in March 2015.

The expected timing for the release of a new MacBook Pro wasn’t specified in the Bloomberg report, though it suggested the launch won’t be part of Apple’s iPhone-focused event in September.

"It’s encouraging to see that they’re not abandoning [MacBook Pro]," said Jerry Gepner, CEO of New York-based Apple partner Tekserve, saying that demand from customers has remained "resilient" for the MacBook Pro.

"It's still the dominant choice from our corporate customers when they start talking about Apple laptops," he said, thanks to the MacBook Pro's processing power. "It is a very, very suitable desktop replacement."

The expected MacBook Pro refresh would make the laptop "slightly" thinner (the current version is 0.71 inches), while giving an option for graphics processors from Advanced Micro Devices (instead of from customary supplier Intel), according to the Bloomberg report.

"I don't think this release is 'too little, too late,'" Zigmont said. "These are big things for people--lighter, smaller, new feature set. And what [Apple] could deliver with the touch screen strip is potentially very, very big for them. That could set them apart from other manufacturers."