No New MacBook Pro Until Fall, but it'll be Really Cool

If you're holding out expecting Apple to introduce a redesigned Retina MacBook Pro at Worldwide Developer Conference in June, get ready for some disappointment. KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says we'll have to wait until this fall, and what we'll get is a thinner, faster laptop with an OLED touch surface instead of traditional function keys and Touch ID.

No new MacBook Pro until fallNo new MacBook Pro until fall

The new MacBook Pro is expected to take its design cues from the MacBook, which means a noticeably thinner body and USB-C ports. It's also expected to sport Thunderbolt 3 ports and will stick with its traditional 13-inch and 15-inch screen sizes.

Apple will stick with LCD technology for the laptop's display, but keyboard's function keys will be replaced with a touch-sensitive OLED display strip. The new model will also include a Touch ID sensor, much like the current iPhone and iPad lineup, for unlocking the device with your fingerprint instead of a traditional passcode.

Worldwide Developer Conference is Apple's annual event for OS X and iOS developers, and seems like the perfect venue for introducing new pro-level laptops. It's looking, however, like that won't be the case this year in part because of Ming-Chi Kuo's report, and the fact that we haven't seen any parts leaks yet. Considering WWDC is only a few weeks away, we'd typically see something by now.

It's possible Apple has managed to keep the new laptop completely under wraps, just as it did with the redesigned Mac Pro. Considering the Mac Pro is a low volume seller for Apple, and design and production was handled internally, it was relatively easy to keep the new model secret. That's not the case with the MacBook Pro—it's a much higher volume seller, and production is outsourced—so keeping it secret would amount to something Apple hasn't been able to manage before.

The bottom line is that the closer we get to WWDC without any parts leaks, the less it looks like we'll get a new MacBook Pro announcement. Thanks to this new analyst report, it seems we'll be waiting until fall, but what we're getting will be pretty impressive.

[Thanks to Seeking Alpha for the heads up]