Another image of a new 16-inch MacBook Pro (above) has been leaked by macOS 10.15.1 Catalina.
The photo reveals a redesigned keyboard layout, with a Touch ID sensor separated from the Touch Bar. But it does not confirm rumors of a return for the dedicated escape key.
It’s also hard to tell whether this keyboard uses the dreaded butterfly switches that MacBook Pro fans want Apple to abolish. And we could be waiting a long time to find out.
Catalina has already leaked one image of the rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro. Some fans initially believed it was a fake, but subtle changes to its keyboard design indicated that was not the case.
Now a second image of the machine found hidden in Catalina, again with some keyboard tweaks, corroborates the leak. It also suggests a new MacBook Pro isn’t right around the corner, after all.
A new keyboard for MacBook Pro
The new image reveals a slight change to the positioning of the MacBook Pro’s Touch ID sensor. It now sits by itself at the top-right corner of the keyboard, split from the Touch Bar.
Sadly, we only get to see the right side of the keyboard. But given Apple’s love of symmetry, and taking the previous leak into account, it seems plausible the same change has been made on the left side.
This would all but confirm the speculation of a dedicated escape key that sits alongside the Touch Bar. It’s something many users have been calling for since physical function keys were dropped.
It’s hard to tell from this image whether this keyboard uses the current butterfly switches everybody hates, or a new scissor switch design that Apple is rumored to be preparing.
When will we see the 16-inch MacBook Pro?
We were expecting to see the 16-inch MacBook Pro this fall. But a Wednesday report from reliable TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests it has been delayed until mid-2020.
The fact that this image, which was present in the macOS 10.15.1 beta, has been removed from this week’s public release also suggests the MacBook Pro’s refresh is no longer imminent.
Maybe it’s time to cross the 16-inch MacBook Pro off our Christmas wish-lists.
Via: 9to5Mac
