Photos seem to confirm the arrival of OLED touchpad on MacBook Pro keyboard

Earlier rumors that Apple would replace the physical function keys above the keyboard on the new models of the MacBook Pro with an OLED touchscreen, seem to be confirmed. Photos believed to have been taken in a production facility do not show a separate row for function keys.

The photos do show a recess above the keyboard where the function keys are normally located. Cult of Mac was sent the photos from someone who “claims to work at one of Apple’s manufacturing facilities in China.” The rumor that Apple is planning to replace the function keys came out a week ago from analyst Ming Ching Kuo of KGI Securities.

The photos also seem to confirm that the laptops are equipped with an audio connector and four USB-C ports, two on each short side. Whether and where the fingerprint scanner should be located is not clear from the photos. The MacBook Pros would also get the thinner keyboard found in the 12-inch MacBook with the so-called butterfly system, an Apple design that makes keys less “wobbly” when pressed.

Whether the MacBook Pro is also much thinner than its predecessor is not very clear from the photos. However, the speakers seem to have moved to the sides of the keyboard. The speakers on the current Pros are on the bottom of the device.

The new Pros would run on Intel Skylake processors and the more expensive models would have AMD Polaris GPUs. Also, a new 13″ MacBook version would appear in addition to the 12″ version. The MacBook Air is rumored to be an entry-level model last week.