Next-gen MacBook Pro models could drop the Touch Bar for a Pencil Dock

Although patent images are usually nothing more but schematics that only suggest what the real-world implementations will look like, the next-gen MacBook Pro pictured in the gallery at the end of this article is more than just a rough draft. However, we are still talking about a sketch and, with a bit of luck, this is what the next-gen MacBook Pro will look like.

The aforementioned MacBook Pro renders come from Yanko Design's Sarang Sheth, an industrial designer who also created other interesting concepts for technology fans, such as the 2019 RAZR or the Galaxy Fold 3. In the description of the MacBook Pro renders, he mentions that the original patent shows the Apple Pencil input device, which will probably sit docked in an area that replaces most of the Touch Bar as we know it. Thankfully, a small Touch Bar remains, and it will probably be optimized for use with the Apple Pencil.

Something not highlighted in the patent but highly probable is the dual use of the Pencil, which could be used to operate both the display of the MacBook Pro, as well as the mini-Touch Bar mentioned above. Since the dock of the Apple Pencil will make some of the Function keys disappear, it is also likely to see some on-Pencil gestures being introduced for tasks like adjusting media volume or calibrating the screen parameters.

Obviously, all the above is nothing more than a rumor for now. Would you like to see it coming true? Do you have any better ideas for it? As usual, the comments section is all yours, so be sure to make yourselves heard.    

Buy the 2020 Apple MacBook Pro (13-inch, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD) on Amazon