Last minute rumors that came out just days ago suggest that the MacBook Pro will feature a notch at the top for the 1080p webcam and ambient light sensor, but it turns out information about a notch was shared months ago by a Chinese leaker that may have been the source for several other rumors about the upcoming 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
In a forum post shared in August, "ty98" said that both MacBook Pro models will have a notch. He went on to provide several other details about the machines, including a mention of the 1080p webcams and the lack of Face ID, which we have previously heard from other leakers.
The leaker claims to have intimate knowledge of the new machines, and at one point, he said that he saw both the case of the MacBook Pro and its packaging. Apple apparently plans to obscure the design of the notch in its marketing materials for the upcoming device.
"Today, I saw the packaging shell," he wrote. "Sure enough, it was the kind of wallpaper with a dark top. If you don't look carefully, you can't see the [notch] at all."
We don't know much about this leaker, but he shared the MacBook Pro notch details months ago, and it's looking like that information is accurate. Since the news of the notch leaked, there has been mounting evidence that it's real, including Apple's own display resolutions, which we outlined in our original article.
Apple has also published patents on notch implementations in the MacBook Pros, and yesterday, a photo of a MacBook Pro display unit with a notch surfaced. We've recently learned that the REvil leak that saw stolen MacBook Pro schematics released back in April also included photos of a MacBook Pro with a notch, lending more evidence to the possibility that Apple has settled on a notched design.
In light of that, we thought we'd share the rest of the information that Ty98 provided in his original August forum post and in the comments that followed.
- There is no Face ID, with the notch to house a 1080p webcam, an ambient light sensor, and an indicator light.
- There will be a mini-LED display.
- The MacBook Pro is "very thick, thick and heavy."
- The maximum configuration of "32+4T" will be its biggest selling point.
- Apple will add two large fans to the new chip.
- "Don't expect too much on narrow borders. It is indeed narrow, but it is not much narrow."
- Touch Bar is gone.
- MacBook Pro models will feature MagSafe, HDMI Port, and SD Card slot.
- No "MacBook Pro" logo on the bottom bezel.
- Bezel width remains at the current size, with the bezels at the three sides basically the same width with the bottom bezel thicker.
- The MacBook Pro "has various curves" to give people an "intuitive feeling that it is a large rectangle."
Not all of what Ty98 says makes sense, especially in regard to the thicker bezels, so there may be details here that are just lost in translation. The leaked schematics and a notch design seem to suggest the inclusion of very thin bezels. Just today, the leaker shared a look at the "M1X" chip variations that he says are representative of the Apple silicon chips set to be used in the new MacBook Pro models, complete with pin counts.
It's worth noting that because this forum post is from August and the leaked schematics are from April, there's a chance that Apple changed design directions and does not plan to release MacBook Pro models that feature a notch, but there is overwhelming evidence that it was at least considered.
We don't have long to wait to find out if the notched design is happening as Apple's event is set to take place at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time tomorrow and will provide us with all of the details about the new machines.
