Redesigned Apple MacBook with 16-inch Retina Display to launch with iPhone 11

Apple will debut a redesigned MacBook with a 16-inch Retina Display during its annual September hardware launch event, according to a new report from Forbes.

The long-rumoured MacBook is widely-tipped to trim the bezels around the display to squeeze larger panel into a form-factor that remains small enough to carry around comfortably. Despite earlier whispers the redesigned MacBook won't launch until 2021, sources speaking to Forbes now believe Apple will unveil the notebook in a few months alongside iPhone 11, which will purportedly be unveiled in September.

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Sources point to the new MacBook sporting a 16-inch, 3,072x1,920 LCD display – not OLED, as some earlier rumours pointed to. For comparison, the current-generation MacBook Pro with the biggest screen size boasts a 2,880×1,800 LCD at 15.4-inches.

The maxed-end MacBook Pro has four USB-C ports and a 3.5mm headphone port, something that Apple could tweak with a new form-factor – especially one aimed squarely at professionals. However, this isn't detailed in the latest report.

According to an earlier investor note from reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo about the notebook, the new model will feature up to a 16.5-inch LCD display but keep a similar physical footprint to the current model.

In order to squeeze in the additional screen real estate, Apple wants the screen to bleed to the very edge of the chassis. This is very similar to the approach the Cupertino-based company took with its latest iPad Pro refresh, which shrunk the bezels to include more screen in the same form-factor.

It has been speculated that Apple will eventually ditch the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks, moving to 12-inch, 14-inch and 16-inch variants. Apple is expected to update its 12-inch Apple MacBook in the coming months, too. The company does not currently sell a 14-inch notebook. 

The news comes as Apple Chief Design Officer Sir Jony Ive has announced his exit from the company at the end of the year. The industrial designer has been the taste-maker for the company for more than two decades.

If the latest reports are accurate, it's possible the upcoming MacBook refresh will be one of the last designed by Jony Ive and the team behind the iMac, iPod and iPhone.

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