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FCC filing is latest evidence that Apple will soon update its most affordable MacBook Pro

FCC filing is latest evidence that Apple will soon update its most affordable MacBook Pro

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The MacBook Escape will live to see another update

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A filing for an unreleased MacBook Pro was briefly accessible on the Federal Communication Commission’s website today before later being pulled. The FCC documentation refers to model number A2159, which lines up with MacBook-related filings Apple made with the Eurasian Economic Commission last month.

Digging into the FCC filing offers a closer glimpse of the product it pertains to: we learn that it has a 13-inch screen and shares the same dimensions as the current 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Image: FCC

With that information factored in, the best guess is that we’ll soon see an update to the 13-inch MacBook Pro without the Touch Bar. The “MacBook Escape,” as it’s sometimes referred to, has gone ignored in Apple’s lineup since 2017, as MacRumors notes. If this were any kind of substantial MacBook redesign, you’d expect at least one of those measurements to be different than the current hardware. Instead, the company will probably bring the entry MacBook Pro closer in line with the Touch Bar configurations. The regulatory label also confirms that this machine matches the power rating of the existing 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Image: FCC

Still, there’s good reason to be excited about Apple’s notebook pipeline: rumors have persisted that we’ll see an all-new 16-inch MacBook Pro as soon as later this year. Analysts believe it might show up in September, which is usually when Apple holds its iPhone and Apple Watch hardware event. Expected to have a completely new design, the 16-inch MacBook Pro could shave down the screen bezels of today’s version and begin a shift away from the troubled butterfly keyboard mechanism.