While the 60 Minutes segment on Apple covered everything from the new campus, to individual and national privacy, it’s an unmentioned background item that’s captured the attention of Mac fans. A laptop sitting on a counter behind Apple’s General Counsel and Senior Vice President Bruce Sewell appears to have a number of unseen design characteristics, causing viewers to question whether it might be the 2016 update to the MacBook line.
Notably, The screen appears to have sharper corners at the upper end, as opposed to the very round corners on the current MacBook. The screen aspect ratio appears quite different from the current model as well, shorter and wider than the 12-inch MacBook. The keyboard also takes up the entire space of the keyboard horizontally, which means it’s a smaller system like the 12-inch MacBook, since even the currently out-of-production MacBook Pro 17 didn’t include a numpad to fill out the extra space.
There are a number of issues with these claims, though. The clearest is that Apple isn’t known for leaking any information about new products. One of the brand’s trademarks is its ability to keep design and performance changes a secret until they’re basically ready to launch. When the company has slipped hints, it’s also been a minor — not something so dramatic as a new product design.
It’s also likely a number of these “design changes” could be attributed to the angle and focus of the camera, as well as the special lighting in the room needed for filming professional video. Even if it is a pre-production unit, it’s almost certainly another MacBook, and probably not a substantial new re-design worth excitement.
Either way, it’s incredibly unlikely that whoever set up that room included an unannounced MacBook, either purposefully or accidentally. It would be an uncharacteristic move for the brand that’s built an empire partially on speculation over product releases.
If there is a new design incoming, we’ll likely hear more in the lead up, or at, WWDC 2016. The conference, which takes place in June, has historically focused on OS X and new Mac hardware. A rumor making waves in late November suggests we’ll see new designs for the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro at the conference.
