Apple Getting Ready to Give its Macs a Powerful Overhaul

As Apple confirms its next-generation iPhones are coming on September 7, reports and rumors are flying as to what to expect from the company beyond its annual smartphone refresh. Regardless of the competition, Apple is still streets ahead when it comes to smartphones. The iPhone is the world's most desirable and desired handset. So much so that as long as the company issues a new one every year, consumers are going to buy it, or wish they could buy it.

However, as beautifully designed and engineered as they are, the company's desktop and notebook lineup is beginning to lag behind the Wintel completion. But Apple is about to close that gap. The biggest changes are coming to the MacBook Pro. According to a host of different sources, it's ditching the traditional row of physical function keys in favour of a touch-sensitive OLED strip. The idea is simple: the strip can be set up to show the buttons that a specific user desires at a specific time, whether browsing the web, watching a movie or doing something much more involved such as video or still image manipulation. The new notebook will be even thinner than the existing model and will be getting a processor speed hike.

Although demand for PCs is still sluggish - the latest IDC data, published Monday suggests that sales will continue to decline both this year (-7.3%) and next (a further 1.6% drop) -- power users, i.e., those that need a serious device with a fast chip and a long-lasting battery are bucking this trend. There are also signs of life in the tablet-cum-notebook market (they now represent 14% of notebook PC sales). Clearly aware of this, the iPad Pro's also tipped to get some productivity adjustments with more functions for its stylus (or pencil as Apple calls it) and, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, improved response times so that it can handle more intensive applications.

Apple has been toying with a standalone 5K monitor with its own graphics processing capabilities for some time but until now it has remained tightly under wraps. However, Gurman also suggests that the monitor (a collaboration with LG) will finally be making its debut this year. But, with so many tweaks and updates allegedly on the way, Apple may well host a dedicated event in late September or early October and keep next week's show focused on phones, smartwatches and software updates.