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I'm a software developer who focuses on operational automation, and this brings almost nothing to the table which I could want. Especially replacing the function keys with a touchpad; why would I want to replace dedicated keys with muscle memory attached to them with soft keys that can change on whim?For several reasons which are obvious to me.
1) You can of course leave the soft keys as the current function keys are -- and retain the "muscle memory", with losing nothing at all.
2) You can tune them to a specific app (e.g. Logic, Cubase, Premiere, Photoshop) and get a second (or third, etc) app-specific set of muscle memory for its shortcuts. People pay $50 or even $200 for custom app-related controllers for such apps, with buttons mapped to "transport controls" etc.
I guess you don't suddenly lose your muscle memory when you press "SHIFT" and the number row becomes a different row (e.g. 3=>#, 4=>$ etc). So you shouldn't lose it with 2 or even 3 or more sets of soft keys to change depending on context.
3) You can even get behaviours that aren't possible with actual keys -- e.g. have the soft panel display a volume bar you drag on.
4) You can show information that's not related to keys -- e.g. the current cpu temp, new emails, notifications, "batch jobs completed" etc. Which could far more useful that "change brightness" that one does how often? Twice a day at most?
>Here's what I want in a MBP refresh: More power. Enough battery life to allow me on a hangout all day long; or at least enough battery life that I can have Chrome running and still be able to code all day long. A strong enough graphics card to smoothly drive a pair of 4k monitors in addition to the internal monitor. No loss of existing ports. More CPU power for compiling code. A touch screen.
Except the loss of ports, the others are not doable without ending up with a hotter and bigger machine, and some work against each other (better cpu + graphics VS better battery life). If they used a more powerful Intel CPU it would eat into the battery life, and same for graphics card -- especially when it would be driving "a pair of 4K + the internal monitor".
In other words you want a desktop class workstation -- which would translate to something like a 4kg "laptop" -- and then you (or others) will complain that it's weighty, it gets too hot, etc (and nobody will buy it, except the kind of people who want the latest nvidia power card + pair of 4K monitors, that is, outliers).
Lastly, even the touch screen doesn't make much sense without a detachable screen for ergonomic reasons. 5 minutes with your hand raised and it's off to the doctor for some painkillers. If they'd ever do it, they'd need something like the Surface Book's turnaround scheme, which would probably sacrifice sturdiness.