Touch ID with lighting
The rumor comes from AppleTrack, a website that regularly measures Apple rumors itself and keeps track of which rumor tidbits are the most reliable. Now they have discovered something themselves: a new Touch ID sensor. This is equipped with a backlight with several LED lights of its own. The backlighting is separate from the rest of the keyboard, giving the impression of extra functionality.
It could be simply lighting up the Touch ID button. But with the new iMacs we have seen that there can also be a metal ring around the sensor. The LEDs can then animate to indicate that the sensor is ready to read your finger, or to confirm that your finger pressure reading was successful. Currently, this is only available on the keyboards that come with the colored iMacs. The metal ring is not present on MacBooks with Touch ID sensor.
‘1080p webcam for MacBook Pro’
Another rumor concerns the webcam in the 2021 MacBook Pro. It will have a resolution of 1080p, according to rumored @dylandkt on Twitter. He talks about an “improved 1080p webcam for the next model and the same for the entire Mac lineup”. The current MacBook Air and MacBook Pro still have a 720p FaceTime camera, which is actually outdated. Even with the most recent MacBook updates, Apple stuck to 720p. In a time where much more use is made of video conferencing, you need an external webcam to get a sharp picture. With the M1 iMacs, Apple has increased the resolution to 1080p.
The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro are expected later this year, likely in Q3 2021.