10 things we want from the New Apple MacBook Pro

I'm more than ready for the new MacBook Pro. I've used one as my primary work system for a decade, clocking up to 50,000 airline miles a year and covering dozens of trade shows with my late-2011 model. While I also work with an HP Z420 workstation here in the office, I find macOS to be a simple, no-nonsense way to get work done.

To me, the most important aspect of the MacBook Pro is the "pro" part. This laptop should be a no-compromise workhorse for getting your business done on the road. I've been reading the rumors of what may be coming and going with some trepidation. Like many pro-level MacBook users, my biggest concern isn't about what Apple is adding - it's what might be taken away. I just hope Cupertino doesn't forget about its pro users in its constant quixotic quest to make its products as thin as possible. I chose a Pro, not an Air or one of those horrible 12-inch MacBooks, because it gives me the power, the ports, and the keyboard to get all of my work done.

I'm taking seventh-generation Intel Kaby Lake processors and very long battery life for granted, and I don't know what to think about the rumored OLED touchbar. My wish list is mostly stuff that hasn't been rumored and how I hope Apple will pleasantly surprise us at Thursday's event.

1. Full-Stroke Keyboard: The 12-inch MacBook's keyboard (see video below) is an abomination. For those of us who pound little plastic squares all day, that flat, travel-less keyboard is awfully hard on the fingers - it's just one step away from typing on a phone. Older MacBooks have beautifully bouncy keys with just the right amount of throw. Apple needs to make sure that the typing experience is prioritized over making the thinnest laptop possible.

2. 17-Inch Screen Model: MacBook Pros are the choice of creative professionals, and creative professionals tend to have a lot of palettes. When working with multiple streams of 4K video, you're going to want as much real estate as possible, and that means going back to the classic 17-inch option, which we haven't seen since 2009.

3. Don't Kill My Ports: Pro users connect lots of things to their laptops. We store backups and media on external hard drives. We jack into Ethernet networks. We do presentations through displays connected by Thunderbolt adapters. We pop SD cards right into our laptops to upload photos to the internet. We listen to expensive headphones. Apple needs to recognize that ports are a key part of the pro laptop experience and provide enough of them to connect to the devices we regularly encounter on the road.

4. Matte/Anti-Glare Screen Option: Glossy screens can get very reflective when you're working outdoors or under florescent lights, and they do odd things to colors. A matte screen option, even for an extra cost, is the best for mobile workers, as opposed to folks who kick back watching YouTube for hours.

5. Edge-to-Edge Display: Apple will want to keep its MacBook Pros as slim and light as possible. The best way to maximize that while offering the biggest screens is to go fully edge-to-edge, with a bezel-less design that makes use of every square millimeter.

6. Wide Color Gamut Display: Apple has been moving all of its products to the new DCI-P3 color gamut, which offers a wider range of colors than the previous setup. Apple iMacs, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and the iPhone 7 models all use DCI-P3. It's time for the pro laptops, where colorful content is created to be consumed on those other devices, to join them.

7. 2TB Storage: 4K content with a wide color gamut uses a lot of storage. Fortunately, there are 2TB SSDs now! As Apple will want to go with SSDs for the best possible performance, there's no reason not to offer options up to 2TB. (Yes, there are 4TB SSDs, but they're rare and extraordinarily expensive.)

8. Apple SIM: Laptops with LTE never really took off because few people wanted to yoke their laptop to a monthly service plan. Apple has a brilliant answer in the Apple SIM, which is already in recent iPads. The embedded SIM lets you buy only the network access you need, from a range of global providers. It saved our webcasts at Mobile World Congress last year thanks to provider AlwaysOn Wireless, and it's a great way to get your pro laptop online when Wi-Fi fails.

9. Water Resistance: Pro users often find themselves in cramped spaces, like airline coach class or a conference table. And then there's that glass of water, or, on the airplane, Jack Daniels. Balancing your beverage with your work laptop becomes a lot less scary when the laptop is a little water-resistant. That will help corporate laptops last longer and reduce costs, as well.

10. Four Color Options: Apple fans often don't have just one Apple product. They have iPhones, iPads, and Macs in silver, space gray, gold, and rose gold. Apple's flagship laptops should keep up, matching the color palette in the other Apple products on your desk.

• This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.