My hope is that they'll find a way to evolve rather than abandon. For example, imagine they made an alternative bottom case that totally replaced the existing bottom case, but added the ability to mount an alternative top case attached by a 360 hinge, or a tablet top case that replaces the keyboard while using that same new bottom case. (and supporting an MS surface style keyboard)
That new version could then be sold as a laptop or a tablet and be converted between the two fairly easily, while owners of the original could still upgrade to the new version just by replacing their bottom case.
I also think the most likely case for forcing a redesign is advanced cpu architecture shrinking the MB and providing more battery space. If that bottom case can be made to house either the old internals or the new, that would be ideal but probably not likely.
My hope is that they'll find a way to evolve rather than abandon. For example, imagine they made an alternative bottom case that totally replaced the existing bottom case, but added the ability to mount an alternative top case attached by a 360 hinge, or a tablet top case that replaces the keyboard while using that same new bottom case. (and supporting an MS surface style keyboard)
That new version could then be sold as a laptop or a tablet and be converted between the two fairly easily, while owners of the original could still upgrade to the new version just by replacing their bottom case.
I also think the most likely case for forcing a redesign is advanced cpu architecture shrinking the MB and providing more battery space. If that bottom case can be made to house either the old internals or the new, that would be ideal but probably not likely.