Apple has had an interesting fall with announcing the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, iPad Pro, and other devices, but some fans of their products thought they were missing a new version of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. While Apple doesn't need newer models of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro for this year, there have been a lot of people wondering about MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 2016 Release Date and Rumors.
The issue that a lot of Apple fans had with last September's announcements was that there was no new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iPad Air 3 shown off, according to Realty Today. Considering the iPad Pro seemed to be made to steal the spotlight, that shouldn't be a surprise that there won't be an iPad Air 3.
What also shouldn't be a surprise is that Apple already announced updates to both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro at the "Spring Forward" event that it did last March. This hasn't stopped many from spreading rumors that there will be new MacBooks before the end of 2015, instead of just waiting until spring of 2016.
Fueling these rumors are the recent price cuts in current models of MacBooks. Not only are the prices being slashed at the Apple store, but some electronic retailers like Adorama and Apple Insider are offering discounts as high as $300 to $600, with even cheaper rates for the 2014 model. Why is this important? Because Apple likes to clean out their inventory before getting a new product in, and many have speculated that the company is clearing the way for new MacBooks.
There is another possibility, and it seems more likely and less likely at the same time. Traditionally, Apple sets their own price point and often does not cut its costs to compete with similar products. However, Microsoft has recently announced very similar products with the Surface Pro 4, not to mention the Surface Book. It is possible that Apple is cutting its costs to compete, which it often does not, unless they are running some special in-house deal.
With the holidays coming up, and with Microsoft having similar products, this could be a reason to cut their costs. Considering that most products available before the Christmas usually get an announcement before Halloween, and at the latest Thanksgiving, it just seems unlikely that Apple's going to be doing any "new MacBook unveiling" before the end of this year.
If Spring 2016 is the release date, then time could be on Apple's side as plans for the Apple MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 2016 include an upgrade from Broadwell to Skylake chips. According to the Latinos Post, these New Intel Skylake processors are set to enter production in the fourth quarter of 2015, which means that they could make it into the 2016 MacBooks quite easily. The same thing happened last year with the Broadwell processors. The Skylake-U processor will increase performance by 10 percent CPU speed and a 34 percent upsurge in the Intel HD graphics.
Other possible features for the MacBook Air and Pro 2016 include Force Touch Technology. The MacBook Air 2016 could have a 13-inch or 15-inch display, and the MacBook Pro 2016 will mirror the MacBook Air, but have more RAM. Another new feature that could be released on 2016 MacBooks is a Touch ID fingerprint sensor, according to Australian Network News. Apparently, there was a patent filed by Apple back in 2007 over this, and it honestly should have it now, as fingerprint Sensors are starting to become a standard feature for new devices. For example, the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 was revealed to have an advanced fingerprint sensor, and Google was very proud of its fingerprint sensor when they unveiled the Google Nexus devices for this year.
As far as any price speculations are concerned, it is possible that the 13-inch version of the MacBook Air could be about $1500, with the MacBook Pro 15.4 inch model costing $1699.
