Updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro With USB-C May Still Be Unveiled in June

CWallace said:
I can't see them announcing an updated MBP just to announce an even more updated MBP a handful of months later. Too much inventory and customers who bought the Mid-model would be livid when the Late-model shipped.
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Like I said, there is history were they have done 6 month updates. 2013 most recently. So, again, not out of the realm of possibility.

They wouldn't make a big deal of it -- almost a silent update or minor speed bump. The big splash would come in the fall. The current MBPs are over 1 year old so they need at least a minor bump now if the OLED bar isn't quite ready yet.
 
Mactendo said:
I won't be surprised if no one at Apple right now knows for sure what these models will be called. Probably Cook will decide at the last second before the WWDC. Should it be called Air? Or just a MacBook? Will we phase out Air and keep MacBook and MacBook Pro? Or will we keep Air and rename Pro to MacBook?

Total mess.
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How about: Hot Air

That's what I read into all these rumors.
 
pat500000 said:
Get rid of wwdc. It is no longer "wow" event. If Apple brings up another oswatch update or another watch bands during this event, I would call wwdc world wide distasteful conference. I would like to see some hardware leaks. Next event is iPhone and probably another iPad or Apple Watch. Next year is probably iPad if they announce Apple Watch this year. And back to wwdc with software. And next year of sept is back to iPhone.

Wth? Bring out those macs!
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Then be prepared to make that call because the apple watch as well as watch bands will be front and center. I think this WWDC will only go to confirm what the naysayers have been saying for some time. And will further show how out of touch with reality the Apple elite are.
 
MacRumors said:



Apple plans to announce new MacBook Air models within the month of June, and begin shipping the notebooks to retailers in August, according to Japanese website Mac Otakara. The conflicting report also claims that Apple will announce a refresh to its entire MacBook Pro series this month, although it did not specify when shipments of those models would begin.

macbook_airs_2015-800x263.jpg

The report, citing "a reliable Chinese supplier," mentions earlier rumors that Apple will discontinue the smaller 11-inch MacBook Air to focus on 13-inch and all-new 15-inch models, although it is unclear if Mac Otakara's source is independently corroborating them. All of the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models are expected to be equipped with Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, while USB-A, MagSafe 2, and Thunderbolt 2 ports found on existing models will allegedly be removed.

Mac Otakara said it is unclear whether Apple plans to announce the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models at WWDC 2016, but multiple reliable sources have indicated that it will effectively be a no-hardware event. Apple could still make a non-WWDC announcement in June by way of press release, as was the case with the new 12-inch MacBook in April, possibly indicating only minor updates.

Today's report is mostly in line with Taiwan's hit-or-miss Economic Daily News, which reported that Apple will announce slimmer 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with "fully redesigned" internal components at WWDC 2016, followed by a launch in the July-September quarter. That report is from November 2015, however, so Apple's exact product roadmap may have changed over the past eight months.

Taiwanese website DigiTimes also reported that Apple will begin shipping new "ultra-thin" 13-inch and 15-inch MacBooks at the end of the June quarter. The report said the new MacBooks will "share a design similar to the existing 12-inch MacBook" and be "thinner than [the] existing MacBook Air," which makes it difficult to infer whether the report is referring to the MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro lineup.

In a recent research note, however, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple will not introduce new MacBook models until the second half of 2016, including a thin and light 13-inch MacBook in the third quarter, and two thinner and lighter 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models in the fourth quarter. Other reliable sources have also suggested new Macs will be released later in the year.

In terms of the new MacBook Pro, Kuo said the 2016 model will feature a thinner and lighter form factor, Touch ID, and a new OLED touch bar positioned above the keyboard. Leaked photos of what appears to be the notebook's unibody revealed space for the OLED touch panel and four USB-C ports. The new MacBook Pro is also expected to adopt metal injection mold-made hinges, which are reportedly already shipping.

Other improvements to the 2016 MacBook Pro should include faster Skylake processors across the lineup, while the top-of-the-line models may sport AMD's new 400-series Polaris graphics chips. Apple last refreshed the 13-inch MacBook Pro in March 2015, followed by the 15-inch model in May 2015, with Force Touch trackpads, faster flash storage, longer battery life, and improved graphics.

Meanwhile, Apple has not fully refreshed the MacBook Air since March 2015, when both the 11- and 13-inch models were upgraded with faster Broadwell processors, Thunderbolt 2, and Intel HD Graphics 6000. The 13-inch MacBook Air also received up to two times faster flash storage. The only minor update to the lineup since then was in April, when Apple bumped the stock 13-inch MacBook Air to 8GB of RAM, up from 4GB.

Apple not updating the 11-inch MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM as well lends credence to rumors claiming the ultra-portable model will be discontinued.

While it is widely believed that Apple may eventually discontinue the entire MacBook Air, which currently sits awkwardly between the Retina MacBook and MacBook Pro, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently said the notebook will remain part of Apple's lineup for now, repositioned as its lower-priced offering.Apple's WWDC 2016 keynote will occur on Monday, June 13 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

Article Link: Updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro With USB-C May Still be Unveiled in June
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This report says nothing. I don't know why I bother to look at these
 
So the same as the last 2 WWDCs:

Months to WWDC: Rumors are apple is working on new MacBooks
Weeks to WWDC: Will probably not be introduced on WWDC, but later.
Days to WWDC: New MacBooks might still get introduced.
WWDC: No MacBooks, sorry. Here are some Watch bands.
 
ack407 said:
If I had to guess, from everything I've heard, Apple's gotten the form factor of the Pro down to a small enough point that they're going to just ditch the Air completely and merge the two. If you want something REALLY tiny, you get a Macbook, and if you want something with actual computing power, you get a Macbook Pro.

If they pull that off, it'll be the best of both worlds--very small, very light, very portable, very powerful
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You forgot a "very": very pricey.

Air is their best seller, probably because of price. The Macbook is very profitable, probably because of price. Consumers tend to favor one kind of price (value) over the other. Yes, there are always those that don't care about how much Apple stuff costs... and can thus argue the finer points of benefits of the latter vs. the former... but the mainstream probably out-buys such people. It's hard to picture Apple killing the Air for now.
 
magicschoolbus said:
Am I the only one that found this entire repot completely confusing?
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The rumors do seem to be all over the place. First the MacBook Pro announcement was expected at WWDC, then not, now it is again. Instead of being discontinued and replaced by the MacBook, the MacBook Air will gain a 15" size. o_O
 
Apple's product lineups don't make sense anymore. What happened the Jobsian idea of narrowing the focus to a couple products and doing them exceptionally well? Every announcement makes their offerings a bit more cluttered, confusing, and watered down.

I think it makes much more sense if the Macbook takes over in the ultraportable category (maybe introduce a 14" model), the Air is phased out, and the Pro carry on as the powerful big brother (albeit in a refreshed package).

What Apple is doing instead feels excessive.
 
ack407 said:
If I had to guess, from everything I've heard, Apple's gotten the form factor of the Pro down to a small enough point that they're going to just ditch the Air completely and merge the two. If you want something REALLY tiny, you get a Macbook, and if you want something with actual computing power, you get a Macbook Pro.
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The 12" macbook is no slouch if you opt for the M7 processor. It competes with the 2015 13" MB
 
I don't know why Apple would unveil it in June and release it in August—especially during back to school deal time when they try to clear out inventory. They might as well show it off at the September event, with immediate or near immediate availability. The September event is usually held right after their back to school promo ends in the U.S. Otherwise just briefly announce it at WWDC and launch it a few weeks later. If WWDC is truly a non-hardware event, however, that makes me excited because it means they have a lot of software stuff to talk about. I'm hoping since this is iOS 10/X, it's a big release. Apple can't afford to continue to fall behind in certain areas—especially AI and related cloud services. And the iPad needs to become a legitimate productivity device to head off declining sales.
 
pat500000 said:
Get rid of wwdc. It is no longer "wow" event. If Apple brings up another oswatch update or another watch bands during this event, I would call wwdc world wide distasteful conference. I would like to see some hardware leaks. Next event is iPhone and probably another iPad or Apple Watch. Next year is probably iPad if they announce Apple Watch this year. And back to wwdc with software. And next year of sept is back to iPhone.

Wth? Bring out those macs!
Click to expand...


WWDC is not for the public, it's for developers and was never really meant to be a "wow event" except when it was new.
 
I don't see the r-MacBook line altering at all, for the simple reasons that the current model has just had a spec bump, and the only way to expand the line up (meaningfully) from 12" would be a 14" model; 13" is too close, and 15" is already available in the Pro lineup.

The MacBook Air line is also too much of a winning formula to simply ditch. But would Apple really give it a redesign without a Retina display? Even if they did, the product would be so similar to the r-MacBook that it wouldn't warrant existence; USB-C and butterfly keys are pretty much guaranteed.

This dilemma is precisely why Apple could lose touch with its customers. The MacBook Air has been almost unanimously lauded by seasoned reviewers as one of Apple's greatest products. All they had to do was give it a Retina display, butterfly keys (Each to their own I guess...), update the USB to type C, and add colour options if they wanted.

The most important factor, however, is the pricing. If the MacBook Air had the above specs at the same prices, it would be an instant hit. Right now, it's neither here nor there and Apple only have themselves to blame.
 
chinesedemo said:
Then be prepared to make that call because the apple watch as well as watch bands will be front and center. I think this WWDC will only go to confirm what the naysayers have been saying for some time. And will further show how out of touch with reality the Apple elite are.
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You think it's gonna be another Apple Watch stuff that they gonna announce along with OS X and iOS?
 
pat500000 said:
Get rid of wwdc. It is no longer "wow" event. If Apple brings up another oswatch update or another watch bands during this event, I would call wwdc world wide distasteful conference. I would like to see some hardware leaks. Next event is iPhone and probably another iPad or Apple Watch. Next year is probably iPad if they announce Apple Watch this year. And back to wwdc with software. And next year of sept is back to iPhone.

Wth? Bring out those macs!
Click to expand...

Yeah, get rid of Apple's biggest event, good idea...
 
macduke said:
I don't know why Apple would unveil it in June and release it in August—especially during back to school deal time when they try to clear out inventory. They might as well show it off at the September event, with immediate or near immediate availability
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If it has the OLED bar, that's a pretty good reason: give developers the API so by the time that it's released, there will be apps that work with it.
 
BigZ243 said:
yes, it's public for those that are interested, but is more focused on software and developers and is a conference, not just a keynote. It has days of workshops for developers.
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Well of course in respect to that. But I'm just talking about in what they have been releasing lately. WWDC also focuses on Mac Pro as well.
 
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