With things slowing down in the smartphone segment, there's still very little news going around about Apple's plans for the MacBook lineup. We've been hearing a few sources claim that there will be upgrades to both the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro this year, with all the usual performance and multimedia upgrades. However, if you look closely at how the company's been making some recent launches, we just might not get to see a MacBook Air this time around.
Apple Just Might Discontinue The MacBook Air This Year With Performance To Take Precedence Over Aesthetics
As we move forward from last month's launch of the 9.7 inch iPad Pro from the company, Apple's product patters might just finally be receiving a much overdue overhaul. While Apple might have grown in size since Tim Cook took over, when it comes to the company's approach towards its product front; we've seen the same approach being adjusted to suit different variables.
After choosing to increase the screen size on the iPhone, we saw Cupertino struggle to find a reason for the larger, 5.5 inch iPhone 6/6s Plus. In fact, the larger sized device was the first to suffer from bending issues, which forced a strong material overhaul on the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus. With the rumors surrounding the iPhone 7 so far suggesting that we might get to see a dual camera thrown in the mix as well, there just might be enough differentiation thrown in this year.
In fact, Apple's been taking its gadget lineup quite seriously over the past couple of months, with the launch of the iPad Pro. Both the 9.7 and the 12.9 inch devices come with their respective display and performance strengths. As the smaller iPad continues to demonstrate its capabilities, there's been more word going around that the iPad Air lineup won't be seeing an upgrade either; which in turn might also translate into Cupertino's notebook lineup this year.
The 11 inch MacBook Air's death might have been set in motion with the launch of the larger iPad Pro last year with the A9X. Succeeding the A8X, Apple's latest tablet processor scaled things up in terms of performance and we subsequently saw the 12.9 inch iPad Pro deliver efficiently when running performance intensive applications. In fact, as the A9X continued to outer perform Intel's Core M in benchmarks, the need for a low powered, light notebook proved to be even more irrelevant.
Taking a look at all of these factors, the fact that there might not be a 11 inch MacBook Air this year either starts to make sense a little more. To further make things interesting, some sources allegedly close to the company have also started to make similar claims. So all of you who're looking for a moderately priced, thin notebook from Apple might be in for some disappointing news this year. But even more sources speculate that Apple will be making some serious upgrades to the MacBooks when they do launch; which when coupled with Skylake would make for some well equipped notebooks indeed.
Nevertheless, its all speculation up to the point that we actually get to see the upgrades from Cupertino's end; so you're advised to keep you ears and eyes open in the meanwhile. Things should start to become more clear as we begin to settle down this quarter, so stay tuned and let us know what you think in the comments section below. We'll keep you updated in the meanwhile.
