A new report suggests that Apple plans to kill off the MacBook Air line this year, and focus instead on the 12-inch Retina MacBook and slimmer-than-ever MacBook Pro models. The company is yet to announce its 2016 MacBook lineup soon, but this new report is in line with what a previous rumor claimed – that Apple will launch 13-inch and 15-inch MacBooks with designs inspired by the 12-inch MacBook released last year.
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A source gave Jack March “strong indication” that Apple won’t launch new MacBook Air models this year. “
“It’s more likely that Apple will launch new MacBook Pro’s that are thinner (at thickest point) and lighter than the current MacBook Air models, therefore making the 2016 13″ MacBook Pro the Retina MacBook Air that everyone was waiting for,” March concluded a post titled Apple has probably killed the ‘Air’ brand.
March accurately predicted the arrival of the 12-inch Retina MacBook last year, which was initially believed to be included in the MacBook Air line.
It looks like Apple might want to retire the Air brand for MacBooks, just like it did with the iPad. Rather than having a mid-range MacBook Air model that’s less portable than the 12-inch laptop and less powerful than the MacBook Pro, Apple is apparently choosing to only focus on entry-level 12-inch Retina MacBooks and high-end MacBook Pro models featuring a thinner design, but offering the same Pro performance.
“By removing the ‘Air’ brand, Apple can contrast their MacBook lineup as Good vs. Better (MacBook vs. MacBook Pro) rather than ‘Meh’ vs. Good (MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro),” March proposed. However, he did not mention a launch timeframe for the new MacBooks, or any other design or specs details for this year’s new Apple notebooks.
