Digitimes has a mixed track record of reliability with regard to Apple rumors, but its latest report gels with expectations. The report claims Apple is preparing new 13 inch and 15 inch MacBooks to launch in the summer, by July. Although the publication does not say this, it indicates that new MacBook Pros are on the horizon perhaps debuting at WWDC, Apple’s developer conference.
Given Intel’s CPU roadmap, Apple laptops featuring the new Skylake processors are due. Therefore, it is not that much of a stretch to believe this report. A key feature of Skylake is power efficiency, which would allow Apple to make dramatically thinner laptops.
A similar story was published by Economic Daily News late last year, which claimed Apple was preparing new 13 inch and 15 inch MacBook Airs for a June debut. Synthesizing the two reports together, it would make sense that Apple is planning new MacBook Pro updates with Air-like thinness. In fact, the Digitimes reports claims the new MacBooks will be even thinner.
The fate of the MacBook Air itself is bleak, with Apple heavily pushing the new Retina MacBook and the iPad Pro as its successor.
The two new MacBooks share a design similar to the existing 12-inch MacBook, but thinner than existing MacBook Air.
Apple’s March event featured no mention of the Mac, but there’s still many months left for Apple to give attention to its traditional PC business. Digitimes expects Mac sales growth to continue despite weak industry demand.
