The MacBook Air has not seen a proper upgrade since early 2015, and even then, the latest model did not receive a Retina display. Despite rumors of the device being abandoned, analyst Rhonda Alexander has stated that Apple is more likely going to release a brand new MacBook Air this coming October.
According to a report from Forbes, Alexander claims that the 13.3-inch MacBook Air is being redesigned and that Apple is indeed launching something in October alongside a new MacBook Pro.
Alexander continued to explain that because production for this new MacBook Air allegedly began in the second quarter of this year, it is highly unlikely that it will use the Intel Kaby Lake processor. Instead, it will be using the Intel Skylake processor.
Because of this, the MacBook Air will not be as optimized as possible for higher end graphics. It is noted that Apple has been prioritizing powerful graphical capabilities on their devices, but the decision to use the Skylake processor will hold the MacBook Air back a little bit.
The report does state that the laptop may retain an option to use the high-end Polaris GPUs from AMD, although this has yet to be confirmed by AMD and Apple. If this comes to fruition then the MacBook Air may gain a significant graphical boost without costing consumers too much for an upgrade.
One other speculated addition to the MacBook Air is the USB Type-C port. It is unclear how far the implementation of this slot will go and if it will replace multiple traditional ports on the laptop, similar to how the USB Type-C was used for the iPhone 7.
Apple has yet to officially confirm if a new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and new iMac desktop are indeed coming out this October or if they are being pushed back to early 2017.
