MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 2016 Release Date, Rumors and Price; WWDC 2016 Could Be The Announcement Date

Mar 22, 2016 07:14 PM EDT

Apple had its huge event yesterday where they made their announcements for the spring with "Let Us Loop You In", and it included some great devices like the 4-inch iPhone SE, the 9.7 inch iPad Pro, the announcement of iOS 9.3, as well as the addition of some new Apple Watch bands.  However, there was one thing that was expected to be announced that wasn't unveiled, and that was the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro for 2016, and this is the latest news about Apple's new laptops, along with rumors. 

Considering that the MacBooks of 2015 were unveiled last year in March at Apple's big announcement, there were many that were disappointed that Apple didn't announce their newest laptops for this March.  DigiTimes reports that Apple will beginning to ship new "ultra thin" 13-inch and 15-inch MacBooks at the end of the second quarter. 

Considering that the second calendar quarter ends on June 30, it looks like reports that the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro for 2016 will be announced at the WorldWide Developers Conference (WWDC).  WWDC will take place in between June 13-17 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.  Considering that was one of the rumors about the release date of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 2016 (the other being that they would be unveiled on march 21), it would appear that the WWDC 2016 announcement is correct. 

As far as what will be the new features for the new MacBooks, MacRumors points to faster Skylake processors.   Most of the competitors at HP, Dell, and Microsoft have Skylake processors, so it is just obvious for Apple to make the shift, and it is possible that this change could lead to a better battery life.  Perhaps the Skylake processor is the reason why the new MacBooks can be thinner. 

There are also rumors that the new MacBooks will have Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C, not to mention that there could be a gold model.  There is one rumor that would be surprising if it were true, according to Macworld.  Some say that the 2016 models of MacBooks could have a touch screen, and that it could be detachable from the screen itself.  Then there are the rumors that perhaps the iteration of MacBooks could have a Retina display with 3D touch. 

So yes, there is a lot of rumors for this product, which is pretty long-awaited.  In the case of the MacBook Air, there are rumors that Apple is "phasing out" this particular model.  If that is the case, then the price on these particular models will go way, way down, while the newer models will show up at prices that are probably higher (possibly much higher) than what Apple has for their current 2015 models, expected to be at $1,299 to $1,599.