New MacBook Pro models could be announced this month, ahead of shipping in August – judging from a report by Japanese site Macotakara and further speculation by AppleInsider.
Macotakara has released a report claiming that, according to a “reliable Chinese supplier”, a new MacBook Pro will be officially unveiled this month. It is said that this new version of the high-end notebook will have USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 ports and drop USB-A connector compatibility.
More bizarrely, however, the site adds that a new MacBook Air will also be announced this month, possibly at WWDC, and start shipping to retailers in August. This would be a peculiar move by Apple, given that the MacBook Air got a minor refresh in April and is expected to receive only stagnant updates in future.
AppleInsider has sensibly pointed out that this “new MacBook Air” could, in fact, simply be the next generation MacBook Pro – particularly as there is mention of a 15-inch model, which has never been available for the Air line. The next MacBook Pro’s expected super-thin design could be leading supply chain sources to mistake it for a update of the typically svelte Air.
Still, whatever the situation here, well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has predicted that new MacBook Pros will not arrive until 2016’s fourth quarter – contradicting the Macotakara story.