MacBook Air 2016 Release & Specs: Apple Phasing Out Product Line? Analyst Says, Might 'Go Away Over Time' [Rumors]

With no announce date set for the release of MacBook Air in 2016, speculations abound that the product line could soon be phased out of Apple's product line. The company might set their sights on improving the iPad Pro instead and treat it as the Air's worthy replacement.

Latino Post reported that Apple seemed to be considering stopping the manufacture of MacBook Air devices altogether due to the events that took place last March. The company launched its newest MacBook versions at that time and its MacBook Air was conspicuously not in the lineup. This had analyst pondering if the end could be in sight for the device.

"The kept [the MacBook Air] around just as they do with older iPhones, but the MacBook is now in the same position as the newest iPhone. That makes me wonder if the Air will go away over time," said Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research.

Dawson isn't the only analyst to suggest the same idea. "All [notebooks] need to be more mobile, so something like the Air doesn't need to be branched out anymore," said Carolina Milanesi of Kantar WorldPanel Comtech in the same report. She also said Apple could benefit from removing some of its MacBook products to make the differentiations of each model more prominent. Besides, the iPad Pro already offers similar mobility as the MacBook Air.

Yibada reported that any updates regarding MacBook air could still be announced on Black Friday weekend, while Motoring Crunch suggested the device may likely have updates post clearance. The news outlet also pointed out that the possible reason for the delay is because Apple just launched iPad Pro and it would not be good for sales if the company follows it up with another similar device release in a short period of time.

But should the release indeed happen, the newest MacBook Air might finally come the much-coveted Retina display and previously unavailable features could give the device a product boost. This could include a Touch ID on the Trackpad and a Force Touch upgrade similar to the 13in MacBook Pro, per Independent. The Touch ID feature is already present in some of Apple's other devices like the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which supposedly makes Apple Pay features more secure.

Meanwhile, Macworld also suggested that if a MacBook Air Retina version is launched, previous models may soon experience a price drop or be discontinued, similar to what Apple did with its other MacBook versions.