It has been rumored that Microsoft’s laptop killer, the Surface Pro 4, will be coming out by the end of this month along with Windows 10. The prospect does not sit well with Apple as one of the major laptop manufacturers in the world too.
Apparently, the American tech giant is now grooming its 2016 MacBook Air to take on the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 tablet-laptop combo line when the former officially hits the market early next year, notes the Ecumenical News.
Reports have it that the 2016 Apple MacBook Air will be officially launched by the Cupertino-based tech company this coming October but will be released to the markets in March next year.
The 2015 MacBook Air was launched in October last year and subsequently released to the market a few weeks later.
However, Apple cannot follow the same launching and release pattern for the 2016 MacBook Air because the reported Intel Core M-based Skylake processors to be used on its latest laptop line will only be made available in mass quantity in the fourth quarter this year. Thus, Apple is left with no choice but to plan the release of its latest laptop line in March next year.
Killer features to take on the laptop killer
The Apple 2016 MacBook Air will reportedly brandish killer features too to be able to compete head on with Microsoft Surface Pro 4, according to Breathecast.
With the Intel Core M-based Skylake processors, the 2016 MacBook Air shall offer significant performance and power improvement from the Broadwell-based Core M processors that are now being used on the 2015 MacBook Air.
The new Apple MacBook that was launched on March 9 also features the single USB Type-C port, which is currently basking on its newfound glory although it seems that it will not be short-lived. It also made the 12-inch device look brilliant and uncluttered on its sides. It is likely that Apple would adopt the feature on the upcoming 2016 MacBook Air.
The USB Type C Port will be used in the 2016 MacBook Air but instead of just one port just like in the new Apple MacBook, the American tech giant might include one or two more ports with its upcoming laptop.
However, the 2016 MacBook Air will most likely ease up on the features of its display screen in order to bring down the cost of the upcoming laptop. Accordingly, instead of the 2304 x 1440-pixel resolution that it was planning to use, next year’s edition would be slightly higher than the 1366 x 768-pixel resolution of the 11.6-inch version or the 1440 x 900-pixel resolution of the 13.3-inch version of the 2015 MacBook Air.
Slim design and Retina display
The 2016 Apple MacBook Air will also feature a very slim industrial design and high-resolution Retina displays, which are merely take-offs from the changes that the new Apple MacBook have taken on when it was released last March.
It is also expected that the American tech giant would use a high-resolution Retina display for the 2016 MacBook Air because the low-resolution TN panels on the current MacBook Air models are certainly due for an upgrade.
The latest version of the laptop line is the 2015 MacBook Air which was officially launched and released in October last year during Apple’s iPad event. But there are rumors that Apple may actually release a 15-inch variant of its 2015 MacBook Air later this year, most likely in October.
That is separate from reports of the substantially upgraded 2016 MacBook Air which will be launched in October this year and subsequently released to the market in March next year.
Just like in the case of the upcoming iPhones from Apple, which also have two sets of rumors, it is interesting to note that there are also two major speculations on the latest iteration for Apple’s upcoming laptop.