The MacBook Air is likely dead. Despite being Apple’s most popular current computer device, and used by programmers, bloggers and coffee shop patrons everywhere, the MacBook Air appears to have been put to pasture. It’s never going to get a super high resolution Retina display or a super thin bezel. Instead according to Tim Cook, MacBook Air fans should go with the tiny MacBook Apple announced last year.
The new MacBook Pro, sans Touch Bar, will be cheaper than both of the other MacBook Pros announced today and will only come in a 13-inch version. It has a 13-inch Retina display, an i5 Skylake processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD and only two Thunderbolt 3 ports (the other Macbook Pros will have four). This all lends credence to our VERY strong suspicion that this thing is replacing the Macbook Air. It’s the mid-range Apple laptop that’s perfect for the oodles of businesses who supply their employees with Apple products.
As for the old MacBook Air, they will still be available from Apple — possibly for a long time. But don’t expect a refresh, ever again. It’s been 598 days since the last refresh, and Tim Cook’s language suggests no more refreshes are planned. Now if you want a less expensive MacBook you’re going to have to wait for the tiny MacBook to go on sale, or at least to come down in price.