Apple to update MacBooks at WWDC 2017, including possible Air, Pro refreshes

Apple is reportedly planning to announce MacBook updates at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 5 — possibly including a Kaby Lake processor upgrade for the MacBook Pro, and a similar refresh for the neglected MacBook Air.

The Pro is suspected to step up to Intel's Kaby Lake processors, Bloomberg sources said on Tuesday. The computer should otherwise be mostly unchanged from last year, though it might be equipped with Apple's rumored ARM chip for low-power functions.

Should the update to Kaby Lake happen, it will be the fastest update to Intel-based portables since Apple moved to the Penryn processor for the third refresh of the 15-inch MacBook Pro in 2007.

Apple is also said to be planning a speed boost for the 12-inch MacBook, and has allegedly "considered" updating the Air the same way. Once a signature Mac, the Air was last given a CPU update in 2015, and now lacks other common Apple features such as USB-C or even a Retina display.

The company hasn't launched new hardware at WWDC since 2013, but has also been relatively quiet in terms of other releases this year, its biggest addition being a $329 "budget" iPad in March.

WWDC 2017 will likely concentrate on software, including new versions of macOS, iOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Apple is also rumored to be readying other hardware reveals though, among them new 10.5- and 12.9-inch iPad Pros, and a Siri home speaker competing with the Amazon Echo and Google Home.

60 Comments

macxpress 5910 comments · 16 Years

About 7 years ago

I don't know why Apple would leave the MacBook Air in their lineup still. The only thing I can think of is they want a sub $1,000 Mac laptop and they can't get the price point of the 12" MacBook down to that yet. I still think the days of the MacBook Air are limited though.

dtb200 47 comments · 12 Years

Because people value it over the alternatives?

dtb200 said:

Because people value it over the alternatives?

What alternatives?

mdriftmeyer 7395 comments · 20 Years

macxpress said:

dtb200 said:

Because people value it over the alternatives?

What alternatives?

Non-Mac based laptops.

paxman 4729 comments · 17 Years

macxpress said:

I don't know why Apple would leave the MacBook Air in their lineup still. The only thing I can think of is they want a sub $1,000 Mac laptop and they can't get the price point of the 12" MacBook down to that yet. I still think the days of the MacBook Air are limited though.

I think you answered yourself. And while the transition to USB-c continues it is good to have the Air until that standard has become more universally adopted. Apple has done similar things before, haven't they? There was the plastic Mackbooks that hung around for longer than people expected, and then the Aluminum Macbook came on the scene before they were all superseded by the Air. The Air had been on the market for quite a while before the others withered.