14 DAY TRIAL // A premium Mac accessory maker is spreading rumors that Apple will kill off the MacBook Pro as we know it by introducing a 15-inch model akin to the MacBook Air.
Talking to Electricpig, this anonymous vendor said (quoted from the report) that “Apple’s likely to launch a 15-inch MacBook Air in April, effectively killing the Pro for the average consumer.”
The site said this person was pretty convincing. He / she is employed by a company that is “a key player in MacBook docking solutions,” which means they are some of the first to know when Apple is preparing to shake the ground a bit.
In a nutshell, the source said, Apple fans should expect “a 15-inch MacBook Air with ports on both sides, no optical drive and no ethernet cable.”
Put even more bluntly, the MacBook Pro will soon be dead.
The report does add that Apple might eventually keep the 17-inch version of the Pro to cater to the professional audience.
However, Apple’s intentions are clear. Not only does iCloud help ditch the optical drive, it also allows Apple to eliminate a component that has long been the culprit of its laptops’ bulkiness.
Not to say the MacBook Pro is bulky, but compared to the ultra-thin MacBook Air, it does look a bit chubby.
The refresh is said to occur sometime in the next 90 days, but more likely in April.
It is unclear whether Apple will host a special event for the unveiling of a redesigned MacBook line, but given that they just had one for the iPad 3 (and given that this is still just a rumor for now), we wouldn’t hold our breaths for one.