Will Apple’s MacBook Air laptops vanish for good?

Since the end of last year, many have suspected that the MacBook Air’s days are numbered, especially after Apple suggested that the thinner and lighter MacBook Pro is its replacement when the Air wasn’t refreshed last Autumn. Now, new speculation seems to confirm that it’s the end of the line for the airy notebooks.

This comes courtesy of a Foxconn insider, who spilled a whole load of details on Reddit regarding all manner of Apple devices and the company’s plans going forward.

And as BGR spotted, at one point the Foxconn source was asked: “Is Apple done with the MacBook Air or will we see a new version in 2017?”

The reply given was short and sweet: “This line is discontinued.” Although the source did add an edit to say: “At least as we know it; the brand may be recycled.”

Budget option

In other words, these notebooks are dead in their current incarnation, although the Air brand name could come back in the future, in some form or other. The remaining 13-inch model may be kept around as a budget option for some time, though ('budget' being a relative term when it comes to MacBooks, of course).

But it certainly seems that one thing we won’t see at WWDC, which kicks off later today, is a refresh of the MacBook Air. Of course, this is a rumor and requires the usual salt to go with it, but the Foxconn insider in question did have his identity verified by moderators on Reddit.

According to other info provided by this tipster, both the iMac and MacBook Pro ranges will be getting refreshes this year, but they will be spec bumps rather than any big new changes.

The more innovative stuff is apparently planned for next year and that will include morphing e-ink keyboards, aspreviously rumored for the MacBook.