Apple MacBook 2017 line-up news: MacBook Air to be discontinued in favor of new 12-inch MacBook?

Rumors are now going around that the MacBook Air will be pulled from the market, given that the upcoming 2017 MacBook model's design is too similar to the trademark look of the former.

Signs seem to point to the possibility that this rumor is true. In Apple's October 2016 event, the company announced that the 11-inch model will be pulled out from the market. While the 13-inch MacBook Air is still available for sale, it has not received any significant updates or upgrades since 2015, aside from the company incorporating 8 GB RAM to all of their models following complaints that the previous 4 GB was not sufficient for consumers.

Both the MacBook and MacPro weigh much lighter now, which was one of the advantages MacBook Air has over these two. The only edge it has now is its price, and Apple can ultimately make the decision to cut down the cost of the latter, possibly by choosing slightly lower priced parts and peripherals, to make this affordable to the MacBook Air market. Apple can also opt to offer two variants of the MacBook — one with 8 GB RAM, and another with 16 GB RAM — to make at least one of these more affordable.

However, it is unlikely that the company will compromise on the processor installed on their products. Rumors indicate that Intel's latest Kaby Lake chipset will be installed on the upcoming MacBook. Another option is for Apple to design its own processor, as reported by Bloomberg.

Given that the spring event of Apple, which will be held in either March or April, is coming up, it is highly possible that the company will be making announcements regarding the fate of the MacBook Air, along with updates on the MacBook. However, analysts are anticipating that the MacBook will not be launched during the said event. Instead, they are pegging its release date to be in the third quarter of 2017.