MacBook Air 2016 release date, news & update: 13-inch MacBook to replace MacBook Air?

A new 13-inch MacBook is rumored to be coming out this year and could become a replacement for Apple's MacBook Air.

The MacBook Air is now almost a decade old and has long been without significant updates, leading many to believe that Apple is about to phase out the entire line. At its launch, the MacBook Air's biggest selling point was its slim and ultra-portable design. But now that Apple has the MacBook, which is thinner, lighter and more powerful than the MacBook Air, the Air lineup doesn't seem quite so necessary. In addition, consumers whose first need is a portable laptop can go for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Given that the MacBook is lighter and has better specs than the MacBook Air, it should come as no surprise if Apple decides to phase out the latter this year. In addition, the MacBook offers everything that the MacBook Air can at a steeper starting price, giving Apple more reason to ax the MacBook Air.

According to MacWorld, trusted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has revealed that the 12-inch MacBook has risen to become Apple's best-selling computer. It is reportedly followed by the 13-inch MacBook Pro, leaving the MacBook Air in the dust.

Kuo has also suggested that Apple is about to introduce a 13-inch MacBook to accompany the 12-inch original, and that this new MacBook could come out before the end of the year. There has been talk that with this new 13-inch MacBook sitting alongside its 12-inch sister, Apple has a new lineup of ultra-portable computers to replace the MacBook Air line.

Nonetheless, Tech Radar notes that should there be a MacBook Air 2016, it could come with a touchscreen keyboard in lieu of a conventional physical keyboard. There has also been talk of Apple killing off its 11-inch MacBook Air in lieu of a much bigger 15-inch variant.

The MacBook Air 2016 was originally predicted to come out in September. Tech bloggers are still hoping for a late 2016 release, but should the year end without a new MacBook Air, the laptop could go the way of the Mac Pro and the Mac Mini, two Apple devices that have not been upgraded in many years.

Apple has not officially announced a MacBook Air 2016.