A few days before Apple's March 21 press briefing, fresh reports have indicated that revealing 2016 models of the MacBook Pro and Air at the event is highly unlikely. The spotlight is on the 4-inch iPhone SE and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, erstwhile known as the iPad Air 3, with the latter coming with native Apple Pencil support.
There is a slim chance that Apple will allow at least a preview of the MacBook 2016 series next week and even if the tech giant will provide bits of teaser, the most likely subject will be the 12-inch MacBook that according to Macworld will mirror the latest offering of color options including a Gold and Silver finish.
The same report, however, pointed to the Apple March 21 event invite that teases with "Let us loop you in," which carries not a single hint on the next MacBook build. Fans, most likely, will have to wait until June 2016 or for the 2016 edition of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference or WWDC.
The mid-year event is expected to officially launch OS X 10.12 that will power the next-generations of Macs, somehow indicating that Apple is more inclined to roll out the new MacBook Pro and Air models powered by the latest OS X build that is rumored to transport Siri of iOS to the platform.
But even if the MacBook will not make an appearance next week, Apple fans still have something big to look forward to. If a new update to the iPad drawing application is any indicator, the smaller iPad Pro, according to Apple Insider, will arrive with built-in support for the Apple Pencil.
Astropad version 1.4, apart from fixing bugs and delivering better stability, was recently updated for "Apple Pencil for new iPads," the report said. The feature bump revealed by the app creator makes sense as Apple Insider noted on its report that "Apple often grants certain developers pre-launch access to top secret hardware, allowing them to code demo apps later used to tout key features in an onstage debut."
And the report, while unconfirmed by Apple, aligns with the speculations that smaller iPad Pro has been optimized with productivity features and will unbox with stylus support and Smart Connector that will allow the device to be easily paired or connected with external accessories just like its bigger sibling.
The clue provided by the Astropad update also indicates that the next iPad from Apple will debut commercially springtime of 2016 or a release date that is a few months after the twin iPhone SE and iPad Pro unveiling this March.