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Imminent MacBook Pro, Air 2016 Release Date as 12-Inch MacBook Discontinued, Old MacBooks Go on Sale?

| Apr 18, 2016 09:18 PM EDT

Apple 12-inch MacBook was released in 2015.

Apple has confirmed that the 2016 WWDC will start June 13, again fueling rumors that the MacBook Pro and Air upgrades this year will soon come out. But according to a new report, the Mac notebook refresh is likely to happen within the next two weeks as stocks of the 12-inch MacBook, issued in early 2015, seem to start running out. 

MacRumors said that Apple authorized resellers Best Buy and MacMall have already listed the 2015 MacBook as "no longer available," which indicates that the product is not part of the current inventory anymore. The "out of stock" listing came as a surprise as the same report noted that only a few days back the device was labelled as available or ready to pick up for buyers who elected to reserve.

It could be that the sudden move, Apple Insider said, is in preparation for the arrival of an upgraded model. "Historically, Best Buy has only used this wording (This item is no longer available) when a current generation product has been discontinued, either permanently or in preparation for a refresh," the report said.

And it appears too that all channels selling the 12-inch MacBook have begun shifting or already shifted to the 'sold out' mode, the report added.

Likewise, the current-generation MacBook Pro and Air are headed to the same direction as the Christian Science Monitor pointed to what it described as the best deal ever for the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro. The laptop up for grabs for only $1200 is the lowest price ever, the publication said, noting that the package boasts of an Intel Broadwell Core i5 chip that spins at top speed of 2.7GHz, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD.

The downward price route was also observed with the MacBook Air. As of last week, the Air sticker price has seen significant cutbacks across the board with the basic 11-inch model selling for as low as $750 on Best Buy and B&H, Apple Insider reported.

All these only signify that the 2016 MacBooks are dropping by soon enough and the likely scenario is the 12-inch MacBook will appear first in preparation for the main event. And that would be the 2016 WWDC unveiling of the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBooks - both with ultraportable build and design and running on the combo of Intel Skylake chip and OS X 10.12, the latter rumored to be rebranded as MacOS.

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