MacBook Pro 2016 release date, news and rumors

MacBook Pro 2016 release date

We expected to see the new MacBook Pro 2016 at Apple's annual developer event, WWDC, this June. However, as reports had previously suggested, this year's conference focused primarily on introiOS and OS X amendments.

ducing new software updates rather than hardware. So even if there is a new MacBook Pro in the works, it took a backseat to

According to one report by DigiTimes, Apple is gearing up to release new 13- and 15-inch MacBooks in the second half of 2016, specifically the last quarter. It reckons they will feature hinges produced using a mechanism called 'metal injection molding'.

Said to be inspired by Microsoft's Surface Pro line of devices, the hinges are apparently being manufactured by Ampenol, who makes hinges for Microsoft's convertible tablet. These hinges have purportedly begun shipment for the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Meanwhile, the 15-inch model's hinges are set to arrive in the third quarter of the year, making the Q4 2016 release window argument even more convincing.

Reports suggest that the new slim MacBooks will feature a quadruplet of USB-C ports, two on each side. The 2016 MacBook Pros (and perhaps the next MacBook Airs) may even arrive in arrangement of new color variants, akin to its12-inch sibling, including Gold, Space Gray and Rose Gold.

MacBook Pro 2016 price

The current MacBook Pro range starts at £899 ($1,099) for the 13-inch non-Retina model, rising to £999 ($1,119) for the entry-level 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and topping out at £1,999 ($2,099) for the 2.5GHz 15-inch Retina.

The 13-inch non-Retina MacBook Pro, tucked away apologetically at the foot of Apple's product page, surely can't be long for this world; come the updates we'd expect it to vanish in favour of a Retina 13-inch model instead.

Apple tends to keep its pricing similar between generations, so an £899 entry-level Pro with Retina display is likely to be the baby of the range.

MacBook Pro 2016: what's so special about Skylake?

The MacBook Pro is trailing PC rivals in the processor stakes: Dell and Microsoft have already moved to the sixth-generation Intel processors, but Apple is still on Broadwell and Haswell chips.

The move to Skylake processors should be more significant than the move to Broadwell, as the latter was more about battery life and energy efficiency than performance. Moving the MacBook Pro to Skylake should deliver massive speed improvements across the range as well as better battery life.

Skylake has some other tricks up its silicon sleeve including support for WiGig and WiDi short-range, high speed data transfer as well as wireless charging. Don't expect those features to be enabled in this year's notebooks, but they're likely to turn up in future iterations.