After reports about the 17-inch MacBook Pro rumored to be discontinued, another rumor with regards to the MacBook has surfaced and this one suggests that the MacBook Air and Pro will be merged into what will be simply called the ‘MacBook’. On top of that, the unproven source from whom the rumor started suggests that the hybrid MacBook will be made from a lightweight LiquidMetal chassis and will be compatible with USB 3.0.
While this trio of rumors is interesting to behold, there are several facts to think about before digesting these rumors as fact about what may be coming in the future. Firstly, with regards to LiquidMetal technology, the most LiquidMetal out there in Apple products is in Apple’s SIM ejection tool. To get enough of the material to manufacturer not one but hundreds of thousands of MacBooks just seems unfeasible and might result in a hike in the price.
Secondly, Steve Jobs is known to not be a fan of USB 3.0 but there have been rumors from last year suggesting that Apple was considering the incorporation of USB 3.0 into its devices. Since all that was over a year ago, Intel has adopted official support for USB 3.0 and the motherboards Apple seem to be buying from them will most likely come with it built-in. In comparison to the LiquidMetal rumor, this one seems a lot more plausible.
Finally, the rumor about killing off the MacBook Air line just doesn’t make sense seeing as the device is doing so well. While analysts have stated that the line was just about matching Apple’s sales expectation; that is still no reason to kill of the entire range only as opposed to re-introducing a slimmer MacBook that gets rid of the optical drive for a thinner footprint but ships with a traditional HDD.
While all these bits of information are just rumors for now, it should be taken as such with sufficient pinches of salt. But overall, only the USB 3.0 comes close to being plausible while the other 2 still seem a bit farfetched. What do you think about the rumors? Let us know with a comment below.
Filed in . Read more about Macbook Pro.