The year is already ending with no official announcements from Apple regarding its latest devices on the MacBook Air brand. Is there still hope for a 2016 release, will a 2017 release finally push forward, or will Apple axe the Air line completely?

The new generation of MacBook air was highly anticipated to make an appearance in previous Apple events like the March 21 and October 27 special events, but instead, Apple announced the iPhone SE, iPad Pro and MacBook Pro, respectively.

On April 19, new MacBook models have been released - including a minor, rather underwhelming 8GB base RAM upgrade for the MacBook Air. Excluding the recent upgrade, it has been more than 600 days since the MacBook Air has been upgraded.

MacWorld UK assumed that Apple will stick to its annual upgrade cycle and should release the next generation of MacBook Air at around March to May 2017. However, there are still speculations from analysts and users that Apple will discontinue the Air brand due to lack of spec and image leaks at this time.

Furthermore, it is worth noting that the 2016 MacBook Pro is thinner, lighter, and more powerful than the current-generation MacBook Air. It is unknown at this point if Apple can deliver an alternative machine thinner than their flagship laptops.

The new MacBook Air is expected to finally have a Retina display, as well as some rumored new features like next-generation Intel processors and AMD graphics chips, a dynamic keyboard technology in form of an electronic-ink keyboard, an Apple Pencil-compatible Trackpad, Touch ID and Force Touch, and USB Type-C ports.

The MacBook Air is still one of the best full-sized laptops in terms of battery power, with its astonishing 12-hour life with mixed use. It is just a matter of time before Apple finally announces the possibly lighter and thinner, next-generation MacBook Air.

For more MacBook Air updates, stay tuned.