The Apple logo inside the newest Apple Store in New York City's Grand Central Station
The Apple logo in the new Apple Store in New York City's Grand Central Station. Reuters

Recent rumors have hinted that Apple will be killing its MacBook Air lineup. Now, Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst from KGI Securities who his well-known for its accurate predictions on forthcoming Apple products claims that Retina MacBook will gradually replace the MacBook Air devices.

Kuo has speculated that Apple will be launching 13-inch MacBook, a larger edition of the recently upgraded 12-inch MacBook, in the third quarter of this year. Even though the rumor mill is speculating that the MacBook Air 2016 will be launched with high resolution Retina screens, faster processor and Force Touch trackpads, the analyst is of the view that Apple will not be upgrading the MacBook Air series, Apple Insider reported.

Hence, the MacBook Air will be sold as entry-level devices. The 12-inch and the upcoming 13-inch MacBooks will be available as mid-tier products. The MacBook Pro will continue to feature high-end specs.

As far as MacBook Pro 2016 rumors are concerned, Kuo has added that new Pro variants will be coming with new features like Touch ID sensor, OLED touch bar on the keyboard, USB Type-C, and Thunderbolt C. The analyst has predicted that the MacBook Pro 2016 release date will be set in the fourth quarter of the year. It is expected to be available in two screen sizes of 13 inches and 15 inches.

Apple is now rumored to be working on iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus smartphones. The iPhone 7 is pegged to arrive with an improved camera with OIS support and the iPhone 7 Plus is expected to house a dual-camera system along with a new storage option of 256 GB. Speculations also indicate that the next generation iPhones will not feature 3.5 mm audio jack.

As far as design of the upcoming iPhone 7 models is concerned, it is expected to resemble iPhone 6S models. Apple is expected to introduced overhaul improvements such as glass panels; edge-to-edge display on the purported iPhone 8 models that will arrive next year.