Price markdown renews speculation that Macbook Air 2017 is coming soon

A promotional image for the MacBook AirApple

Online retailers have recently put the MacBook Air as well as the iPad Air 2 at a price markdown. This move has renewed people's speculation that a new model of the laptop will be released soon.

Retailer Best Buy led the pack in marking down the price of these Apple products, offering a large discount for the 13-inch MacBook Air. The laptop is now priced at $799, which is $200 less than its original cost at $999. The company also dispelled rumors that the reason for the price drop is that these are refurbished units, saying that the ones on markdown are brand-new laptops.

Many fans are hungry for an upgraded version of the MacBook Air. While a 2016 edition was released, many deemed it a disappointing update because there were barely any changes made on the device. Nonetheless, Apple has made it practically a tradition to release a MacBook Air within the first half of the year, so the fact that the company has remained mum about whether or not it will be releasing a new model in 2017 has been considered a cause of alarm for Apple fans.

There was also a false alarm made back in March 2017 when the online store of Apple was temporarily shut down with the teaser that new products will be included upon its return. This teaser raised fans' expectations that new computers, including the MacBook Air, will be included in the lineup. Unfortunately, this was not the case, as only updated versions of the iPhones and the iPads were released during that period.

The lack of news or information about the MacBook Air has fueled speculations that the laptop series will be discontinued. Mac Rumors said that it does not expect that a new 13-inch model will be produced, following the discontinuation of the 11-inch line. It surmises that the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar is being launched as the replacement of the MacBook Air. However, given people's negative feedback on this device, it remains to be seen if this will happen.