Around this time of the year, most consumer electronics have discounted price tags because of the Black Friday open sale event, with some retailers even extending the promo and bundles well into the Christmas holiday period. However, most observers are saying that the way Apple has been slashing prices off on its MacBook line hints at the imminent arrival of new iterations.

According to Yibada, the highly discounted price tags on the current MacBook Air and Pro lines might be one of the signs that Apple is currently trying to lower the inventories of the older-gen laptops in order to make way for the imminent release of the 2016 editions of the MacBook Air and Pro.

While it might be a stretch to believe the speculations that the new MacBooks will make it in time for the holidays, observers agree that the earliest that the new MacBooks will be out in the market is in the early months of 2016.

The Q1 2016 release date rumors, if proven true, will still make Apple a little bit behind its biggest competitor, Microsoft, in terms of releasing laptop flagships. Microsoft has already come out with the Surface Book, announcing its very first laptop in addition to the new Surface Pro 4 unveiling.

Meanwhile, it was previously reported that Apple planned on releasing the new MacBooks before this year ends but had to reschedule to allow the newly released iPad Pro to gain a foothold.

For tech-savvy Apple fans who want to upgrade to the latest MacBooks, they might not have that long to wait for the 2016 editions, and the waiting will be worth it. Speculations say the new MacBook Air and Pro will be leagues over their predecessors in terms of both design and specs. Apparently, the new MacBooks will use the newer Skylake-U processors and have a number of new features and hardware upgrades.