Jul 30, 2016 09:54 AM EDT By Vinay Patel, UniversityHerald Reporter

The MacBook Air 2016 has been in the rumors mill lately and a slew of recently-surfaced rumors have revived the highly-anticipated notebook from Apple. According to a new report the MacBook Air may still be in the offing and could hit the store shelves before the year comes to a close.

Contrary to earlier reports indicating Apple may skim over the MacBook Air, it looks like the Cupertino-based tech firm still has plans to roll out the MacBook Air variant. The device may feature USB-C ports, DigiTimes reported.

An exact date on when Apple MacBook Air could launch is still unclear.

A Japanese blog, Mac Otakara, however believes that the online tech publication may have predicted the release date inaccurately. In fact, it places Apple among its notebook competitors including HP (Hewlett-Packard) and Asustek Computer in augmenting the old USB ports to the Type-C.

A slew of recent reports have not quite turned out to be true, including claims that Apple will roll out an ultra-thin 13-inch and 15-inch MacBooks by Q2 2016. We are already in August and Apple has not unveiled a MacBook thus far.

Another forecast that has yet to actualize centers on the ultra-thin MacBooks featuring metal-injection-molded hinges which are expected to release by the second half of 2016. The metal-injection-molded hinges are identical to the ones used for Microsoft's Surface series - a part that justify the thin structure of the notebook.

Besides, there is a possibility that the aforementioned online tech publication may have confused the MacBook Air with the MacBook Pro, according to MacRumors.

Among the two, the MacBook Pro is considered more likely to be retained with the new USB-C ports. On that account, there could either be a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro making an appearance by year's end.

According to KGI Securities Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo Apple will roll out three new MacBooks before this year closes. The three variants include:

A 13-inch MacBook that could debut between June to September, the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models, on the other hand, could come out sometime between September to December.

Ardent MacBook fans will need to wait with bated breath to see if these speculations prove to be true. Until then, it is recommended to take these rumors with a grain of salt.

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