Rumors are running rampant that Apple will use Intel's seventh-gen Kaby Lake processing chip to power up the MacBook Pro 2016 on release date, however the actual unboxing is likely to be delayed until next year. Alternatively, the Cupertino-based tech firm could go for staggered arrival of the highly-anticipated laptops with the initial batch of shipments bearing up with Intel Skylake.

The decision to deviate from Skylake to Kaby Lake is quite understandable as pointed out in a new report from MacRumors, the latter guarantees optimized support for DisplayPort 1.2, USB 3.1 and Thunderbolt 3 - all elements purportedly packed with the extremely light, comparatively slimmer and more powerful MacBook Pros. According to the, Apple opted for the Kaby Lake, taking its architecture into consideration as it is designed to "push the boundaries of processor graphics."

Recent rumors doing rounds suggest that by giving the MacBook Pro a facelift, the company is actually looking to market the laptop as a productivity device that is also a portable gaming machine. The new MacBook Pros are rumored to pack AMD's Polaris 11 GPU muscle.

Regrettably, the aforementioned arrays of exciting upgrades are not likely to happen any time soon as it looks like Intel will only be in a position to deliver the exact Kaby Lake flavor as recommended by Apple by late 2016 or early 2017, which does not coincide with the earlier speculations from analysts suggesting that the MacBook Pro 2016 will hit the store shelves no later than November 2016.

Basically, any Apple machine launched in the fall of 2016 may be limited to Skylake chips.

Apparently, Apple is left with a couple of options in such a scenario.

One is to simply postpone the new MacBook Pro debut, which, by the way will hardly be surprising as the company has pushed back quite a few releases of its devices in the past, GameNGuide reported.

Alternatively, Apple can go for a staggered rollout of the new MacBook Pro and still meet its scheduled 2016 fall release.

It's no secret that the initial batch of MacBook Pro 2016 will come with Skylake as the platform and to facilitate sales, they will carry a lower price tag as compared to the Kaby Lake models.

The Skylake-powered MacBook Pro 2016 will be a carbon copy of its Kaby Lake twin; packing identical features such as same redesign, slimmer and lighter build, same feature upgrades including Touch ID-enabled power button, OLED touch bar and Siri for Mac that is integrated with the latest MacOS Sierra OS.

The MacBook Pro 2016 running on Kaby Lake is said to mimic everything found in the Skylake variant and it is likely to hit the store shelves as early as January the following year.

Can Apple Face The Cut-Throat Competition?

As soon as the much-awaited laptop debuts in the market, it is expected to face some very stiff competition from top-notch rivals.

The key is to make the company's flagship laptop an extremely attractive, sleek and more powerful option for consumers. The new laptop from Apple is rumored to be dubbed as the 2016 MacBook Pro, iTechPost reported.

Rumor mills have not ceased swirling speculations around the MacBook Pro 2016, some going as far as hinting a removable screen, besides suggesting a radical cosmetic overhaul for the impending laptops.

Apple however has remained mum regarding the aforementioned features and has neither confirmed nor denied these rumors. Until the company either confirms or debunks these speculations, MacBook fans are advised to take them as mere shots in the dark.