Rumors of new MacBooks have been doing the rounds in the tech industry for several months. Latest speculations suggest that Apple is redesigning the hinges of the MacBooks, which will give them an ultra-thin look.
In November 2015, reports suggested that Apple is working with suppliers to redesign the MacBooks. On Friday, DigiTimes cites upstream supply chain sources and reported that one of the redesigns Apple may adopt will be the metal-injection mold-made hinges.
The new hinges for the next MacBooks will be made with a metal working process, which is used for creating very small pieces of metal that are normally used in the internals of several Apple products such as the Apple Watch and the iPhone.
The use of the new hinges in the next-generation MacBooks will help Apple save space and manage an ultra-thin design for the notebook.
The 12-inch MacBook weighs only about two pounds and is about 13.1mm thin. It will be interesting to see how thinner and lighter the next-gen MacBook will be in comparison to the existing MacBook.
DigiTimes also suggest that Apple will procure the new hinges from a U.S.-based company called Amphenol, which has recently joined the supply change for supplying hinges.
Amphenol produces some of the thinnest hinges available in the market. The company is also providing hinges for the Microsoft Surface 4.
Apple launched the latest 12-inch MacBook in March 2015, which led to speculations that Apple may introduce the refreshed MacBook during the Apple event in March this year. However, many MacBook enthusiasts were left disappointed as the new Apple notebook did not join the party with the iPhone SE and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
Previous reports suggested that Apple may release the new line of MacBooks in the first half of this year, soon after Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in mid-June this year. However, the DigiTimes report suggests that the next MacBook may hit the shelves in the second half of 2016.
Apple's refreshed MacBook lineup is estimated to include faster Skylake processors and Thunderbolt 3 with USB-C. The latest 12-inch MacBook is available in three colors: gold, silver and space gray. Speculations are rife that Apple is also planning to launch a rose gold MacBook in 2016.
Other details about the next-generation MacBook remain unknown for now. As Apple has not revealed any details of the MacBooks, all rumors about the company's next notebook should be taken with a pinch of salt.
