Apple reportedly pulling legacy MacBook Pro from stores in step toward new release

(Apple)

As consumers who're waiting to get their hands on an all-new MacBook Pro sit tapping their fingers wondering if such a machine will ever arrive, reports Monday suggested the company is quietly making preparations for the expected incoming laptop, which some commentators say could land in the final quarter of this year.

The arrangements include reorganizing the Pro line-up by winding down sales of the legacy, non-Retina machine, which last received an update in 2012, according to a report from Apple Insider.

Apple Store sources told the site that over the last week the tech giant has started removing the older 13-inch machine from the sales floor, news that admittedly may have some observers responding, "I didn't even know the Apple Store still displayed the non-Retina Pro."

At $1,099, the non-Retina machine costs $200 less than the Retina version. Besides the superior display, the more recent model is also lighter, slimmer, more powerful, and includes flash storage instead of a spinning hard drive.

DT carried out a detailed comparison of the two machines a while back, pointing out that interested buyers should really do all they can to cobble together the extra $200 for the Retina machine. However, anyone looking to get a new Pro today will be wondering whether to hold out till the end of the year, when the updated Pro is expected to launch.

Besides being lighter and thinner than the current MacBook Pro, the next-gen machine is expected to include an "OLED display touch bar" in place of the function keys along the top of the keyboard, according to the generally reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

It could also feature an ultra-shallow keyboard similar to that seen on the 12-inch MacBook, the company's thinnest computer which launched in 2015.

A Touch ID scanner and support for Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C are also expected to appear with the next Pro machine.

As for Apple's wider laptop line-up, Kuo says he expects the company to also introduce a revamped Air as well as a 13-inch MacBook, though he couldn't offer any retails on what new features they might include.