MacBook Pro 2016 Release Date & Specs: Leaked Benchmark Reveals Skylake-based 13in Retina MacBook Pro [Rumors]

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The last update for MacBook Pro happened last year. Although that might still sound recent to some, for many, the powerful laptop is overdue for another update given how fast the technology evolves.

Per Mac World, the MacBook Pro 13-inch version was updated last March 2015 while the 15-inch was updated on May 2015. Many believe that Apple needs to upgrade its processors. The 13-inch MacBook Pro comes with the Broadwell type of Intel processor while the bigger version is equipped with the older Haswell Intel processor.

The new laptops in the market already used the latest Skylake Intel processor and many are looking forward to seeing the upcoming MacBook Pro this year with an updated processor already. A benchmark result uploaded to Geekbench on Jan 14. seemed to support this.

Based on the benchmark, the machine is running the unreleased 3.3 GHz Intel Core i7-6567U processor, which is appropriate for the high-end 13-inch model. It also comes with an integrated Intel Iris Graphics 550 graphics. Many fans who are waiting for the Skylake notebooks from Apple got excited with the report.

However, per MacRumors, there are factors suggesting that the benchmark result is for the Hackintosh instead, and not for the MacBook Pro.

According to the report, the 15W4314 build number of OS X 10.11.3 reflected in the results doesn't follow Apple's naming convention for custom builds. Unreleased machines typically have unique build numbers due to the customization and the "15W" prefix doesn't fit the criteria. All machines running OS X 10.11.3 should start with "15D" for their build numbers.

Moreover, the model identifier, SKLCRB1,1, doesn't follow any of Apple's pre-release identifiers. Aside from this, the single-score and multi-score of around 2,500 and 4,500 respectively are lower than the score of the current high-end 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro that is run by a Broadwell Core i7-5557U chip. In fact, the machine's early 2015 model has a single-score and multi-score of around 3,099 and 6,477 respectively, which is better than the benchmark results.

Thus, the benchmark results are unlikely for the MacBook Pro given that Apple will be updating it. Meanwhile, Hackintosh has a motherboard ID of 50619A408DB004DA that matches several benchmarks that have MacBookPro8,1 model identifiers.

Per MNR Daily, there are speculations that Apple will upgrade MacBook Pro with Skylake process in the first quarter of 2016. The report added that it is unlikely that Apple will delay the arrival of MacBook Pro without Skylake.

MacWorld reported that Apple will be having an event in March as they usually do in the past years. In the said event they will be unveiling Apple Watch 2, iPhone 6c and iPad Air 3.

If this event pushes through, we hope Apple will give more updates about MacBook Pro.