Redesigned MacBook Air Reportedly Planned for 3Q 2013 Launch, Possibly with Retina Display
Taiwanese newspaper Economic Times reports [Google translation, via Mac Otakara] that Apple is lining up suppliers for its next-generation MacBook Air for launch in the third quarter of this year.
According to the report, the MacBook Air will not only be receiving internal upgrades to Intel's new Haswell platform but also a "facelift" with new external features, including the possibility of a Retina display. The report also claims that suppliers will begin shipping components to Apple's assembly partner Quanta during the second quarter of the year.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had previously included an updated MacBook Air in his 2013 Apple product roadmap, predicting a late second quarter or early third quarter launch for the device. He did, however, indicate that the update would not include Retina displays, which would require substantially more battery power than the current displays and likely force a redesign to also accommodate a somewhat thicker display assembly.
Pricing remains another question for Apple, as the MacBook Air is the company's entry-level notebook and Apple will likely be very hesitant to raise that floor. But while Apple's Retina MacBook Pro models carry significantly higher pricing than their non-Retina counterparts, a significant amount of that cost is related to a shift to solid-state drives, which are already used in the MacBook Air.
Consequently, a shift to a Retina display for the MacBook Air may add a much smaller price premium to the lineup. Apple could also choose to separate the MacBook Air into Retina and non-Retina lines as it has for the MacBook Pro, or offer Retina displays as higher-end options on a unified lineup.
Popular Stories
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
Below, we outline which U.S. states and territories offer the feature, and additional states that have committed to rolling it out in...
One of Apple's first product announcements of 2025 will likely be updated 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with the M4 chip.
Below, we recap rumors about the next MacBook Air models.
New Features
Expected
The new MacBook Air models are expected to be equipped with Apple's already-released M4 chip, which has a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU.
Apple already updated the MacBook...
Apple is widely rumored to be planning an ultra-thin iPhone 17 model for release later this year, and a new report offers a few purported details.
South Korea's Sisa Journal today reported that Apple is aiming for the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" to be 6.25mm thick. If that measurement ends up being accurate, the device would become the thinnest iPhone ever, topping the current 6.9mm record set ...
iOS 18.3 is currently in beta for developers and public beta testers. So far, the upcoming iPhone software update is very minor in scope.
Below, we outline what is new in iOS 18.3 so far.
The only potential new feature coming to iPhones with iOS 18.3 so far is robot vacuum support in the Home app, but this functionality is not yet live. Apple is laying the groundwork for the feature,...
Apple started making Siri more capable with Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2, but there are additional Siri updates that are set to come in 2025 with iOS 18 and iOS 19. By this time next year, Siri should be much smarter, if Apple's planned changes live up to what the company says is coming.
Features Coming in iOS 18
The best new Siri features haven't been added yet,...
Apple CEO Tim Cook plans to donate $1 million to Donald Trump's inauguration fund, reports Axios. The donation will be a personal donation directly from Cook rather than a donation from Apple.
Following Trump's win, Cook congratulated him on social media site X, and in December, Cook had dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Cook aimed to maintain a relationship with Trump during Trump's first...
Apple refreshed the Mac mini back in November, adding M4 chips and increasing the base memory. We did a hands-on impressions video at the time, but we thought we'd follow that up with a more in-depth review now that we've had more time to spend with Apple's cheapest desktop machine.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Priced starting at $599, the Mac mini offers the...
Apple's first-generation Vision Pro headset may have now ceased production, following reports of reduced demand and production cuts earlier in the year.
In October, The Information's Wayne Ma reported that Apple had abruptly reduced production of the Vision Pro headset ahead of potential plans to stop making the current version of the device completely by the end of 2024. With the year now...
