Last Updated on May 31, 2022 by srinivas
With WWDC fast approaching, the rumors about what Apple will announce are starting to pile up. The latest report claims the highly anticipated MacBook Air redesign could make its way to the big show, but without any of the most anticipated features.
In his weekly Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple is “striving” to launch a new MacBook Air at WWDC, though he warns that supply chain issues could push its release into the fall. The MacBook Air is rumored to be getting a complete overhaul, with a new sleek bezel design and iMac-inspired colors.
The new machine was also expected to usher in the next generation of Apple silicon processors with an M2 chip, although that may not be the case. According to a series of tweets from Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple has reached “technical limitations” with the development of the A16 and M2 chips, and the CPU and GPU gains may not be all that noticeable — so much so that Apple is launching the MacBook Air with an M1 and instead launch the M2 series chips in the next 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
Kuo explains that while it’s still possible for Apple to call the chip an M2 despite the lack of real improvements, he thinks Apple has more to gain by waiting. He also believes that the MacBook Air’s “all-new design” is enough of a selling point to overshadow the lack of an M2 chip.
Together with the Mac mini and the 13-inch MacBook Pro, the current MacBook Air has been on the shelves since November 2020. It’s not uncommon for chip makers to release updated versions of existing chips with slightly higher performance, so Apple could bring the MacBook Air’s M1 to market. chip as a second generation chip and still distinguish it from the current model.
WWDC kicks off Monday, June 6 at 10 a.m. PT with an online event that will provide sneak peeks of iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, watchOS 9, and tvOS 16. We may also get a glimpse of the Apple silicone-based Mac Pro alongside the rumored MacBook Air.