It was rumoured for a long time now that the 12-inch MacBook Air with Retina may include USB Type C ports. USB Type C will provide power, DisplayPort video, super-fast data transfer rates, and a much thinner design as well.
Since USB Typc C promises to be significantly smaller compared to current USB ports, Apple could use these connectors in an effort to make the next MacBook Air among the thinnest notebooks the world has ever seen.
On top of that, the 12-inch MacBook Air with Retina could ship in colors other than Silver. A recent report claims that it could also be offered in Space Gray and Gold as well. Apple already makes iPads and iPhones in Space Gray. It also offers the iPhone in Gold as well.
While a super-thin MacBook Air with a Retina display was rumored to be revealed sometime by the end of this year, this is “less certain” to happen now.
Digital Trends suspects that Intel’s new Core M processor, which is fan-less, could be included in a new MacBook Air. Windows-based Core M-powered laptops are already launching starting next month.
The original MacBook Air spurred a revolution in notebook computing when it was first released back in 2008. Take it out of the picture, and solid state drives would have seen slower adoption, Ultrabooks would never come to be, and laptops might still have more than a couple USB ports.
Over the past two years though, the Air has fallen behind its competitors. The system’s low-resolution display, generic design and relatively anemic specifications have turned the former revolutionary into a tamed budget option. Apple is due to refresh the system however, and we’ve heard a few rumors that hint at what the company might do with the next version of the MacBook Air.
12 is the new 13
The most dramatic rumor making the rounds says that Apple will introduce a new 12-inch model to its lineup. This model would entirely ditch the mechanical mouse button integrated into the current touchpad, and may use force and optical sensors to offer a new slew of touch gestures.
While adding a 12-incher may seem superfluous, there’s reason to think that this rumor has merit. The current 13-inch MacBook Air is a bit large for its size because of the relatively large bezels surrounding its display. As already evidenced by the 11-inch MacBook Air, Apple has room to reduce the overall width of the system without compromising the size of the keyboard. A thin-bezel 12-inch model could be nearly as small as the 11-inch MacBook Air, but could still provide a more usable display and a larger touchpad.
Does this mean that the 11-inch and 13-inch models could go the way of the dinosaur? The rumors don’t comment on that, but it was generally believed that at least one of them will remain. Some critics think a thin-bezel 12-inch model that incorporates other rumored advances would sell for a couple hundred more than the current 13-incher, giving Apple an incentive to keep one of the existing Airs as a budget option. If anything disappears, it’ll be the 11-inch Air model, which is arguably the company’s least appealing laptop.
Attached to the rumor of a 12-inch model is a claim that Apple may go fanless with the new Air, but won’t be switching to ARM processors to make this happen. Taking out the fan assembly would make the system silent and help Apple set a new benchmark for thin-ness.
Going fanless isn’t unprecedented. HP already has a passively cooled 13-inch dockable, the HP Spectre 13t x2, which was made possible by packing it with an Intel Core i5-4202Y CPU. That processor’s thermal design power of only 11.5 watts makes the inclusion of a cooling fan unnecessary. In fact, HP’s fanless dockable was the coolest, quietest PC we’ve ever reviewed. There’s no reason why Apple couldn’t use a similar Intel chip to create a fanless MacBook Air.
However, if Apple were to go down this path, the new MacBook Air wouldn’t be much quicker compared to its predecessor. It is doubtful that buyers would mind though, as the Air has never sold on performance, and a fanless version could be very thin indeed. The tablet portion of the HP Spectre 13t x2 is only .27 inches thick, and it contains all the processing hardware. The fanless 12-inch MacBook Air may not be that thin, but a thickness between three-tenths and five-tenths of an inch would seem likely should Apple ditch the fan.
Since USB Typc C promises to be significantly smaller compared to current USB ports, Apple could use these connectors in an effort to make the next MacBook Air among the thinnest notebooks the world has ever seen.
On top of that, the 12-inch MacBook Air with Retina could ship in colors other than Silver. A recent report claims that it could also be offered in Space Gray and Gold as well. Apple already makes iPads and iPhones in Space Gray. It also offers the iPhone in Gold as well.
While a super-thin MacBook Air with a Retina display was rumored to be revealed sometime by the end of this year, this is “less certain” to happen now.
Digital Trends suspects that Intel’s new Core M processor, which is fan-less, could be included in a new MacBook Air. Windows-based Core M-powered laptops are already launching starting next month.
The original MacBook Air spurred a revolution in notebook computing when it was first released back in 2008. Take it out of the picture, and solid state drives would have seen slower adoption, Ultrabooks would never come to be, and laptops might still have more than a couple USB ports.
Over the past two years though, the Air has fallen behind its competitors. The system’s low-resolution display, generic design and relatively anemic specifications have turned the former revolutionary into a tamed budget option. Apple is due to refresh the system however, and we’ve heard a few rumors that hint at what the company might do with the next version of the MacBook Air.
12 is the new 13
The most dramatic rumor making the rounds says that Apple will introduce a new 12-inch model to its lineup. This model would entirely ditch the mechanical mouse button integrated into the current touchpad, and may use force and optical sensors to offer a new slew of touch gestures.
While adding a 12-incher may seem superfluous, there’s reason to think that this rumor has merit. The current 13-inch MacBook Air is a bit large for its size because of the relatively large bezels surrounding its display. As already evidenced by the 11-inch MacBook Air, Apple has room to reduce the overall width of the system without compromising the size of the keyboard. A thin-bezel 12-inch model could be nearly as small as the 11-inch MacBook Air, but could still provide a more usable display and a larger touchpad.
Does this mean that the 11-inch and 13-inch models could go the way of the dinosaur? The rumors don’t comment on that, but it was generally believed that at least one of them will remain. Some critics think a thin-bezel 12-inch model that incorporates other rumored advances would sell for a couple hundred more than the current 13-incher, giving Apple an incentive to keep one of the existing Airs as a budget option. If anything disappears, it’ll be the 11-inch Air model, which is arguably the company’s least appealing laptop.
Attached to the rumor of a 12-inch model is a claim that Apple may go fanless with the new Air, but won’t be switching to ARM processors to make this happen. Taking out the fan assembly would make the system silent and help Apple set a new benchmark for thin-ness.
Going fanless isn’t unprecedented. HP already has a passively cooled 13-inch dockable, the HP Spectre 13t x2, which was made possible by packing it with an Intel Core i5-4202Y CPU. That processor’s thermal design power of only 11.5 watts makes the inclusion of a cooling fan unnecessary. In fact, HP’s fanless dockable was the coolest, quietest PC we’ve ever reviewed. There’s no reason why Apple couldn’t use a similar Intel chip to create a fanless MacBook Air.
However, if Apple were to go down this path, the new MacBook Air wouldn’t be much quicker compared to its predecessor. It is doubtful that buyers would mind though, as the Air has never sold on performance, and a fanless version could be very thin indeed. The tablet portion of the HP Spectre 13t x2 is only .27 inches thick, and it contains all the processing hardware. The fanless 12-inch MacBook Air may not be that thin, but a thickness between three-tenths and five-tenths of an inch would seem likely should Apple ditch the fan.
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