Apple’s much-rumored MacBook Air update is still on track for an April launch, says Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants. Young has a solid track record with display-related rumors.
Last month, Young said Apple’s supply chain started production of display panels for a new 15-inch MacBook Air. A 15-inch display size option would be the largest available screen ever for the MacBook Air. In February, Young said he expected an early April release for the new MacBook Air, and he repeated that assertion today.
While the new MacBook Air is expected to launch in April, there is a good chance we’ll see an announcement and pre-orders before April. While Apple usually holds new product announcements in March, although it did hold an April event in 2021.
The current 13-inch MacBook Air model – which is powered by the M2 chip, which is created using TSMC’s 5nm process – hit shelves in July 2022, following a June announcement at WWDC.
We still don’t know for sure if the 15-inch MacBook Air will be powered by an M2 chip or an M3 chip, as we’ve seen conflicting rumors. Well-connected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that a 15-inch MacBook with M2 and M2 Pro chip options would be released in the second quarter of 2023, possibly without the Air branding.
A 15-inch MacBook Air would be a game changer, as Apple has traditionally reserved larger display sizes for the MacBook Pro. A MacBook Air model with a 15-inch display could offer more screen real estate for less money. The laptop’s larger display also means a larger chassis, allowing for a larger battery, and potentially offering longer battery life.
Earlier today, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman says Apple is likely readying an updated 13-inch MacBook Air, as well as a larger 15-inch MacBook Air “between late spring and summer.” Gurman says the chips these models will use is a “big remaining question.”
Gurman says it is “plausible” that the next 13-inch MacBook Air will be powered by Apple’s as yet unannounced M3 Chip, which will likely be created using TSMC‘s new 3nm process, which should deliver improved performance. The current 13-inch model is powered by the M2 chip, which is created using TSMC’s 5nm process.
Gurman isn’t sure which chip the upcoming 15-inch MacBook Air will be equipped with, He said a 15-inch model with an M2 chip “may still excite consumers,” but would “quickly become outdated” since the M3 chip will soon debut.
As for other Macs, Gurman says Apple has no plans to debut a new 24-inch iMac until late 2023 at the earliest. That prediction comes from Gurman’s most recent newsletter, where he says he expects Apple to skip an iMac with an M2 chip and will instead wait to release a model powered by an M3 chip.
“I haven’t seen anything to indicate there will be a new iMac until the M3 chip generation, which won’t arrive until the tail end of this year at the earliest or next year,” wrote Gurman. “So if you want to stick with the iMac, you’ll just have to sit tight.”
Apple last updated the iMac in April 2021, powering it with the M1 chip. The iMac boasted a new ultra-thin design and was available in seven colors, including green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver.