The current Apple MacBook Air design.
Photographer: Stephanie Keith / Getty Images North America
Photographer: Stephanie Keith / Getty Images North America
Apple Inc. is working on a thinner and lighter version of the MacBook Air, the company’s mass-market laptop, according to people with knowledge of the issue.
The new computer is scheduled to be released in the second half of this year at the earliest or in 2022. It will include Apple’s MagSafe charging technology and a next-generation version of the company’s internal processors. Apple talked about shrinking the laptop by shrinking the border around the screen, which will remain 13 inches. The current model weighs 2.8 kilograms and is just over half an inch at its thickest point.
The company was considering building a larger version of the 15-inch MacBook Air, but Apple is not advancing in that direction for the next generation, said people, who asked not to be identified discussing private issues. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.
MagSafe, which was removed from the MacBook Air with its 2018 redesign, is a magnetic charging system. This means that any accidental pulling of the power cord would simply be detached from the laptop, rather than pulling down the entire computer. The new model will have a pair of USB 4 ports for connecting external devices.
The new laptop is intended to be a state-of-the-art version of the current MacBook Air, which is expected to remain in the company’s range as an entry-level offering. Apple last updated the product in November with its own Mac M1 chip, replacing an Intel Corp. processor.
The Mac is Apple’s oldest product line and has a loyal following. A few years ago, the company was criticized for not updating these computers enough and not paying attention to customer requirements. Now comes a stream of updates. In addition to the new MacBook Air, Apple is planning its program the biggest update of the 2016 MacBook Pro, the first redesigning the iMac in almost a decade, a new Intel-based Mac Pro and a half-chip Mac Pro desktop with internal chips.
The future MacBook Pro is an example of Apple’s renewed focus on Mac loyalists. The company plans to bring back an SD card slot for the next MacBook Pro so users can insert memory cards from digital cameras. This feature was removed in 2016, to the dismay of professional photographers and video creators, key segments of the MacBook Pro user base. The heavily criticized critique bar, the functional line of the current model’s touch screen, also works.
Apple has also developed support for the Mac, both for cellular connectivity – the ability of Macs to connect to the internet via smartphone networks – and for Face ID, the company’s facial recognition system. But none of the features seem to appear soon. To that end, Face ID was originally planned to arrive in this year’s iMac redesign, but is unlikely to be included now in the first iteration of the new design.