There has been an onslaught on Apple leaks from business publication Bloomberg over the past week, and the latest goes into a little more detail about an upcoming MacBook Air redesign.
Like the others, the report mentions anonymous people familiar with Apple’s plans. It is claimed that a newly redesigned MacBook Air (presumably with Apple’s M1 chip for Macs or a successor to the chip) “will be released early in the second half of this year or in 2022.”
But buried in this MacBook Air report is perhaps equally big news for a certain set of Mac users: it claims that Apple plans to reintroduce the SD card slot into new MacBook Pros – a detail that was mentioned earlier this time on the computers left out of a story. week.
The current M1 MacBook Air will remain in the range, while this new MacBook Air will be a ‘higher-end’ alternative that will be sold alongside. Why is it better, you might ask? Well, Bloomberg’s sources claim that it will be even thinner and lighter than the model currently available.
Furthermore, the footprint of the laptop will be smaller because the rings are reduced, but the screen will still measure 13 inches. This is a different approach than Apple’s previously followed (and is expected to continue) with its MacBook Pro series. In November 2019, Apple introduced a 16-inch MacBook Pro to replace the previous 15-inch model, but the footprint remained the same, while the screen occupied a large portion of the space previously occupied and increased the screen size has.
The report also states that the new MacBook Air will have MagSafe – something that was said a few days ago by the same publication about the upcoming MacBook Pro models. MagSafe was a key feature of earlier Apple laptops, but Apple has gradually taken it out of the product range over the past few years before re-launching it on the iPhone 12 in 2020.
On the Mac, MagSafe is a power port and accompanying cord that attaches lightly, magnetically. The cord is easy to grip, but if the cord is pulled, it will protrude gently rather than snatch the laptop with it. The aim was to prevent situations in which an owner of the device would fall on the cord and accidentally snatch the laptop from a desk or table and damage it.
Finally, Bloomberg’s report today states that Apple “considered” making a MacBook Air with a 15-inch screen, but the plan will not happen this generation.
Reports earlier this week claimed that Apple plans to launch a new iPhone with a fingerprint reader on screen in 2021.
They also said we should expect a 14-inch MacBook Pro with a larger, better screen to replace the current 13-inch model, as well as faster graphics and CPU performance. There’s also a successor to the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which will also have a better screen and which will bring Apple’s own silicone to the product.
Finally, the leaks predicted an iMac redesign, with Apple Silicon and a new design, as well as a cheaper alternative to Apple’s ProDisplay XDR monitor aimed at consumers.