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2022 MacBook Air Rumors: Non-Tapered Design With Notched Mini-LED Display, MagSafe, 'M2' Chip, and More

For me the wedge design is the best feature of the Macbook Air.
It is so comfortable to rest your hands flat on the desk which gradually transitions into the laptop without a raised edge to dig into your wrists.
For me, if they kill the tapered form factor, they are killing the Macbook Air line, what's the point of having 13" Air and Pro models if they are going to be both the same flat form factor.
I think Apple's problem is that the MBAir line is so popular that it is robbing their more expensive Pro line of customers.
 
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Whenever I hear a product is going to be released in the "early" or "late" part of a year from Apple, I now think, add 3-4 months. Fall means winter, early means mid, and everything is slower than what you might think. When I first saw the new Macbook Pros, I got instantly excited for the next Air. I have a 13-inch MBP now with a touch bar. 2013 model. First iteration. I learned my lesson there. Wait for the second speed bump that's gonna come in 6-8 months. And these 2 forces are diametrically opposed. "Hurry up" vs. "why didn't this just come with the best processor right out of the box".

-Such is Apple fandom.
 
HobeSoundDarryl said:
I agree no problem selling M2 and M1 Macs at the same time... just like selling older phones while also selling the latest phone.

Again, the issue I imagine is that the "premier" Mac is rumored to launch next. Does Apple try to roll it out without the max power chips just announced? I see this as akin to expecting the next generation iPhone rolling out with an A16 processor... but it being clear that the A16 lacks a lot of the power of the previous generation A15 processor.

Sure, they can roll out a higher number stamped on a chip with less RAM/cores/storage in a "flagship" Mac/Phone... but will they? I have to think they will not. Sure they can sell it as superior to the plain M1 it replaces... but I would guess the press and tech-minded fans and non-fans would pound this concept of higher number chip with weaker features & benefits vs. "6 month old" chips.

Thus again, I find myself imagining that either Spring brings M2 pro and maybe max in a new 27"-32" iMac OR the Spring event rolls out M1 Pro & Max Mac updates, saving the "higher number" for a Fall rollout where probably all 3 variations roll out together. We'll see. I'm just trying to logically guess and can be entirely wrong in this guess.

However, our crowd here seems to be directly assuming iPhone A-series tick-tock is in play here... thus M2 must launch in Spring. But iPhone tick-tock doesn't actually fit because the traditionally most powerful Macs are still to launch with M-whatever. It seems they have to come with either equal or "most power yet" to me... just as I entirely expect the A15 deluxe or A16 in the next iPhone to be more powerful than the current best A-series chip.
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M1s?
 
contacos said:
It’s a shame they did not release it now. I probably won’t be using half the power of the 14 inch Pro I have just ordered but I didn’t want to wait anymore to replace my MBP from 2012
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Yup….I’m holding on to my 13 inch MBP from 2013 for this. For me, it’s all about MagSafe. The waiting is killing me. The notch is a bonus ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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HobeSoundDarryl said:
I agree no problem selling M2 and M1 Macs at the same time... just like selling older phones while also selling the latest phone.

Again, the issue I imagine is that the "premier" Mac is rumored to launch next. Does Apple try to roll it out without the max power chips just announced? I see this as akin to expecting the next generation iPhone rolling out with an A16 processor... but it being clear that the A16 lacks a lot of the power of the previous generation A15 processor.

Sure, they can roll out a higher number stamped on a chip with less RAM/cores/storage in a "flagship" Mac/Phone... but will they? I have to think they will not. Sure they can sell it as superior to the plain M1 it replaces... but I would guess the press and tech-minded fans and non-fans would pound this concept of higher number chip with weaker features & benefits vs. "6 month old" chips.

Thus again, I find myself imagining that either Spring brings M2 pro and maybe max in a new 27"-32" iMac OR the Spring event rolls out M1 Pro & Max Mac updates, saving the "higher number" for a Fall rollout where probably all 3 variations roll out together. We'll see. I'm just trying to logically guess and can be entirely wrong in this guess.

However, our crowd here seems to be directly assuming iPhone A-series tick-tock is in play here... thus M2 must launch in Spring. But iPhone tick-tock doesn't actually fit because the traditionally most powerful Macs are still to launch with M-whatever. It seems they have to come with either equal or "most power yet" to me... just as I entirely expect the A15 deluxe or A16 in the next iPhone to be more powerful than the current best A-series chip.
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There really isn’t any tick-tock plan. Apple has always improved their chips every year. Performance increases somewhere in the 8-15% per year rate. The higher jumps are when TSMC can roll out a new fab level. Getting to 5nm allowed the A14 and M1 to get faster and use less power than the previous A13. The fabs usually take a couple of years before they can get to the next lower size and see another jump in performance and reduction in power consumption. The A15 is on an improved 5nm and is about 8-10% faster than the A14. The M1 series chips are probably all on the original 5nm. Next year, the M2 will probably be on the improved 5nm and will use cores like the A15 with an incremental performance increase, but it will not be a big jump. What you are calling a tick-tock is just the year over year improvements in performance, not some strategy to control the marketing.

It is very possible that Apple may bring out some updated products using the M2 chip and then bring out another product with M1 Pro/Max. That doesn’t mean that the M1 Pro/Max product is slower. The M2 will probably have a small increase in single core performance, but like the M1, will only have a small number of cores. The M1 Pro/Max single core performance may not be as fast as the M2, but with all the cores and GPU, they will still be several times faster than the M2 in typical computing tasks.

Currently as Apple is doing their transition to Apple Silicon, they will probably update some machines more quickly that they would have in the past and sometimes they will bring out updates that seem “out of order”. When you add in the supply chain disruptions of COVID this effect is magnified. This is going to seem a little chaotic until they get their whole line on board. Once that happens, they can start setting a more predictable upgrade cadence. Maybe some products get updated every 18 months, others every 2 years, and some may get updates every year. I suspect that the low end of a series, like the M1/2 will generally come out before they bring out the Pro/Max version and both may come out after the iPhones using the same cores. That’s OK. It doesn’t have to fit out preconceived notions of what should come out in which order and which product will be embarrassed to have a lower number than another.

this will all make more sensue in another year or so as we see the full suite of Apple Silicon products.
 
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ignatius345 said:
One of the main reasons I bought the M1 Air instead of the Pro was because of the tapered design. I find it a lot more comfortable in longer typing sessions. That sharp edge can feel, well, pretty sharp on the palms after a while.
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Agreed. I was optimistic that they were planning to curve the edges, like a pair of iPads hinged together when closed (except one thick and one thin), with the rounded edges, but the sharp edge remains ☹️

IMO that’s the single worst design decision Apple have made, because it is so long-lasting and so easy to fix.
 
  • Dump the old 13" MacBook Pro
  • Dump the wedge and "Air" moniker
  • Add those gorgeous colors that pop and avoid iMac muted tones and white bezels (this doesn't sit permanently in your living room)
  • Voila! MacBook and MacBook Pro lineup in a new era of Apple Silicon.
 
it’s obvious that the keyboards will be in the COLOR of the machine and not black. Yellow macbook air -> yellow keyboard etc.

Black keyboard will be only on the PRO models. Not so difficult to predict this, right MR?
 
chad.petree said:
I wonder if it will have promotion :oops: that is all I want
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Considering that the normal iPhone doesnt, the ipad air or any other ipad except pro doesnt, I wouldn't bet on it. ProMotion is going to stay a pro level feature for awhile, its been a year and LiDAR is still only on the iphone pro models, so I don't think ProMotion is going to trickle down anytime soon.
 
perfectly comfortable with my M1 2020 MacBook Air. Even over the new MacBooks I’d rather have an air. Most fully utilize that over a pro
 
As someone said probably time to drop the "Air" altogether. So you have Macbook and Macbook Pro. The M1 Air was really a cut down Macbook Pro anyway. I got one for my son last year when they came out. It's a powerful little machine especially as the apps he uses have been updated.
 
I don't think this will be the new "MacBook Air"; rather, I think it will simply be "MacBook". As we've seen with the iPhone and iMac, Apple has embraced bright colours for their entry level devices, while the Pro devices get the more muted colours. So, with this 2022 laptop slated to arrive in a range of bright colours, I fully expect it will be Apple's new entry level laptop, and therefore just "MacBook".

With this new MacBook being so thin, I expect that Apple will be consolidating their laptop line up to just the "MacBook" (14") and "MacBook Pro" (14" & 16"), with the MacBook Air dropping out of the future line up altogether.
 
Mr. Awesome said:
I think it’s more likely that Apple will make the keyboard white instead of black, to match the design of the iMac.
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how-to-clean-white-mac-keyboard.jpg
 
coolfactor said:
Why? Seriously... why? It's still cutting-edge all these years later.
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If it's going to be as extremely thin and light as rumored, a wedge design would be strange to pick up, for example.

Supposedly, the thickness will be similar to that of an iPad Pro, so it will be around 6mm thick.

I've always had the Pro model because aesthetically I liked the straight design better than the wedge design, but if the Air has that ultra-thin square design, it appeals to me a lot more than its predecessors.

In the end it's a matter of taste and preference, but the important thing is that it remains true to its philosophy: light, thin, powerful for most people and relatively affordable.
 
MacRumors said:
Apple considered building a larger version of the MacBook Air with a 15-inch screen, but Apple isn't moving forward with this for the next generation, according to Gurman.
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That's very unfortunate, because that's exactly the MacBook I need: 15inch and not heavier than 1.20kg (the 17inch LG Gram is around 1.3kg, so you can do it Apple --because you are supposed to do things far better than LG). And, BTW, I insist, no matter the price: I would pay a MBP-like pricing for such a big MBA. I payed 4000€ for my 2018 MBP, and by the time you release a new MBA, my MBP will already pay for itself.
 
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I just hope that adding the mini-LED doesn't increase the price. I'm keen to purchase a new MacBook Air at the current price, but want to wait for the new one.
 
Let’a also add notch to iPad, iMac, Watch, Apple tv (software based) and Mac mini to be consistent…
 
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