If the new MBA becomes a "square-edged" design like the MBP13, although thinner, then there isn't that much to differentiate it from the current MBP13, particularly if the Touch Bar goes, which I think it must.Couldn't agree more. 13" MBP is the obvious elephant in the room. If you don't need a 14" you may as well just buy the nearly identical MBA and save some money. If you need a more powerful machine than the MBA, you'll be eyeing up the 14" or 16" MBP, not the 13", because the difference isn't worth it unless you have some affiliation to the 1/4" touchscreen which Apple are obviously deprecating.
Maybe Apple will offer 2 levels of MBA, one with 3 or 4 TB4 ports plus MagSafe and better specs (mini-LED screen? more GPU cores?), and an entry level model similar to the current one.
The Air may get a bit smaller but maintain the same screen size by having smaller bezels (but probably not as small as the 12" MacBook), but I don't think they will make it 14" to avoid overlapping with the MBP14. It is possible (but I think unlikely) that they will introduce an "Air Plus" with a 15" screen but same specs as the smaller model. However, Apple has typically pushed buyers to getting a more expensive MBP if they want a bigger screen, and I don't see this strategy changing.
If the rumour of a new laptop in March is true, then I'm not sure what it would be. Possibilities include:
- A redesigned MBA with M2 - seems a bit soon for M2, but we could be pleasantly surprised.
- The same MBA design with M2 - would be interesting to see how M2 performs, but a lack of expected redesign would look like a missed opportunity - unless Apple has no plans for this.
- An updated MBP13 with M2.... might just be a stop-gap until they launch an M2 MBA that replaces it?
- A new MBP13 design with either M2 or M1 - again, it's not clear if the MBP13 has a future, so this would be unexpected
- Either an MBA or MBP13 with some kind of upgraded SoC that is M1+ but not M2? i.e. minor design improvements
- Nothing - it was just a rumour, and the quoted EEC filing was for a future machine.
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