M2 MacBook Air Said to Be Among Most Likely WWDC Hardware Announcements, Apple AR/VR Headset Unlikely

[Bro...What???]

Apple may unveil new Mac hardware at WWDC this year, with the redesigned MacBook Air being the most likely potential hardware announcement, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

In today's "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained his expectations for potential Apple hardware announcements at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

Signs of "realityOS," the long-rumored operating system believed to run on Apple's mixed-reality headset, were spotted in Apple source code earlier this year and there has been growing enthusiasm about Apple's AR and VR project finally "approaching liftoff" for launch this year. Rumors of Apple announcing its headset sooner rather than later were stoked earlier today when a trademark for "realityOS" surfaced, with a foreign filing date deadline of June 8, 2022, just two days after the main WWDC keynote. Despite these rumors, Gurman is wary of "a full-blown" announcement of Apple's headset at WWDC:Gurman previously reported that the launch of the headset will likely be delayed until 2023 following a plethora of development problems, including issues with overheating from at least one chip on par with the M1 Pro, as well as camera and software challenges.

Mac-related announcements are reportedly more likely at WWDC this year, should Apple unveil any new hardware, according to Gurman. He believes that Apple planned to launch a new MacBook Air model with the M2 chip at WWDC this year, but supply chain issues seem to have complicated the timeline:Beyond any potential hardware announcements, major new software updates for Apple's devices, including iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, tvOS 16, and macOS 13, are expected to be previewed at WWDC on Monday, June 6.

Article Link: M2 MacBook Air Said to Be Among Most Likely WWDC Hardware Announcements, Apple AR/VR Headset Unlikely

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Apple may unveil new Mac hardware at WWDC this year, with the redesigned MacBook Air being the most likely potential hardware announcement, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

In today's "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained his expectations for potential Apple hardware announcements at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

Signs of "realityOS," the long-rumored operating system believed to run on Apple's mixed-reality headset, were spotted in Apple source code earlier this year and there has been growing enthusiasm about Apple's AR and VR project finally "approaching liftoff" for launch this year. Rumors of Apple announcing its headset sooner rather than later were stoked earlier today when a trademark for "realityOS" surfaced, with a foreign filing date deadline of June 8, 2022, just two days after the main WWDC keynote. Despite these rumors, Gurman is wary of "a full-blown" announcement of Apple's headset at WWDC:Gurman previously reported that the launch of the headset will likely be delayed until 2023 following a plethora of development problems, including issues with overheating from at least one chip on par with the M1 Pro, as well as camera and software challenges.

Mac-related announcements are reportedly more likely at WWDC this year, should Apple unveil any new hardware, according to Gurman. He believes that Apple planned to launch a new MacBook Air model with the M2 chip at WWDC this year, but supply chain issues seem to have complicated the timeline:Beyond any potential hardware announcements, major new software updates for Apple's devices, including iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, tvOS 16, and macOS 13, are expected to be previewed at WWDC on Monday, June 6.

Article Link: M2 MacBook Air Said to Be Among Most Likely WWDC Hardware Announcements, Apple AR/VR Headset Unlikely

that brown MacBook is pretty, I wish they would bring back the black MacBooks.

 

[johnnytravels]

I bet they will abandon the headphone jack on the new Air to make it a more seamless experience since you now need only 2 dongles between your Macbook, iPad and iPhone instead of none.
/s

Don’t tell me the future is wireless. It isn’t for people being creative with their machines...

 

[matt_and_187_like_this]

These renders look sexy

 

[TheOldChevy]

Maybe a Mac pro produced in USA ?

 

[BigCat097]

I enjoy reading all the complaints about Mac rumors on a website titled "MacRumors". It's not MacFacts people.

 

[Dave245]

Isn’t Wwdc about developers, so why would they announce the new Air? I can understand pro level devices like the Mac Pro, MacBook Pro’s and so on. Isn’t the MacBook Air aimed at students and consumer level?

That’s being said, I would love to see a MacBook Air with similar colours of the new iMac.

 

[jonnysods]

A redesigned MBA is one of the more intriguing upcoming Apple products for me in 2022.

I have a 2017 12" MacBook as a floater machine - I'd love to see an M series chip and see if they can reduce the footprint of of the MBA a little to see if it can get close to this.

 

[yabeweb]

Sorry, software only. Must we every year with this?

History of hardware at WWDC: Every device launched at Apple’s developer conference in the last few years

A look back at some of the hardware announcements made by Apple at WWDC, its biggest software event of the year.

indianexpress.com

Really?

 

[ProfessionalFan]

Isn’t Wwdc about developers, so why would they announce the new Air? I can understand pro level devices like the Mac Pro, MacBook Pro’s and so on. Isn’t the MacBook Air aimed at students and consumer level?

That’s being said, I would love to see a MacBook Air with similar colours of the new iMac.

If it had an M2, that'd be the reason since it'd be the first M2 device. The same M2 that would go into other devices if it is anything like the M1 rollout.

 

[deevey]

There are several theories on how both could be correct. It seems that the M2 is really going to be just a slightly tweaked M1 with the same production process rather than the next gen cores and production process people originally thought it was going to be. Remember Apple can name it whatever they want.

Too true, look how many G3/G4 variants there was.

Mac's were historically defined by Generation, Year or Nickname, not by the processor. Maybe they'll go back to that with M2 being reserved for the next significant jump in speed.

 

[svish]

With all the production issues in China, don’t know whether we will be seeing any new Macs at WWDC. MacBook Air might happen only in October.

 

[JippaLippa]

I'm so hyped for the colourful airs.
I love Apple, but I sometimes miss their design philosophy from the late 90s or with the colourful ipods.
The 24" iMacs were a step in the right direction, now I want to see more colourful options from Apple.
Bring me a line of colourful airs and minis.

 

[JippaLippa]

So frustrating...

What are "consumer colors" vs "pro colors"?

Why does everything "pro" have to be such a boring palette of cold and depressing silver, gray and black?

I agree!
In my case I'd get everything purple.
Just gotten my purple ipad, I'll get my purple iPhone 14 pro and I wish my grey mac studio was purple.

 

[Ethosik]

They might take this as a time to announce an M2 chip to show a commitment to the ongoing evolution of the M-series.

I think this is needed. At least a sneak peek or a side note. M1 is almost two years now (in customers hands, definitely a two year old product outside the customer’s hands) and it’s getting stale and concerning. Two years in IT is quite long. So I think at the very least M2 will be said. Intel is catching up pretty quickly as I have been very impressed with their new stuff. Still power hungry, but performance is catching up to the base M1 at least.

 

[Ethosik]

I wish all the car and AR/VR stuff would just go away. I feel Apple is already stretched too thin causing iOS and macOS to have massive issues. Just focus on those things please. I also don’t get the obsession on AR/VR. It seems all hype towards a “metaverse”.

 

[Seanm87]

I'm so hyped for the colourful airs.
I love Apple, but I sometimes miss their design philosophy from the late 90s or with the colourful ipods.
The 24" iMacs were a step in the right direction, now I want to see more colourful options from Apple.
Bring me a line of colourful airs and minis.

I agree. I feel like everyone on this forum wants black and grey dull and boring colours.

 

[Rogifan]

Not jazzed about white keyboards. They’ll be dirty in no time.

 

[dgdosen]

Not jazzed about white keyboards. They’ll be dirty in no time.

I use both a white and black Magic Keyboard... and I wouldn't say the white keyboard is any harder to keep clean.

I would say the "shininess" that a keyboard develops over time (still not quite sure if that's oil from fingertips vs coating wearing away) is much less noticeable on a white keyboard than black.

 

[QFace]

I think there’s a good chance of a 13” redesigned MacBook Air, however I’m interested in a 15” version (not holding my breath for that).

Costco Canada just had a 20% site wide sale, so got a 16” MacBook Pro with base processor and 1 tb + AppleCare for $2920 cad plus gst ($2307 usd equivalent). Pretty good compared to apple store price of $3098 usd, plus should ship this week. If I’m surprised with a compelling 15” air, maybe I’ll return the pro, but I think that’s unlikely.

 

[redheeler]

Sorry, software only. Must we every year with this?

The new MacBook Air is fairly likely IMO given how long it's been since a refresh.

 

[JippaLippa]

Not jazzed about white keyboards. They’ll be dirty in no time.

I tested a macbook pro 16" for a few days and with very little use, the keyboard was already a little dirty with normal finger oils.
I think it's pretty much impossible to keep a keyboard clean.

 

[Quackington]

Yeahhhh, I wouldn’t bet on that. Sure fire way to be “disappointed.” Oh well, now other outlets will run with this and in a little over a week you’ll see “Here‘s why Apple didn’t announce any hardware this year…” articles everywhere.

Pretty much this. Rinse and repeat.

 

[Chateaunole-du-Pape]

I agree. I feel like everyone on this forum wants black and grey dull and boring colours.

I'd like a color one, actually - but really wish they'd do something other than pastel and candy-shell colors. A nice dark blue or green, kind of dusty and not overly saturated, would be very appealing. (Something along the lines of the iPhone 12 Pro's Pacific Blue or iPhone 11 Pro's Midnight Green comes to mind.)

I have no interest, however, in a computer that's the same color as Mentos. If that's what they come up with, I'll stick with silver. (I'm not a fan of either space gray or gold.)

 

[Tagbert]

I use both a white and black Magic Keyboard... and I wouldn't say the white keyboard is any harder to keep clean.

I would say the "shininess" that a keyboard develops over time (still not quite sure if that's oil from fingertips vs coating wearing away) is much less noticeable on a white keyboard than black.

the shininess is a polishing of the key surface from friction with your fingers. The keys were manufactured with a slightly 'rough' surface giving a matte appearance, but as your fingers brush over them they wear down the roughness and produce a smoother and more polished surface. There can be a secondary finger oil factor that can be cleaned off but the main issue is the polishing and that cannot be washed off.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Isn’t Wwdc about developers, so why would they announce the new Air?

For the most part yes, but I’m not sure why people are acting like that’s all wwdc has ever been about.
The actual presentation for the public Is Apple’s Second biggest keynote of the year next to the iPhone event, and a good majority of it is targeted directly at consumers.
They’ve announced MacBook Air updates three times before at WWDC.
They’ve announced products that developers had nothing to do with at WWDC before, like the HomePod.
They used to announce the new iPhone every year at WWDC.
They had Drake and Jimmy Iovine come out and give a 30 minute presentation on Apple Music back in 2015, something that had absolutely nothing to do with developers.
It’s always been the platform state of the union and everything after the opening Keynote that’s purely aimed directly at developers.
But the opening keynote, even during years when they don’t announce hardware, is mostly to get consumers hyped about up coming iMessage updates and new fancy features for the Photos app.
It’s very, very rare they spend more than five minutes or so on actual new Development tools, anf if they do it’s usually stuffed away at the end of the keynote when most regular consumers have departed.
Not sure Why people are acting like it would be absolutely insane and unheard of for Apple to spend 10 minutes or so on new MacBooks