New MacBook Air Reportedly Set for Launch in Second Half of 2022

[symphony]

After owning the new iMac and recently moved to Mac Studio, I personally find the white bezels to be distracting and less appealing.

Black bezels definitely make the display pop more and it looks premium. But this won’t stop me from getting the new MacBook Air even if it had white bezels.

 

[fearless22]

So for me the ideal and realistic MacBook Air 2022 has:
- 13.6" (notched) 500-nits Liquid Retina screen
- 4nm M2 chip (9 and 10-core GPU)
- 2021 MBP features: MagSafe, keyboard, camera

 

[defunder]

I don’t mind them sticking with M1- a bit longer. It’s just a naming system and they probably realized they don’t want to be on M21 by the end of the decade.

 

[imnotthewalrus]

Can’t wait to see the new colors Apple will offer for MacBook Air. Hopefully, they follow the iMac lineup.

I would love a (PRODUCT) RED one with black bezels.

 

[nab0kov]

OK, I've made this same post several times and this will be the last: white bezels do not look white when you're looking at the screen. Here's a photo of an M1 iMac in a normally lit room, screen around 2/3 brightness. I've turned the exposure up a bit, even, so the brightness of the mic and the bezel look how they look in the room. See how much brighter the screen is than the bezel? Does the bezel look glaringly white to you? No, it doesn't. (But I guess if you want to turn the screen off and fume about the white bezels against the black display, you still could do that.)

View attachment 1984757

Still ugly.

 

[azentropy]

Obviously, that's the white balance in the photo

Yes that was kinda my point, not the best photo to show that the bezels don't look white because they don't look that color either.

 

[Andrew73875]

I personally find the white bezels to be distracting and less appealing.

Also it's the only display with white bezels in the product line. All stand-alone displays from Apple have black bezels. It can be distracting for someone who's using them side-by-side.

 

[mrow]

These can’t come soon enough because this is the obvious replacement for my wife’s 2016 MacBook (12 inch) is starting to feel really long in the tooth.

 

[suns93]

nah, the majority of the new end users want at least 15 inch display

Apple values the university demographic quite a bit and I think that group needs the smaller form factor more than most. I’m not that large of a person and I remember being crammed into some very small “desks” if the term even qualifies.

Plus 15” clearly enters the range normally reserved for MBP. It’d be pretty surprising for them to abandon that now.

I think the larger screen size is such a tangible differentiator, it serves as an effective upselling tool to the more profitable units. Can’t forget there’s currently a $1000 difference between current MBA and MBP. Obviously a 15” MBA would MSRP higher than the current but it would cannibalize a ton of MBP sales.

I know I know, if you don’t eat yourself someone else will, but Apple isn’t losing any sleep over fears of a competitor capturing the “wants a 15” MBA” crowd.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

I don’t mind them sticking with M1- a bit longer. It’s just a naming system and they probably realized they don’t want to be on M21 by the end of the decade.

Why? The A4 came out in 2010. They don't seem bothered to be developing the A16 already.

 

[ChedNasad]

Hasn't basically this same article been ran 40 times now?

 

[boak]

This all looks good but if these rumours on how it'll look are true, Apple has to let the Air name go now. It wouldn't make sense any more, and it doesn't make sense on the iPad line either. IMO we should have MacBook and MacBook Pro, and iPad SE (current iPad), iPad (current iPad Air), and iPad Pro.

Wouldn't really make sense for the iPad line. Apple generally uses the no extension names on models they want to be sell the most.

 

[MacRazySwe]

This all looks good but if these rumours on how it'll look are true, Apple has to let the Air name go now. It wouldn't make sense any more, and it doesn't make sense on the iPad line either. IMO we should have MacBook and MacBook Pro, and iPad SE (current iPad), iPad (current iPad Air), and iPad Pro.

Why can’t people get that Air is just a product line. Don’t read into it. Do you think 5-series means a car 5 meters long and 3-Series 3 meters? No, it’s just a product line. Last time I checked the Air was thinner and lighter than the Pro, so I guess that counts for something….

The Air also happens to be the best-selling, happy medium. Special enough to be considered hip, but affordable enough to attract the masses. The “MacBook” appeared too “plain Jane”, hence the previous MacBook Air replacement called MacBook was a flop and never sold in numbers. It could also be argued that was because it was severely crippled in terms of connectivity, but still, look at the regular iPad, it’s very much a budget device.

Apple have learned from their mistakes. Consumers want a MacBook Air, so they won’t get rid of the Air moniker anytime soon.

Marketing 101…

 

[boak]

Does the iPad or the iPad Air sell more?

 

[ignatius345]

Yes that was kinda my point, not the best photo to show that the bezels don't look white because they don't look that color either.

And yet the screen itself is brighter, is the point. But if you're determined to stare at and fixate on the bezels, nothing is going to help you.

 

[MacRazySwe]

Does the iPad or the iPad Air sell more?

Exclude EDU sales and I expect the Air, but could be wrong.

 

[Benjamin Nabulsi]

not having a mini-LED is a deal-breaker. Apple needs to treat Mac like they treat their iPhone line.

 

[AppleHore]

It'd be cool if it came in white like the old iBook. But like a white metal. That'd be so cool.

 

[AppleHore]

not having a mini-LED is a deal-breaker. Apple needs to treat Mac like they treat their iPhone line.

Yes, I would absolutely love a MacBook Air Pro Max 14" with M1XZT Lite Ultra Prime Next Plus! It'll have come full circle and become an Asus where they just start tacking obnoxiousness on so everyone at Walmart thinks they might be getting something half-modern out of a basic-B Celeron. Lol.

 

[symphony]

Also it's the only display with white bezels in the product line. All stand-alone displays from Apple have black bezels. It can be distracting for someone who's using them side-by-side.

That’s true. I do use my devices side by side sometimes.

White looks cheap too. With the iMac, the chin looked like plastic acrylic, and the white bezels made it look like a toy.

 

[Klae17]

OK, I've made this same post several times and this will be the last: white bezels do not look white when you're looking at the screen. Here's a photo of an M1 iMac in a normally lit room, screen around 2/3 brightness. I've turned the exposure up a bit, even, so the brightness of the mic and the bezel look how they look in the room. See how much brighter the screen is than the bezel? Does the bezel look glaringly white to you? No, it doesn't. (But I guess if you want to turn the screen off and fume about the white bezels against the black display, you still could do that.)

View attachment 1984757

OK, I've made this same post several times and this will be the last: white bezels do not look white when you're looking at the screen. Here's a photo of an M1 iMac in a normally lit room, screen around 2/3 brightness. I've turned the exposure up a bit, even, so the brightness of the mic and the bezel look how they look in the room. See how much brighter the screen is than the bezel? Does the bezel look glaringly white to you? No, it doesn't. (But I guess if you want to turn the screen off and fume about the white bezels against the black display, you still could do that.)

View attachment 1984757

God that looks so awful.

 

[obviouslogic]

This all looks good but if these rumours on how it'll look are true, Apple has to let the Air name go now. It wouldn't make sense any more, and it doesn't make sense on the iPad line either. IMO we should have MacBook and MacBook Pro, and iPad SE (current iPad), iPad (current iPad Air), and iPad Pro.

These new colorful M2 models will be called just “MacBook”. A single M1 model of the Air will stick around at a reduced price.

 

[obviouslogic]

What about an updated 24” iMac?

Spring of 2023

 

[obviouslogic]

Talk of a modified M1 chip is interesting. Not sure how plausible this is though; isn't one of the key advantages of the M series chips the economies of scale and the ability to put the same chip in many devices/computers?

Also - the existing M1 Air is a 2020 product; I think we should expect the introduction of the M2 this year.

Correct. Kuo might be misinterpreting “binned” as modified. I’m guessing one of two things from this…

1. After these new colorful models come out, Apple will keep a single binned model of the current Air around at a reduced price.

2. The lowest end model of these new colorful “Airs” will have a binned M1 and the mid model will have a binned M2, and the ”high end” model will have the “full” M2.

 

[obviouslogic]

It would be disappointing to still get the M1 chip two years after later on a completely redesigned model. I'm still holding hope for the M2.

Why? Some would argue that the M1 is still more computer than most people need. I don’t see a problem if the cheapest, lowest end model came with an M1 and the other models came with an M2. I have a feeling this is how Apple intends to expand its Mac product lines.