WWDC 2022 Rumor Report Card: MacBook Air With White Bezels, iOS 16 Lock Screen Changes, and More

[Saturn007]

The story with the white keyboard and bezels is already over a year old, I wonder if this could have been a test balloon from Apple to see the reaction of the customers?

Can't remember that anyone thought that is nice.

Lots of us did! Look at the threads about the new MBAs over the past 8 months — both the predictions beforehand and the ones in the aftermath of the keynote! Many people disappointed that the new colors and even the white, colorful, cheery iMac scheme didn’t come to pass!

Just wait until next year, when they arrive. Prosser may simply have been one year off! 😎

Highly doubt that Apple does its test marketing via trial balloons and leaked fake renderings — or reads MacRumors to see what the average consumer wants!

Hint: The typical MR poster is not your average consumer!

It's a shame really. An expanded palette, keeping the so-called “pro”, staid or understated colors, but adding the iMac colors with white would have generated much excitement. It certainly would have helped some of us overcome our hesitation over the new MBA due to the dropping of the wedge!

 

[erikkfi]

“macOS Ventura” wasn’t on anyones list because it’s the worst OS name by far in its long history.

 

[urnotl33t]

What I can't figure out is who actually goes to the considerable trouble of making very detailed false renders like the colourful M2 MBA's, which end up being widely circulated as rumours?
I sometimes think they really do come from an official source to see how potential buyers would react. And seeing that the vast majority of us ('us' = this and many other Apple-related forums) responded with the puke emoticon, or words equivalent thereof, it got shelved.

"It's a trap!"

 

[James Godfrey]

Considering John Prosser leaked the squared off Apple Watch last year and even though it didn’t happen, it looks as though it is a thing this year…

So with this in mind I think Prosser’s leaks are a year premature, he has confirmed that the blue he had in his renders was the blue he had seen not the midnight colour the Air has now, so I have a feeling that colourful MacBook Air is still going to be a thing but it’s going to be called just MacBook and will eventually replace the M1 Air, that will also add credibility to the strange leak Kuo gave us that the new colourful Air is coming with M1.

It does make sense considering the iPad is their entry level device, with the iPad Air being mid tier and the pro being their high end device.

I also think the M2 MacBook Pro is literally there as a price gap filler until Apple launch a larger sized Air… overall I think by mid next year the MacBook line up will look something like…

MacBook ($999) - Colourful, white bezels/keyboard, M1, 13.3” display without a notch and 400 nit brightness, probably just 2 usb-c ports (no MagSafe) and headphone Jack, maybe even a 720p webcam but I would hope 1080p.

MacBook Air 13.6” ($1199)
MacBook Air 15.6” ($1499-$1599)
MacBook Pro 14” ($1999)
MacBook Pro 16” ($2499)

 

[B4rbelith]

It was so obvious that MacBook Air white bezel rumour was never gonna happen, yet it didn't stop people coming on the MacRumors forum and complaining about it. Some things never change.

 

[_Spinn_]

You just can’t win with Apple. Apple did an amazing job keeping everything a secret. While the analytics and YouTubers were too busy shooting the darts all blindfolded. 🎯

Yeah I was surprised at how few leaks we were getting until right before WWDC.

 

[CarAnalogy]

I might have dreamed it, but wasn't there also speculation about Apple announcing something with Classical Apple Music subscription?

Pretty sure Apple actually confirmed this. Same subscription but dedicated Classical app.

 

[CarAnalogy]

It was so obvious that MacBook Air white bezel rumour was never gonna happen, yet it didn't stop people coming on the MacRumors forum and complaining about it. Some things never change.

Pretty sure that one was planted by Apple to sniff out leakers.

 

[TigerNike23]

I remember when Prosser was pretty well respected about three years ago with some of his predictions, with the Apple Watch and other products, but ever since then, he’s progressively declined and has been way off base with his ‘insights’. I kinda-sorta feel bad for the guy, because he wants to stay relevant and he’s passionate, but I think he’s trying way too hard with his predictions, which is a reflection of his misguided mudslinging.

I think the turning point was his "flat Apple Watch" guess. I think that was a sting by Apple to root out the high-quality leakers. Prosser lost his contacts, and had to get less reliable ones.

 

[bluespark]

The story with the white keyboard and bezels is already over a year old, I wonder if this could have been a test balloon from Apple to see the reaction of the customers?
Can't remember that anyone thought that is nice.

Apple also has been rumored to plant certain very-specific false information within the company to track the release of that information and therefore suss out leakers. The white-bezel-with-iMac-colors rumor could well have been that sort of thing.

 

[Karma*Police]

I would've been happy with the colorful laptops, white bezel and keyboard included. I had white plastic iBooks for years and they were fine. I thought it made sense for them to echo the iMac colors. I think the light blue or purple would've looked great.

In my fantasy Apple world, they would have given the M2 Airs a bigger screen and resurrected the twelve-inch MacBook from around 2017 in the iMac colors.

It would have better differentiated consumer from pro models, for sure. And for those who don’t like color, there’s always silver. But a more colorful laptop lineup would have been welcomed for sure. A lot of people here are not the target audience… Apple forgets that a lot of students are buying Airs.

 

[flottenheimer]

So glad the MacBook Air turned out the way it did. Best new Apple design in a long time.

 

[Wanted797]

shooting the darts all blindfolded. 🎯

as an Australian this confused me for a minute 🤣 here this means smoking cigarettes hahaha.

 

[Macative]

1000% certain the white bezels on the MacBook Air existed and disappeared after the negative feedback on the iMac.

 

[Macative]

No they didn't. The first M1 machines were released in November 2020. There still is time until November to release the Mac Pro.

They missed it. No one said it was 2 years from the day a machine went on sale. It was 2 years from the day the 2 years was announced. And that’s past. They missed it.

 

[Macative]

Agreed. 💯

Can we please finally stop pretending Prosser has any inside information??? If you breakdown the predictions that he's gotten right, they're almost all the obvious things that *everyone* was expecting (e.g., predicting the AirPower charging mat was "dead" two years after Apple stopped talking about it, or predicting multiple sizes of the iPhone 12 would be announced). On the other hand, his "major leaks" related to new products or new designs almost never materialize (e.g., all-new M1 Mac mini, brightly colored iMac-like MacBook Airs, all-new Apple Watch design, etc.).

As soon as people stop pretending Mark Gurman has inside information. He had a source. 10 years ago. Then it dried up the day he was hired by Bloomberg.

 

[mark_gurman]

As soon as people stop pretending Mark Gurman has inside information. He had a source. 10 years ago. Then it dried up the day he was hired by Bloomberg.

This is complete nonsense, obviously. Find a new angle.

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

This is complete nonsense, obviously. Find a new angle.

Aha yeah, "Macative" certainly has some strong opinions and a wild imagination based on my past experiences with them... 😂

 

[svish]

Going by the rumours, I was really expecting to see the MacBook Air in iMac like colours! Sadly, this did not turn out to be the case.