“Apple’s new 12-inch MacBook Air will enter mass production in the third quarter,” Aaron Lee and Joseph Tsai report for DigiTimes, citing “sources from the upstream supply chain.”
“Quanta Computer will be responsible for the assembly of the 12-inch device, said the sources,” Lee and Joseph Tsai report. “The sources pointed out that Apple is releasing a 12-inch MacBook Air because its 11-inch model has a screen size similar to its iPad series products and iPad’s increasing sales are impacting MacBook demand and therefore the company is looking to establish a clear boundary between the two product lines.”
“As for when Apple may stop producing the 11-inch MacBook Air, the sources pointed out that the company so far still has not yet set plans to adjust the 11-inch model, but phasing out the device is a logical plan for the long term,” Lee and Joseph Tsai report. “Some market watchers expect the [new 12-inch] machine to feature a Retina display.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple rumored to unleash new 12-inch MacBook – March 22, 2014
Apple preps all-new 12-inch MacBook, iPad with Ultra Retina display in 2014 – October 14, 2013
Darn, I really like the 11″ Macbook Air model, was just waiting for a retina version to actually buy one. Now it looks like it’ll never exist. Too bad, because I like small laptops.
Don’t worry. All this is just speculation. Rumors.
These same rumours say that this possible new Macbook Air has the same footprint as the 11″. The screen, however, grows to 12″ and the chassis may be thinner as well.
So, if we believe the rumours, you should be quite happy with the new model. It won’t be larger. Just the screen.
THEY PUT EFFIN’ CRICKET ON MY TV!!!!
arggghhhhh!
hide it. I’m sure there are channels on your cable network that you don’t want too.
Raj, on Big Bang Theory, says it’s “balls to the walls action!” Give it a try! 🙂 Actually, just looking at a ‘map’ of the field, and all of the names associated with the different areas, makes your head spin.
Don’t be such a silly mid on. Raj was talking about 20 20 I suspect, all the rage in the sub continent hey they even have cheer leaders.
I am very interested in this new model, my only concern is whether it will participate in the Surface trade-in program or not.
I think that’s a good size. And I hope this 12-inch screen has a 16:10 aspect ratio (like the larger MacBook Air), and not the “too short” 16:9 of the current smaller MacBook Air.
For those that think this is a major size change, it’s not. The current “11-inch” MBA is actually 11.6 inches. If you added the rows of pixels (to that current screen size) so that its aspect ratio goes from 16:9 to 16:10, the screen diagonal becomes 12 inches. You could probably do that and barely change the keyboard half (and overall size) of the MBA.
Yeah, it must be something new that differentiates it from the current 13″. Those two numbers are too close otherwise. Maybe it’s like when they went from the 11″/14″ iBooks to the new 13″ MacBook in ’06. If this does happen I’m guessing more is going on with this new model than just a different diagonal measurement.
Actually, when MacBook Air line gets the “Retina” display, there would VERY little that differentiates a 13-inch MacBook Air from a 13-inch MacBook Pro, to a typical customer.
So, I think a 12-inch MacBook Air leads to the future MacBook (all-Retina) lineup becoming:
12-inch MacBook Air – As speculated. Even smaller and lighter than current 11.6-inch model, and focused on energy efficiency.
13-inch MacBook – Combine the best features of the current MacBook Air and Pro. Differentiated from MacBook Air by slightly larger screen and better graphics/processor.
15-inch MacBook Pro – Top line specs.
(The current 11.6-inch MacBook Air can remain in the lineup as the $899 entry-level Apple laptop for as long as required.)
A terrible decision on Apple’s part. The MacBook Air is a full-fledged computer, not an iPad. Increasing the screen size from 11″ to 12″ to differentiate it from a totally different product does nothing but put the 12″ model much too close in size to the best-selling 13″ MacBook Air.
This is speculation (from “sources”), especially on the reasoning. I doubt that Apple’s reasoning is related to iPad. It is more about improving usability.
It’s not even a big change. The current screen size for the smaller MBA is 11.6″ (not 11″). It is also a very “short” (16:9) “HDTV” screen, which means (at that small size) the Dock and menu bar take up a significant amount of the screen’s valuable vertical space. By making it just a bit “taller” (16:10 like the bigger MBA), while keeping the width the same, the screen becomes 12″ diagonal. The current MBA has plenty of bezel width to work with, so going to a 12″ screen would barely change the overall size of the MBA; Apple could probably make it smaller and lighter than the current model.
It’s DigiTimes, consider the source.
One way or another, the MacBook Air is just an outstanding computer. I have an 11 inch, intel Core i7, 8GB ram, and 500GB hd and it’s great.
It’s lighter than a paper place with a couple pieces of toast and jelly on it. I got it because I’m trying to stop carrying around a 50lb backpack.
For those people who just can’t operate an iPad without a keyboard this is the computer you should be looking at, not adding keyboards to the iPad.
It’s the perfect laptop for most people by far. It’s no wonder Microsoft has put a dead or alive bounty out on them.
I honestly cannot see what adding an inch to the screen will do. Retina would be nice, but not mandatory.