“Apple is widely expected to launch a new lower-priced notebook later this year, likely with a 13-inch Retina display and a starting price below $1,000,” Joe Rossignol writes for MacRumors. “It’s unclear if it will be branded as a MacBook, MacBook Air, or otherwise, but it’ll be a new lower-cost, lower-spec option below the MacBook Pro.”
“According to a translated report from Taiwanese publication Economic Daily News, the notebook will be powered by Intel’s eighth-generation Kaby Lake Refresh processors, released in the second half of 2017,” Rossignol writes. “The translated report suggests that Apple’s decision to use the Kaby Lake Refresh processors, manufactured based on a 14nm process, is due to repeated delays with Intel’s transition to Cannon Lake chips, based on a 10nm process. The latest word is that Cannon Lake won’t be ready until the end of 2019.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The jury is till out on whether these babies will be the first MacBook Air with a Retina display or if they’ll join the MacBook family, returning Apple’s mobile Macs to the simplicity of two quadrants: Consumer and Pro.