Uber-analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple’s new MacBook Air with next-gen Apple Silicon, possibly the unannounced “M2” is scheduled to arrive in the third quarter of 2022. Mass production is scheduled to start in late Q2 or early Q3 2022.
MacBook Air is Apple’s most popular Mac and the world’s best-selling 13-inch notebook. With Apple Silicon, the M1 chip, MacBook Air speeds through everything from editing family photos to exporting videos for the web. The powerful 8-core CPU performs up to 3.5x faster than the previous generation. With up to an 8-core GPU, graphics are up to 5x faster, the biggest leap ever for MacBook Air, so graphics-intensive games run at significantly higher frame rates. Machine Learning (ML) workloads are up to 9x faster, so apps that use ML-based features like face recognition or object detection can do so in a fraction of the time. The M1 chip’s storage controller and latest flash technology deliver up to 2x faster SSD performance, so previewing massive images or importing large files is faster than ever.
With the industry-leading power efficiency of M1, MacBook Air also delivers this performance in a fanless design, so it remains completely silent. And the M1 MacBook Air features extraordinary battery life, with up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing and up to 18 hours of video playback — the longest battery life ever on a MacBook Air.
Apple last updated the MacBook Air with the M1 chip in November 2020.
This is a bit of a delay from Kuo’s previously released timeline of mid 2022. As well as next-gen internals, this new Air is expected to feature a chassis redesign similar to the M1 iMac in style.
Perhaps as soon as next month, Apple will continue the Apple Silicon rollout with the launch of a new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, with a more powerful ‘M1X’ chip inside.
MacDailyNews Take: In August, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple plans to launch a new MacBook Air with a mini-LED display and several color options in 2022.
Kuo said the new MacBook Air will feature an “all-new design” with a mini-LED display and flatter top and bottom edges. Previous rumors have suggested the new MacBook Air will also feature a faster Apple silicon chip and a MagSafe power cable.
Still waiting for the MacBook Pro 16″ with the new processor.