Apple will release a new version of the MacBook Air around the middle of 2022, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today in note to investors seen by MacRumors.
The upcoming MacBook Air will feature a 13.3-inch mini-LED display, which would make it the second Mac to gain mini-LED technology after the 2021 MacBook Pro, which is rumored to include a mini-LED display and is expected to launch later this year. Mini-LED display technology will bring a signifiant improvement in MacBook display quality, allowing for a thinner, lighter design while offering benefits like improved wide color gamut, high contrast and dynamic range, and truer blacks.
Kuo has said that the MacBook Air will include a mini-LED display in the past, and the rumor has also been echoed by DigiTimes.
Prior rumors have suggested the 2022 MacBook Air will have thinner bezels than the current model, and that it will adopt the same MagSafe charging technology rumored for the MacBook Pro.
It's also expected to include a pair of Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, and there's also a chance that it could come in multiple colors, similar to the M1 iMacs that Apple released this year.
The 2022 MacBook Air will use an upgraded version of the M1 Apple silicon chip that's faster and more efficient. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said that it will feature the same number of computing cores as the M1 (eight), but that will offer nine or 10 GPU cores instead of seven or eight like the current model for better GPU performance.
Kuo says that if component shortages improve in late 2021 and across 2022, MacBook shipments could grow to approximately 20 to 22 million units in 2022.
