New MacBook Air and Revolutionary Mac OS X Feature on Wednesday?

As we approach Apple's "Back to the Mac" media event on Wednesday, October 20th, rumors are ramping up about what Apple is expected to introduce.

155244 35lvxpe 500

A leaked image of a prototype MacBook Air seems to confirm rumors that Apple is working on a new form of Solid State Drive (SSD) that could push notebook's size and cost down. Looking back at reports this past year, it seems many of these details (and one additional one) have been previously predicted through the supply chain.

As far back as July, DigiTimes reported that an 11.6" MacBook Air with a slimmer and lighter design was gearing up for production:

Kuo, citing discussions with upstream component makers, noted that the 11.6-inch MacBook Air will feature an even slimmer and lighter design than the previous-generation models and the technologies used for the design and concept are expected to be broadly used in the company's other product lines to boost their competitiveness.

DigiTimes also specified that the new MacBook Air would use one of Intel's Ultra Low Voltage processors. While Intel offers multiple "Ultra Low Voltage" (ULV) Core 2 Duo processors, the Core i7 ULV seems the most likely candidate.

073855 corei7t

Intel also offers Core i3 and Core i5 ULV chips but those top out at only 1.2GHz. One analyst also predicted that the new MacBook Air would come in two models, and that based on high unit projections, the new Airs were likely to come in at a lower starting price. In fact, CNet has since described the starting price as "much lower" then the current $1499 entry level.

111724 back to the mac invite

As for Mac OS X, Apple's invitation with the Lion image clearly hints that the next major revision of Mac OS X (10.7) will finally be revealed. Apple has long named their major Mac OS X releases after various cat names. Early rumors suggested that Apple might have introduced 10.7 earlier this year, but it seems the company's resources were focused on iOS at the time. The only real hint we've had at 10.7 was a very intriguing job description from July in which Apple was looking for someone to focus on a "revolutionary new feature" for Mac OS X.

Are you looking to help create something totally new? Something that has never been done before and will truly amaze everyone? Are you excited by the prospect that what you helped create would be used every day by millions of Apple customers? Then come and work on with the Mac OS X software engineering team to help build a new and revolutionary feature for Mac OS X.

The language of the job description seemed much more specific than Apple's usual recruitment language. Of course, it's possible that this amazing feature could be slated for the next version of Mac OS X, but the timing seems right for 10.7.

Apple's media event kicks off at 10am Pacific on Wednesday, October 20th. We'll provide ongoing coverage of the news and events.

Popular Stories

apple card 1

Apple Ending Apple Card Partnership With Goldman Sachs

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:09 pm PST by
Apple is ending its credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple plans to stop working with Goldman Sachs in the next 12 to 15 months, and it is not yet clear if Apple has established a new partnership for the Apple Card. Apple and Goldman Sachs will dissolve their entire consumer partnership, including the Apple Card and the Apple Savings account....
iOS 17

Everything New in iOS 17.2 Beta 4

Tuesday November 28, 2023 12:18 pm PST by
Apple is wrapping up development on iOS 17.2, with the update expected to come out in December. While we're getting to the end of the beta testing period, Apple is still tweaking features and adding new functionality. We've rounded up everything new in the fourth beta of iOS 17.2. Default Notification Sound Under Sounds & Haptics, there's a new "Default Alerts" section that allows you to ...
ios 17 namedrop

Police Departments and News Sites Spreading Misinformation About How iOS 17 NameDrop Feature Works

Monday November 27, 2023 5:11 pm PST by
Apple with iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 introduced a new NameDrop feature that is designed to allow users to place Apple devices near one another to quickly exchange contact information. Sharing contact information is done with explicit user permission, but some news organizations and police departments have been spreading misinformation about how NameDrop functions. As noted by The Washington...
All New CarPlay Five New Features Article 2

What to Expect From All-New CarPlay, Still Listed as Coming 'Late 2023'

Tuesday November 28, 2023 7:44 am PST by
At WWDC in June 2022, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, increased personalization, and more. Apple's website still says the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in "late 2023," but it has not shared...
iOS 17

iOS 17.1.2 Update for iPhone Likely to Be Released This Week

Monday November 27, 2023 8:24 am PST by
Apple will likely release iOS 17.1.2 this week, based on mounting evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs in recent days. As a minor update, iOS 17.1.2 should be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues might be addressed. Some users have continued to experience Wi-Fi issues on iOS 17.1.1, so perhaps iOS 17.1.2 will include the same fix for Wi-Fi...
Apple 5G Modem Feature Triad

Apple to Discontinue Custom 5G Modem Development, Claim Reports

Wednesday November 29, 2023 4:19 am PST by
Apple is discontinuing in-house modem development after several unsuccessful attempts to perfect its own custom 5G modem chip, according to unconfirmed reports coming out of Asia. According to the operator of news aggregator account "yeux1122" on the Naver blog, supply chain sources related to Apple's 5G modem departments claim that the company's attempts to develop its own modem have...
Apple Logo

Apple Discontinued These 5 Products This Year

Monday November 27, 2023 7:03 am PST by
As the end of 2023 nears, now is a good opportunity to look back at some of the devices and accessories that Apple discontinued throughout the year. Apple products discontinued in 2023 include the iPhone 13 mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, MagSafe Battery Pack, MagSafe Duo Charger, and leather accessories. Also check out our lists of Apple products discontinued in 2022 and 2021. iPhone Mini ...
Google Drive

Some Google Drive Users' Files Have Mysteriously Vanished

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:55 am PST by
Google Drive users have been warned not to disconnect their account within the Google Drive for desktop app, after a spate of reports of files going missing from the cloud service. Alarm bells began ringing last week on Google's community support site when some users reported files mysteriously disappearing from Google Drive, with some posters claiming six or more months of data had...