Apple is separating the new smartphones into its usual low-cost versus high-cost categories, with big differences between the two models coming down to the camera, display, and battery life.
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Quanta Said to Manufacture Apple's Upcoming 'Inexpensive Notebooks' in September Quarter
Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta will fulfill orders for new "inexpensive notebooks" from Apple in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to DigiTimes, suggesting they could be released in September or October.
The report does not provide additional information about the notebooks, but two reliable sources in Bloomberg News reporter Mark Gurman and TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo both expect Apple to unveil at least one all-new, lower-priced notebook of some kind later this year.
It's unclear if the new notebook will be branded as a MacBook, MacBook Air, or otherwise. DigiTimes previously reported it will be a 13-inch model with a Retina display, but Gurman and Kuo have yet to support those claims. Gurman expects the notebook to have a starting price of $999 or less in the United States.
The widely rumored notebook could be the first MacBook Air with a Retina display, or it could be added to the MacBook lineup, but 12-inch models currently start at $1,299, so it's hard to envision where it would slot in at $999.
The current MacBook Air hasn't seen any substantial updates in over three years. Since that time, Apple has discontinued the 11-inch model, while the processor on the base 13-inch model received a minor bump in clock speed, but it's still a Broadwell chip from the 2014–2015 timeframe.
12-inch MacBook models were last updated in June 2017 with Intel's seventh-generation Kaby Lake processors and faster SSDs.
A few weeks ago, Taiwanese publication Economic Daily News said Apple's new entry-level notebook will be powered by Intel's eighth-generation Kaby Lake Refresh processors, which would make it significantly faster than the current MacBook Air given its four-year-old architecture.
While the entry-level notebook could be announced with a press release, it certainly appears that Apple has enough in its pipeline for an October event, where it could introduce new MacBooks, iMacs, and a Mac mini, an iPad Pro with Face ID, and perhaps some other surprises, such as a new Apple Pencil.
The report does not provide additional information about the notebooks, but two reliable sources in Bloomberg News reporter Mark Gurman and TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo both expect Apple to unveil at least one all-new, lower-priced notebook of some kind later this year.
It's unclear if the new notebook will be branded as a MacBook, MacBook Air, or otherwise. DigiTimes previously reported it will be a 13-inch model with a Retina display, but Gurman and Kuo have yet to support those claims. Gurman expects the notebook to have a starting price of $999 or less in the United States.
The widely rumored notebook could be the first MacBook Air with a Retina display, or it could be added to the MacBook lineup, but 12-inch models currently start at $1,299, so it's hard to envision where it would slot in at $999.
The current MacBook Air hasn't seen any substantial updates in over three years. Since that time, Apple has discontinued the 11-inch model, while the processor on the base 13-inch model received a minor bump in clock speed, but it's still a Broadwell chip from the 2014–2015 timeframe.
12-inch MacBook models were last updated in June 2017 with Intel's seventh-generation Kaby Lake processors and faster SSDs.
A few weeks ago, Taiwanese publication Economic Daily News said Apple's new entry-level notebook will be powered by Intel's eighth-generation Kaby Lake Refresh processors, which would make it significantly faster than the current MacBook Air given its four-year-old architecture.
While the entry-level notebook could be announced with a press release, it certainly appears that Apple has enough in its pipeline for an October event, where it could introduce new MacBooks, iMacs, and a Mac mini, an iPad Pro with Face ID, and perhaps some other surprises, such as a new Apple Pencil.
Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Tag: Quanta
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Air (Buy Now), MacBook (Don't Buy)
[ 224 comments ]
Top Rated Comments
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15 months ago
All Apple had to do was slap a retina screen on the MacBook Air and updated the processor for it to retain the “greatest laptop ever made” title.
Apple are such stubborn fools sometimes.
Apple are such stubborn fools sometimes.
15 months ago
I don't see why the Air even exists anymore. Maybe because of MagSafe and the non-dongle USB port, and keyboard.
"I don't see why the Air even exists anymore"
> Proceeds to list three of the many important things that people look in an Apple laptop (On top of the great battery life)
15 months ago
I'm hoping this low cost notebook is launched along side an updated non touchbar Macbook Pro. Come on apple, update the non touchbar like you did the touchbars. Please.
15 months ago
Just give me a macbook air with retina display and a relatively low price and I will be standing in line outside the Apple store on day 1 with the hundreds of other people waiting to buy one. FINALLY, a macbook air that a person can actually read numbers on when using a larger Excel spreadsheet.
15 months ago
Is $999 really considered inexpensive now? Bloody hell
If only people remembered how slow, clunky, and expensive laptops were back in the day. See: https://pifflelab.com/2012/07/22/computers-the-1990s-you-paid-how-much/$999 for an amazing laptop (opposite of Chromebooks) seems inexpensive to me. How much should we expect for minimal money?
15 months ago
I don't see why the Air even exists anymore. Maybe because of MagSafe and the non-dongle USB port, and keyboard.
And bestselling.
Apple likes cash.
15 months ago
"I don't see why the Air even exists anymore"
> Proceeds to list three of the many important things that people look in an Apple laptop (On top of the great battery life)
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