DigiTimes: Mini-LED MacBook Air to Launch in 2022

Apple will this year begin transitioning its devices to mini-LED technology, according to Apple analyst ‌Ming-Chi Kuo‌, and a new DigiTimes report on Thursday reiterates Kuo's expectation that a mini-LED version of Apple's MacBook Air is set to arrive in 2022.

m1 macbook air
Kuo believes Apple will release iPad Pro models and redesigned MacBook Pros in 2021, followed by a new MacBook Air in 2022, all with mini-LED displays and Apple Silicon chips. Today's DigiTimes report, citing supply chain sources, echoes that general sentiment:

The sources expect that Apple's 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros and 16-inch MacBook Pro set to be released in 2021 will be equipped with miniLED displays and adoption of miniLED will be expanded to its MacBook Air products in 2022.

In addition to a redesigned 16-inch MacBook Pro, Kuo has said he expects Apple to launch a new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an all-new design in the late second quarter or third quarter of this year. Kuo says these MacBook Pro models will feature Mini-LED displays for increased brightness, improved contrast, richer colors, and more.

MacBook Pro models are projected to be the main driver of mini-LED panel shipments since they will purportedly gain mini-LED before the iPad and see faster shipment growth.

As a result, Apple will likely introduce mini-LED as a "Pro" Mac feature, however Kuo believes the company will be able to offset the increased cost because the cost of ‌Apple Silicon‌ chips is significantly lower than that of Intel processors, which will allow it to bring the technology to its most popular MacBook further down the line.

Kuo's optimistic scenario sees MacBook shipments growing by 100 percent over the next three years, with up to 35 million units per year, thanks to the adoption of ‌Apple Silicon‌ and the refreshed designs.

Related Roundups: MacBook Pro, MacBook Air
Related Forums: MacBook Pro, MacBook Air

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday November 3, 2025 5:54 am PST by
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, including the ability to adjust the look of Liquid Glass and more. Below, we outline iOS 26.1's key new features. Liquid Glass Toggle iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass. In the Settings app, under Display...
Finder Siri Feature

Apple's New Siri Will Be Powered By Google Gemini

Wednesday November 5, 2025 11:57 am PST by
The smarter, more capable version of Siri that Apple is developing will be powered by Google Gemini, reports Bloomberg. Apple will pay Google approximately $1 billion per year for a 1.2 trillion parameter artificial intelligence model that was developed by Google. For context, parameters are a measure of how a model understands and responds to queries. More parameters generally means more...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.1 With Liquid Glass Toggle, Slide to Stop Alarm, New Apple Intelligence Languages and More

Monday November 3, 2025 1:11 pm PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.1, the first major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.1 comes over a month after iOS 26 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.1 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings > General >...
Apple Logo Spotlight

Report: Apple to Launch These New Products in 2026

Sunday November 2, 2025 5:34 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch at least 15 new products in 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman outlined what to expect from Apple in 2026 in the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter. He said the company is heading "into one of its most pivotal years in recent memory," with the rollout of major new Apple Intelligence features, intense regulatory pressure on the App Store,...
Early Black Friday Deals 2

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals

Sunday November 2, 2025 10:04 am PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
tvOS 26 Feature

Apple Releases tvOS 26.1

Monday November 3, 2025 1:07 pm PST by
Apple today released tvOS 26.1, an update to the tvOS 26 operating system that came out in September. tvOS 26.1 is available on the Apple TV 4K and the Apple TV HD models, but Liquid Glass is only available on the second-generation Apple TV 4K or later. tvOS 26 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌‌Apple TV‌‌. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the ...
apple one  cpqesecbv342 upscaled feature

Apple One Gets New Colorful Logo Following Apple TV Rebrand [Updated]

Monday November 3, 2025 3:22 pm PST by
Apple updated the logo and name for its Apple TV streaming service today, and it looks like Apple One might be next. On the revamped Apple TV website, there's a new, more colorful Apple One logo available. The logo features an Apple icon that's split into six slices, and each slice includes the color that Apple uses for one of the services included in Apple One Premium. Apple One is...
apple watch se 3 always on

Apple to Remove iPhone-Apple Watch Wi-Fi Sync in EU With iOS 26.2

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:37 am PST by
Apple in iOS 26.2 will disable automatic Wi-Fi network syncing between iPhone and Apple Watch in the European Union to comply with the bloc's regulations, suggests a new report. Normally, when an iPhone connects to a new Wi-Fi network, it automatically shares the network credentials with the paired Apple Watch. This allows the watch to connect to the same network independently – for...

Top Rated Comments

ph001bi Avatar
63 months ago

How long has there been rumors now of a mini-led macbook coming next year? 5 years, 10 years?
Less than a year. Early 2020 we heard MacBook Pro with mini-Led would come out at the end of 2020 or early 2021. This has moved by about 6 months as we are still expecting MacBook Pro with mini-led in Q2/2021. The article above is about the MacBook Air, and that's the first time there is a rumour about a MacBook Air with mini-Led.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppleTO Avatar
63 months ago
I don’t really see a massive advantage of Mini-LEDs in laptops to be honest. Even OLEDs really.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bazooka-joe Avatar
63 months ago
Yep i wanted to replace my 2011 MacBook Pro so that will be on my shopping list
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MedRed Avatar
63 months ago

I don’t really see a massive advantage of Mini-LEDs in laptops to be honest. Even OLEDs really.
Deeper black, more accurate color, weight/space efficiencies, reduced power consumption.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ruka.snow Avatar
63 months ago
Apple giving more for the same price is quite the norm for them. We seen it with the 5K iMac for instance. And moving the cost budget away from the CPU and onto other things makes a lot of sense to me. We are already very much past where people see big changes from processors, but everyone sees the benefit of a better screen, nicer keyboard, more natural sounding speakers, and hopefully the upcoming dawn of high quality webcams(though you can’t cheat physics so it will need to be computational as there isn’t room for huge sensors and lenses.).
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alpi123 Avatar
63 months ago

Quoting DigiTimes again? Slow news day I suppose. I think we've all learned not to trust them, many years ago.
Read again - according to Apple analyst ‌Ming-Chi Kuo; new DigiTimes ('https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20210107PD207.html') report on Thursday reiterates Kuo's expectation ('https://www.macrumors.com/2020/12/02/kuo-two-macbook-pros-2021-and-macbook-air-2022/')

It's still Kuo who "predicts" this will happen, not DigiTimes.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)