New MacBook Air Said to Launch Next Quarter Following Rumor of 15-Inch Model
Apple plans to release a new MacBook Air series in the second quarter of 2023, according to Taiwanese supply chain publication DigiTimes.
"The first quarter of 2023 is expected to see Apple's MacBook shipping low, but the second quarter will see the release of a new MacBook Air series, according to industry sources," reads a paywalled preview of a DigiTimes report shared today. The full report has yet to be published, so no additional details are available at this time.
The second quarter runs from April through June and includes Apple's annual developers conference WWDC in June. The current 13-inch MacBook Air with the M2 chip was announced at WWDC last year and became available in July.
This information comes just one day after display industry analyst Ross Young said Apple's supply chain had started production of display panels for a larger 15-inch MacBook Air this month. Young estimated that the new MacBook Air will launch in "early April," which would be at the beginning of the second quarter timeframe provided today.
A new 15-inch display size would be the largest ever for the MacBook Air and would presumably be offered alongside the 13-inch model. Given that DigiTimes mentions a new MacBook Air "series" will be released, Apple could be planning to announce both 13-inch and 15-inch models, but this is not certain yet.
It's unclear if the 15-inch MacBook Air would be equipped with the M2 chip or the next-generation 3nm-based M3 chip, which has yet to be announced. Apple's chipmaking partner TSMC began mass production of 3nm chips in December, but it's unclear if the M3 chip would be ready for release by the second quarter. Apple still has to announce the high-end M2 Ultra chip for the new Mac Pro as its final chip in the M2 series, and it will likely want to announce that chip before introducing the M3 chip.
DigiTimes previously reported that Apple planned to announce a new MacBook Air with the M3 chip in the second half of 2023. The website has a fairly unreliable track record compared to more reputable sources like Ming-Chi Kuo and Mark Gurman.
Popular Stories
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
Anker's Black Friday/Cyber Week event is entering its final days this weekend, and it's still offering up to 60 percent off sitewide. There are also a few "mystery boxes" that can include hundreds of dollars in savings, if you're willing to risk not knowing what you're buying ahead of time. All of these sales will end on December 3. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Anker. When you...
Earlier this month, Apple announced that it will finally support RCS in the Messages app on the iPhone starting later next year. This change will result in several improvements to the messaging experience between iPhones and Android devices. RCS will become the new default standard for messaging between iPhones and Android devices, but these conversations will still have green bubbles like...
Apple employees are back to work following a Thanksgiving break, and that means this week saw a number of new operating system updates for both public release and beta testing. This week also saw some misinformation about Apple's new NameDrop feature making the rounds, while Apple and Goldman Sachs appear to be on the verge of a break-up in their Apple Card and savings account partnership,...
Meta has revealed plans to end Instagram users' ability to chat with Facebook accounts later this month, rolling back a feature that it introduced over three years ago. In September 2020, Meta (then Facebook) announced it was merging its Facebook Messenger service with Instagram direct messaging, allowing Instagram users to chat with Facebook users and vice versa using the same platform....
Apple's work on implementing 6G cellular connectivity on its devices appears to be ramping up, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that Apple is increasingly turning its attention to 6G, even amid its widely reported difficulties developing a custom 5G cellular modem. In 2021, the first highly specific Apple job...
Top Rated Comments
It will be an instant hit although probably worth holding out for the M3 variant as M2 is nothing more than a stop-gap release. Depends how urgent peoples needs are for such a machine....