MacBook Supplier Ramping Up Production as 15-Inch MacBook Air Rumored to Launch at WWDC

Apple supplier Quanta Computer is likely gearing up for new MacBooks, according to research shared by investment firm Morgan Stanley.

MacBook Air Multiple Sizes Feature
In a research note on Friday, obtained by MacRumors, Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring said Quanta Computer guided for high single-digit percentage growth in the number of notebooks it assembles in the second quarter of 2023, compared to the first quarter. Woodring believes this increase is driven in part by new MacBooks.

In his newsletter last month, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple would unveil the long-rumored 15-inch MacBook Air at WWDC next month:

As part of watchOS 10, the company is planning to bring back widgets and make them a central part of the interface. This new strategy will debut at WWDC in June, alongside the unveiling of iOS 17, macOS 14, the 15-inch MacBook Air, and, of course, the much-anticipated mixed-reality headset.

The first-generation 15-inch MacBook Air will be powered by the M2 chip, according to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. No external design changes have been rumored for the laptop beyond the larger display size.

The latest 13-inch MacBook Air debuted at WWDC last year and features the M2 chip, a 1080p camera, a MagSafe 3 charging port, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, and a Force Touch trackpad. Pricing starts at $1,199, and color options include Midnight, Starlight, Space Gray, and Silver.

It's unclear if any other MacBooks will be unveiled next month, as new 13-inch MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro models with the M3 chip are not expected to launch until later this year or next year, and the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro were updated with the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips just three months ago.

WWDC begins with Apple's keynote on June 5 and runs through June 9.

Related Roundups: WWDC 2024, MacBook Air

Top Rated Comments

okkibs Avatar
12 months ago

I'm afraid Apple hired too many B players during the pandemic and the A players were "working" from home.
I'm afraid you are just making this up.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
12 months ago
Should have been released in April.

However, I’m so ready to place an order for MacBook Air 15” Midnight. I really hope it’s carrying a 120Hz screen display. ??
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr. Dee Avatar
12 months ago
I think Apple is messing with Gurman's leaker's, I wouldn't be surprised if the 15 inch MacBook Air actually comes with M3 just like last years Air was the first debut M2. It would incentivize users to purchase it even more. Apple could then refresh the 13 inch Air with M3 when they decide to update the iMacs. The point is, this is just the introduction to M3. Its not gonna be anymore powerful than an M2 Pro or Max.

But I know what you are also thinking. So what about the Mac Pro? At this point, I don't think the Mac Pro is a major priority for Apple. We will get a preview at WWDC, but the eta is still unknown, they could actually push it to January 2024 with M3 Ultra and M3 Max.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Puonti Avatar
12 months ago

Que the ytubers telling us why to buy it now etc and then 1 month later why they are returning it?. It's Like a vicious circle of same review template they all share.
Yep... whenever I've noticed a Youtuber doing that I've unsubscribed and blocked their channel from my recommendations. It helps some.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Two Appleseeds Avatar
12 months ago
This with the M3 and the best battery life in a macbook would be hard to resist. 16 GB RAM in the base model would be like a cool glass of iced freshly pressed Apple juice on a hot summer day.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Krypton Deer Avatar
12 months ago

The first-generation 15-inch MacBook Air will be powered by the M2 chip ('https://www.macrumors.com/2023/04/20/kuo-15-inch-macbook-air-two-m2-chip-options/'), according to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. No external design changes have been rumored for the laptop beyond the larger display size.
Like many have said here, this sounds wrong. I have a M2 Air purchased last August and this means after an entire year, Apple will announce an identical laptop with slightly larger display before the M3 comes in the fall.

And at what price? $1499 for 8/256? I'm sure it will still sell but this sounds wrong.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
iOS 17 All New Features Thumb

iOS 17.5 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday April 21, 2024 3:00 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 17.5 update for the iPhone includes only a few new user-facing features, but hidden code changes reveal some additional possibilities. Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 beta so far. Web Distribution Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU...