In October of 2021, Apple welcomed one of the biggest redesigns for the MacBook Pro lineup to date. Specifically, while the company did welcome back plenty of ports (much to the happiness of professionals out there), they also brought in mini-LED displays and a notch for the brand new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. But the company isn’t quite done shaking things up, with the middle of 2022 reportedly tuned up to present radical changes to the MacBook Air lineup.
According to serial leaker Dylan (@dylandkt), Apple is going to welcome quite a few changes to the MacBook Air family next year. The leaker says Apple has the “middle of 2022” earmarked for the brand new laptop’s arrival. And it will be quite the change from what we’re used to. Dylan says Apple’s new MacBook Air will feature “off-white” bezels, and that the keyboard itself will also share the same color scheme as the bezels. The new MacBook Air will also reportedly launch in a range of colors that are similar to the 24-inch iMac, so expect hues like blue, green, orange, and others.
Dylan goes on to add with other tweets that the new MacBook Air lineup will boast an “M2” processor under the hood, and they’ll look somewhat similar to the new MacBook Pro. Which means no wedge design, a familiar aspect for the MacBook Air since the thin and light laptop launched. As for the size, the leaker says the new MacBook Air will be thinner and lighter than the new MacBook Pro models, which should come as no surprise. It will also reportedly boast a 1080p HD webcam on the front.
The upcoming MacBook (Air) will release in the middle of 2022. It will have MagSafe, a 1080p webcam, USB C ports, a 30W power adapter, and no fans. There will be color options similar to the iMac 24. The bezels and keyboard will be an off white with full sized function keys.
— Dylan (@dylandkt) October 21, 2021
The leaker also says the new MacBook Air line will feature MagSafe charging, a feature Apple brought back with the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. There will be no fans inside, there will only be USB-C port (so no SD card slot or HDMI), and Dylan says Apple is “likely” to adopt mini-LED display in the lineup. However, Dylan says the new MacBook Air won’t feature a ProMotion display (so no variable refresh rate up to 120Hz), and it won’t support Face ID, either.
Finally, Dylan also says that the starting price for the new MacBook Air might be a bit higher than what’s come before.
Many of these rumors pan out with what we’ve already heard, especially regarding the new color schemes. Adopting the M2 processor makes sense for Apple’s typical refresh cycle. It will be interesting to see what this looks like in a physical product, though.
If Apple does adopt all of these changes, will you be picking up a new MacBook Air in 2022?