Neil Hughes
With Intel's next-generation Haswell processors set to launch in a matter of weeks and WWDC to kick off soon after, availability of Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air had begun to dry up at major authorized resellers.
The popular 13-inch MacBook Air with a 1.8-gigahertz processor and 256-gigabyte solid-state drive is currently out of stock at resellers Amazon, B&H, MacConnection, and MacMall. In addition, J&R is currently advertising that the thin-and-light notebook is only available for purchase in its brick-and-mortar stores.
In fact, the only reseller on AppleInsider's Mac Price Guide that is currently advertising available inventory of that 13-inch MacBook Air configuration is Best Buy.
Constrained availability of existing models is often one of the first signs of an impending product refresh, as Apple draws down inventory in anticipation of the release of new hardware. Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, scheduled for June 10 through 14, would be an opportune time for the company to introduce newly updated MacBook Airs.
Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities indicated last month that Apple apparently plans to introduce new MacBook Airs featuring Intel's next-generation Haswell processors at WWDC. The new ultraportable notebooks are expected to go on sale before the end of June.
Intel Haswell chips are scheduled to launch the first week of June, boasting more capable processors that will consume less power, leading to longer battery life on notebooks. The chips will also feature next-generation Intel HD 5000 integrated graphics that will offer a 50 percent in improvement over the previous 4000-class.
Kuo also said that Apple will likely introduce Haswell-powered MacBook Pro models at WWDC 2013. He expects that updated versions of the legacy, optical-drive-equipped MacBook Pro will launch alongside new MacBook Airs before the end of June, while a refresh of the premium Retina display MacBook Pro models will become available at a later date.
On the software front, Apple has already confirmed that it will unveil the next major updates to iOS and OS X at this year's conference. AppleInsider has seen traffic from devices running iOS 7 spike in recent weeks.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
54 Comments
But if we are to listen to Cook we must wait longer.
AppleInsider: [I]"MacBook Air inventory begins dwindling ahead of Apple's WWDC"[/I] Intel Ultrabook members: [I]"We'd love our Ultrabook inventory to dwindle like that."[/I]
dual multi-touch ultra-retina MBA with reverse thrusters and a parachute!
I am not a customer for this box (need something more grunty), but it's an impressive computer and it would be interesting to see how Apple could update it a year since the last one.
I love the MacBook Air. It really transformed from a lightweight oddity to a very nice notebook in the last generation, after they bumped the specs.