Neil Hughes
Though Apple has been rumored to be working on a redesigned MacBook Air with a high-resolution Retina display for some time, the device will not launch at this Thursday's media event in Cupertino, Calif., according to a new report.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, John Paczkowski of Re/code reported on Monday that the rumored new MacBook Air will not debut. He did, however, reiterate that the company is in fact planning to launch a new iMac with a high-resolution Retina display.
The absence of the new MacBook Air is largely in line with the latest rumors, which have indicated the device won't be available in time for this holiday season. Instead, it's been reported that the new ultraportable laptop with a Retina display won't see the light of day until 2015.
Rumors about the new MacBook Air have persisted for some time, and have consistently claimed that the device will feature an all-new thinner chassis along with a single screen size of 12 inches.
It's been said that part of the hold-up for the new notebook is short supply of Intel's next-generation 14-nanometer Broadwell chips. Intel's new chips are said to allow the notebook to have a fan-less design along with power saving advantages.
Other rumors have suggested Apple will achieve new levels of thinness by adopting a "click-less" trackpad, and also including fewer inputs and outputs.
The existing MacBook Air lineup was given a minor speed bump and accompanying price cut in April. It comes in two screen sizes of 11.6 and 13.3 inches.
While the new MacBook Air is not expected to arrive this Thursday, the Retina display iMac is likely to be joined by new iPad models, as Apple has in recent history used its October media event to unveil its next-generation tablets. Rumors suggest that this year the new iPads will feature Touch ID fingerprint sensors.
Also expected to be showcased at the presentation is OS X Yosemite, which is scheduled for a fall release. And Apple has also pledged to launch its new iPhone 6-based Apple Pay service in October, which could suggest the launch of iOS 8.1 could be announced come Thursday.
The Apple TV set-top box is overdue for an update, but the latest rumors have suggested it may not see an update until 2015. Apple has reportedly been facing roadblocks in negotiations with media companies as it seeks to bolster content options on its $99 streaming device.
Invitations for this Thursday's event with the tagline "It's been way too long" were sent out to the media last week the keynote will kick off at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern, and AppleInsider will be there live with full coverage. In addition, Apple will be offering a live stream of the event.
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101 Comments
If Steve were alive, this would have happened....
How many different products can these manufacturers pump out each day? Would be nice to see a sheet with the numbers for each product some day. It must be mind boggling.
How many different products can these manufacturers pump out each day? Would be nice to see a sheet with the numbers for each product some day. It must be mind boggling.
To your point, Apple is consuming lots of displays of varying sizes, the factories must be cranking them out like crazy. This also why Apple does not use the same supplier for all the display types they spread the wealth.
I am not sure why retina display on an imac would take priority over and ipad or laptop.
If we get retina iMacs i wonder if Apple will also announce a retina Thunderbolt Display? Seems odd that we've gone a whole year with Apple not having something for the new MacPro. I wonder if these new iMacs will get any sort of redesign or if it's just the 2012 iMac design with retina display.
I was expecting this, they probably have to wait for the Broadwell U parts, as the higher power drawing screen would be offset by the lower power draw CPU/GPU. And Core M at 5 watts isn't in the same class as 17 watt Broadwell will be.