Report echoes next-gen MacBook Air production, adds iPad 3 display rumors

Taiwan's Economic Daily said on Tuesday that Apple will begin selling the new MacBook Air in late June with an initial shipment of 380,000 units, as noted by Reuters. That report, however, appears to have recycled information from an exclusive AppleInsider report by citing "industry sources."

Last week, AppleInsider was first to report that Apple had placed orders for 380,000 Sandy Bridge-based MacBook Airs this month, with the 11.6-inch models comprising roughly 55 percent of the shipment.

According to the Economic Daily, when shipments of the new MacBook Airs are combined with shipments of the existing model, 460,000 units are expected to be produced this month. However, AppleInsider cannot confirm a sell date of late June.

Over the weekend, one tipster claimed that revitalized MacBook Airs would arrive this week, but eventually revised his story to suggest that Apple would actually begin carrying unlocked iPhone 4s at Apple Stores in the U.S.

The report also claimed that Apple will launch the iPad 3 in the fourth quarter with "image resolution 5-6 times higher than iPad 2." But, it should be noted that the rumor appears highly unlikely and is reported here for the sake of completeness.

While numerous reports of an upgraded iPad 3 with a doubled resolution of 2048 x 1536 already exist, the resulting display would have four times the amount of pixels. Various sources have also hinted that the iPad 3 will not arrive until 2012.

Apple has reportedly begun certifying components for the iPad 3, but component makers expect the device to come out next year.