Affiliate Disclosure
If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Read our ethics policy.

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

A new report corroborates earlier indications that Apple will begin production of revamped MacBook Air notebooks this month, while also adding an unverified tip on a high-resolution iPad 3 reportedly coming later this year.

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.



30 Comments

cpsro 15 Years · 3251 comments

This article might be discussed in next week's airing of NPR's On The Media. \

mcarling 18 Years · 1099 comments

I really hope Apple offer a 15" MacBook Air. I would buy one in a heartbeat.

2048x1536 is the obvious resolution upgrade for the iPad. I expect it will come in 2012 or 2013 and I will buy one when it becomes available.

zunx 21 Years · 619 comments

Hopefully with a lighter and smaller model than the 11.6-inch for true Mac mobility.

chia 16 Years · 714 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by zunx

Hopefully with a lighter and smaller model than the 11.6-inch for true Mac mobility.

Zunx I give you credit for your persistence and your one man campaign for a 7 inch Mac in your pocket for making presentations but it's just not going to happen. Why?

  1. You can now use the pocketable iPhone 4 for presenting on an external display in conjunction with Keynote for iOS and the Apple Digital AV Adapter.
  2. Steve Jobs himself said Netbooks aren't better at anything yet you're calling for Apple to create a seven inch netbook.
    Sales figures for iPads and netbooks reinforce Steve Job's statement.
  3. The OQO Windows machine in your pocket, a device with a wider market appeal than an OS X device, was a commercial failure.

The 11 inch Macbook Air is an extremely light and capable device. You're likely to be carrying paper handouts for your presentation anyway, are you telling us all it's too much of a stretch to carry an 11" Macbook Air with them too?

ascii 20 Years · 5930 comments

The fact that they said 5-6x higher really hurts their creditably. The way the OS frameworks currently work it has to double in both directions.