New MacBook Air coming by end of quarter, research firm claims

Apple is planning to release an updated MacBook Air towards the end of the current quarter, which ends in September, according to one research firm.

"The second quarter was the transition period when Apple was preparing for the releases of the upcoming new MacBook devices for the year," TrendForce said on Wednesday. The firm expects MacBook shipments "to again post a large QoQ increase in 3Q18, as Apple will be releasing a new MacBook Pro at the start of the quarter and a new MacBook Air at the end of the quarter."

TrendForce didn't identify the source for its Air predictions, and has repeated some claims without verification in the past.

Still, separate rumors have pointed to an Air refresh around the same time period. Apple is expected to revamp the laptop, which now holds the dubious distinction of being the only MacBook without a Retina display. It could make the jump to that technology with a 2,560-by-1,600-pixel screen by LG.

Earlier this week one of Apple's main suppliers, Quanta, was claimed to be preparing new, "inexpensive" MacBooks. That could also be referring to Apple's 12-inch MacBook, which is also due for a refresh.

If Apple times its product launches right, both the Air and the 12-inch MacBook could come preloaded with macOS Mojave instead of High Sierra.

32 Comments

MacPro 19838 comments · 18 Years

About 6 years ago

IMHO now MacBook Pros and MacBooks are so light the only position for the Air would be if it were by far the least expensive, suitable for education and similar.

techprod1gy 838 comments · 11 Years

Agree with above comment. The MacBook is plenty light so the only real reason from my view would be lower price point. Any additional thoughts?

sflocal 6133 comments · 16 Years

MacPro said:

IMHO now MacBook Pros and MacBooks are so light the only position for the Air would be if it were by far the least expensive, suitable for education and similar.

techprod1gy said:

Agree with above comment. The MacBook is plenty light so the only real reason from my view would be lower price point. Any additional thoughts?

I disagree. I've owned several MBA's over the years. I own a 2017 15" MBP as I needed more RAM and CPU, and I wanted a Retina display. The current MacBook is not remotely useable for me as a "real" laptop. I am highly mobile and lightness is crucial. The MBA was perfect. It had a more powerful CPU compared to the anemic MacBook. I loved it, but the 8GB RAM limit was just too confining.

Give me an MBA, with 16GB+ RAM and a Retina display, and at least an i7 and I may very well consider selling my MBP for one of these. I truly miss the lightness. It made traveling with it quite enjoyable.

Mike Wuerthele 6901 comments · 8 Years

sflocal said:

MacPro said:

IMHO now MacBook Pros and MacBooks are so light the only position for the Air would be if it were by far the least expensive, suitable for education and similar.

techprod1gy said:

Agree with above comment. The MacBook is plenty light so the only real reason from my view would be lower price point. Any additional thoughts?

I disagree. I've owned several MBA's over the years. I own a 2017 15" MBP as I needed more RAM and CPU, and I wanted a Retina display. The current MacBook is not remotely useable for me as a "real" laptop. I am highly mobile and lightness is crucial. The MBA was perfect. It had a more powerful CPU compared to the anemic MacBook. I loved it, but the 8GB RAM limit was just too confining.
Give me an MBA, with 16GB+ RAM and a Retina display, and at least an i7 and I may very well consider selling my MBP for one of these. I truly miss the lightness. It made traveling with it quite enjoyable.

The MacBook Air is 2.97 pounds. The 13-inch 2018 Retina MacBook Pro is 3.02 pounds, and you can now get quad-core and 16GB of RAM.

BrianJ 7 comments · 7 Years

Comparing the MacBook Air to the current MacBook Pro 13 and you're dealing with pretty much the same size machine. The MBA is way less powerful, and has a lower quality display. However, it does maintain the legacy ports and a magsafe charger, both of which will likely be gone in the next revision.

Keeping the machine in the lineup just to have a lower cost entry level machine makes sense. However, MacBook Air name doesn't make sense, as the regular MacBook is much smaller. If they can reduce the cost of the MacBook, then it would even out their lineup a little better.