William Gallagher
A new battery filing in Korea's safety certification lists, plus photograph, indicate that a revised MacBook Air or MacBook Pro is being prepared by Apple.
Following both Chinese and Danish certifications, a Safety Korea one is again listing a new battery with Apple model number A2389. This has previously been suspected to be for a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air based chiefly on the model number, but for the first time, the new filing shows a photograph.
The image, spotted by 91mobiles, clearly shows a battery configuration similar to those found in current Apple laptops. The configuration is closest to that of a MacBook Air, but is sufficiently different that it still isn't clear which model it's for.
The fact that the battery requires a new safety certification means that it has in some way been redesigned or reengineered since the previous model. Consequently the differences from current battery designs doesn't rule out that it could be for the expected forthcoming refresh of the MacBook Air.
As with the Chinese and Danish filings, this battery has a capacity of 4,380 mAh. The current MacBook Air is a built-in 49.9-watt-hour one.
Apple refreshed the MacBook Air earlier in 2020, but is now also transitioning the entire range to Apple Silicon. At WWDC, Tim Cook announced a two-year transition and said that the first Apple Silicon-based Mac will go on sale by the end of 2020, but has yet to say what model it will be.
Previously, industry sources and analysts such as Ming-Chi Kuo have said that it will be a MacBook. However, they are not clear whether it will be a MacBook Pro, a MacBook Air, or the return of Apple's previously discontinued MacBook.
Andrew Orr
Marko Zivkovic
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
11 Comments
Maybe AppleSilicon “MacBook Whatever” ?... 😉
I’ll bet it will be the Air.
It wouldn’t surprise me if they sell them both for a time — basically you’ll be able to choose between Intel and Apple silicon when you buy.
I’ll bet it won’t be the Air. The MacBook will be the Lightest and thinnest flagship product and the first to have Apple Silicon. You heard it first here.
Oh, Apple did it again !
A new battery !!
Upon full consideration of the battery component, its inner working, combined with intrinsic knowledge of the interaction with its peer electronic circuitry regulating all the energy requirements that the particular device would require, Apple’s design and engineering teams spent days and weeks to create the best appliance using world-class design and the expertise compartimented with other companies.
So ehhhh... we have a battery now
I can’t edit my comment above, so I’ll continue the argument here. If you look at the current Air pages, it wouldn’t be hard to add Apple Silicon as an option, without changing much else — much of the text could stay the same, only the discussion of processors and graphics would have to be completely revised.
The Air was redesigned in 2018, when no doubt Apple Silicon was already in motion and could have been factored into the new design.
I had assumed that there would be all-new form factors for the AS machines, but perhaps the opposite is a better strategy — to ease the transition, they will offer both Intel and Apple as BTO options within the same form factors.