With 2022 almost on us, it’s time to look forward to the massive MacBook Air refresh expected next year. Tipsters say there’ll be a slim new design, a much better screen and a range of other improvements.
This notebook is also expected to be the debut of the super-speedy Apple M2 processor.
Apple will introduce its next-generation “M2” chipset for Mac next year, followed by an even more powerful “M2 Pro” in 2023, according to a new report. Both are expected to use TSMC’s new 4-nanometer manufacturing process.
The report somewhat contradicts Apple’s plan to do away with Intel and transition all Mac models to custom chipsets within two years. That’s if Apple waits for the “M2 Pro” before updating high-end machines like the Mac Pro.
TSMC is reportedly struggling to get its 3nm chip production process working. And the problems might force TSMC to make the A16 processor for the upcoming iPhone 14 with the current 5nm process. That would mean the chip won’t be as much an improvement over the A15 as it otherwise would be.
The production problems, if real, will also likely affect Mac and iPad processors, as all Apple computers use variations of the same processor core.
Some of the criticism leveled at the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro should inspire Apple to make a MacBook Air with the same size display. It would be the largest Air ever, but there seems to be a market for a very big, yet very slim, Mac notebook.
And that’s not something Apple offers in its current product lineup.
A new series of renders based on rumors about the 2022 MacBook Air show just how slim it might be. And how it might borrow many of the features of the recently announced MacBook Pro.
The upcoming model reportedly will include an M2 processor, a MagSafe connector and a mini-LED display with a screen notch. But not the wedge design of previous MacBook Airs.
Rumors point to Apple releasing redesigned MacBooks later this year running an improved version of the M1 processor dubbed the M1X. I don’t believe it.
I completely agree that new MacBooks are on the way. But I don’t see these running an M1X processor. This chip will be called the M2.
The M2 chip, sequel to the inaugural Apple Silicon processor, will debut in the first half of 2022, says a leaker who previously nailed details about the company’s proprietary chips.
The tipster, known as Dylandkt, has an 81.3% accuracy rating according to Apple Track based on 16 previous rumors. Dylandkt said the M2 chip will be released alongside “the upcoming colorful MacBook Air.”
Apple may push back its first notebooks with beautiful mini-LED displays. Unconfirmed reports previously predicted 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook models with the new type of screen would arrive before the end of 2021, but a leak Monday indicates they won’t come until the following year.
At this point, it’s not clear if this means Apple won’t introduce new Mac notebooks until 2022, or if just the switch to mini-LED screens is on hold. Many are very much anticipating redesigned MacBooks powered with an Apple M2 chip.
The M1 chip just made its way to the new iMac and iPad Pro, but Apple’s already hard at work on its successor. According to a new report from Nikkei Asia, mass production of the M2 chip is already underway.
It is expected to debut as soon as early July, initially for use in a redesigned MacBook arriving in the second half of the year. Like the M1 chip, the M2 is being made using the 5-nanometer process developed by TSMC, the company that makes Apple’s A-series chips.