New MacBook Air could arrive next week, rumor claims

Posted:
in General Discussion edited March 2020
A possible MacBook Air refresh with a scissor-switch keyboard could arrive as soon as next week, according to a source claiming to be familiar with Apple's plans.

A new MacBook Air with an updated and more reliable keyboard may arrive next week, a rumor claims.
A new MacBook Air with a scissor switch keyboard may arrive next week, a rumor claims.


In a recent research note, reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that a new MacBook Air, as well as a refreshed 13-inch MacBook Pro model, were coming in the second quarter of the year.

An anonymous tipster is apparently forecasting that Apple would announce new MacBook Air models sometime during the week of March 15. The second quarter of 2020 starts on April 1, so a debut the week of March 15 would be about two weeks early.

That tipster informed MacRumors about the launch window on Friday. No additional details about the upcoming MacBook Air were provided, beyond the rumored release date.

The publication notes that the tipster was relatively accurate in their predictions in March 2019, when they tipped that new iPad models would launch shortly before Apple debuted the iPad mini and iPad Air.

Apple's MacBook Air was last updated in October 2019 with a Touch ID sensor, True Tone display and an updated butterfly keyboard.

Kuo first predicted that Apple would begin moving all of its portable models to a more robust scissor-switch keyboard in July 2019, a transition that kicked off with the 16-inch MacBook Pro in November of that year.

Apple will likely switch both the smaller MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air to a scissor keyboard this year, though the timetable has been adjusted several times. Originally, new MacBook Air models weren't expected until the fall, though Kuo's most recent note updated that timeline.

On March 3, Kuo also wrote about the possibility that the smaller MacBook Pro model could adopt a new 14.1-inch display size along with the updated keyboard. It isn't clear when that device will launch, as the tipster made no mention of it, but Kuo still expects it to arrive within the second quarter.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    About time. 10th gen has been out for ages.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    M68000M68000 Posts: 725member
    vannygee said:
    About time. 10th gen has been out for ages.
    What?  10th gen of what?   The Air was redesigned as “retina” redesign in 2018.  The 2018 model also has Touch ID,  despite this article saying it came on the 2019 model.   Anyway,  if the new keyboard is a lot better then it might be worthwhile to sell old one and get new...
    revenant
  • Reply 3 of 15
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,417member
    explained below 
    edited March 2020
  • Reply 4 of 15
    mknelsonmknelson Posts: 1,125member
    M68000 said:
    vannygee said:
    About time. 10th gen has been out for ages.
    What?  10th gen of what?   The Air was redesigned as “retina” redesign in 2018.  The 2018 model also has Touch ID,  despite this article saying it came on the 2019 model.   Anyway,  if the new keyboard is a lot better then it might be worthwhile to sell old one and get new...
    10th Generation Intel i5 - launched Q3 2019. So, I guess that means it's now 4179!

    Quad core MacBook Air?
    fastasleepdoozydozen
  • Reply 5 of 15
    Don't care about the Air. I need that 14" MBP with 32GB RAM or an updated MacMini with the 10th Gen graphics.
    steveau
  • Reply 6 of 15
    Wauw. Someone woke up and realised every butterfly MacBook is a ticking warrantee time-bomb for Apple
    doozydozen
  • Reply 7 of 15
    Wauw. Someone woke up and realised every butterfly MacBook is a ticking warrantee time-bomb for Apple
    Could be worse. They could be making gimmicky smartphones and tablets with folding screens that break almost instantly.
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 8 of 15
    revenantrevenant Posts: 621member
    replace that terrible camera. i cannot think of a good reason for such a crappy camera on a mac. the macbook has a better camera
  • Reply 9 of 15
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    It was mknelson said:
    M68000 said:
    vannygee said:
    About time. 10th gen has been out for ages.
    What?  10th gen of what?   The Air was redesigned as “retina” redesign in 2018.  The 2018 model also has Touch ID,  despite this article saying it came on the 2019 model.   Anyway,  if the new keyboard is a lot better then it might be worthwhile to sell old one and get new...
    10th Generation Intel i5 - launched Q3 2019. So, I guess that means it's now 4179!

    Quad core MacBook Air?
    It isn’t that great of an update.   Apple would be better off going AMD.   

    The question is would Apple release a new machine with all of the stores closed.    Somehow I think no but then again their care factor for Macs is approaching Zero.  
  • Reply 10 of 15
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,861administrator
    Wauw. Someone woke up and realised every butterfly MacBook is a ticking warrantee time-bomb for Apple
    The last generation of butterfly keyboard in the first year of ownership is failing at the same rate as the 2012-2015 design, and perhaps a hair less.

    You're right about the 2016-2018, though.
    commentzillaStrangeDays
  • Reply 11 of 15
    thttht Posts: 5,443member
    There was a rumor a few weeks back that Apple is implementing a "turbo" mode, but it didn't specify which Mac models. If this mode is in this updated MBA, it would be the most interesting part of the machine.

    It is the last card Apple can play to eek out more "appreciable" performance out of Intel as it struggles to fab processors in 10 nm, while upping power and unlocking processors on 14 nm.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    Eric_WVGGEric_WVGG Posts: 968member
    Don't care about the Air. I need that 14" MBP with 32GB RAM or an updated MacMini with the 10th Gen graphics.
    I don't get the appeal of the smaller Pro (at any screen size). Heavier than the Air, not significantly faster than the Air, much slower than the larger Pro… it just feels like the worst of both worlds to me. 

    Made sense when there was no Retina Air, but yeah, I think it's back to being the pointless model. Maybe if its screen bumps to 14 and the Air stays at 13, that's one reason for it to go on existing…
  • Reply 13 of 15
    Eric_WVGG said:
    Don't care about the Air. I need that 14" MBP with 32GB RAM or an updated MacMini with the 10th Gen graphics.
    I don't get the appeal of the smaller Pro (at any screen size). Heavier than the Air, not significantly faster than the Air, much slower than the larger Pro… it just feels like the worst of both worlds to me. 

    Made sense when there was no Retina Air, but yeah, I think it's back to being the pointless model. Maybe if its screen bumps to 14 and the Air stays at 13, that's one reason for it to go on existing…
    All depends on the availability of 32GB of RAM for me. The Air is not really an option with its slower CPU and GPU; Dual Core 1.6 i5 vs Quad Core 2.8 i7. Plus it only has two TB ports. Screen is too small.
  • Reply 14 of 15
    thttht Posts: 5,443member
    Apple has segmented the laptop lineup to the nth degree. There really isn't a sweet spot, even more so if the MBP14 comes out. It's basically a continuum of laptop products spanning $1100 to $2400 plus options, and you get what you pay for. The weakest is probably a high specced MBP13 at $2200 to $2500. That's a pretty high price for a 13" model when the 16" model can be gotten for that price. The MBP14 will address that and the feature/$ basically becomes flat across the lineup, especially if the MBA is a 4-core machine too.
  • Reply 15 of 15
    neilmneilm Posts: 987member
    Eric_WVGG said:
    Don't care about the Air. I need that 14" MBP with 32GB RAM or an updated MacMini with the 10th Gen graphics.
    I don't get the appeal of the smaller Pro (at any screen size). Heavier than the Air, not significantly faster than the Air, much slower than the larger Pro… it just feels like the worst of both worlds to me. 

    Made sense when there was no Retina Air, but yeah, I think it's back to being the pointless model. Maybe if its screen bumps to 14 and the Air stays at 13, that's one reason for it to go on existing…
    We have mostly 2016+ 13" rMBPs at the office, but a few months ago I bought a couple of new rMBAs to see what's that's like, and because we used to have a bunch of the pre-retina MBAs.  

    In actual use the rMBA is noticeably less, umm, snappy than the MBP, and that's comparing it to the older dual-core model. The difference is even more apparent versus the quad-core. That certainly doesn't make the rMBA useless, but I think it's more suited to student and other less demanding uses.

    Where I do think Apple has a problem is that the MBA's pricing is too close to that of the MBP. The 2C MBA is only $200 cheaper than the lower end 4C MBP ($1299 vs. $1499 for 8/256GB).
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