2015 MacBook Air Rumor Roundup

Rumors of the 2015 MacBook Air have been swirling over the last couple of months. Here are all the rumors about the 12-inch laptop that you should know ahead of its alleged launch.

The MacBook Air has remained mostly unchanged since its original launch back in 2008, but it’s been rumored that the company has some big plans for 2015, as it’s said that the MacBook Air will be getting a 12-inch version, as well as a redesigned exterior with new ports, new speakers, and maybe even that Retina display we’ve been looking forward to for the last couple of years.

However, there have been a lot of reports flying around recently, making it a bit difficult to make sense of all the rumors that have been incoming over the past few weeks, so if haven’t been keeping up with the rumor mill as of late, we don’t blame you, but here’s a simple breakdown of all the 2015 MacBook Air rumors that we know of so far.

Release Date

The new MacBook Air is obviously expected to launch at some point this year, but several reports suggest that we’ll see the new laptop in the early part of the year, namely the first quarter. According to KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo, it’s expected that Apple will launch its rumored 12-inch MacBook Air at some point during Q1 2015. Q1 ends March 31, so if that report is correct, then we’ll see the launch of the 2015 MacBook Air within the next two months.

This early 2015 timeline goes along with an earlier report that said that the new MacBook Air entered into production earlier this month with a release timeline of Q1 2015 as well. Apple doesn’t usually launch new products this early in the year, as the company has aimed for late spring and fall timelines for its products.

However, the early parts of the year used to be big times for Apple, so it’s possible that the company could be moving back to that timeline for some of its new products, including the Apple Watch.

Features

While the new MacBook Air is expected to keep the same overall design that the laptop has had since 2008, it will receive major overhauls in other areas.

Most notably, it will include a handful of new features, including the new USB Type-C standard, a different kind of charger (other than MagSafe), and a thinner design that allegedly won’t include any fans, and a Retina display.

The switch to the new USB Type-C standard is mostly because of the thinner design for the new MacBook Air, although it’s also killing two birds with one stone because Apple will now be able to use the latest and greatest USB standard. Furthermore, the new USB port could also come with DisplayPort functionality, allowing users to plug in displays through the USB port. This could cut down on the amount of ports needed on the new laptop, but this is still very much a rumor and isn’t close to even being confirmed yet.

As for the fanless design, Apple is hoping to use Intel’s new Broadwell processors with this new MacBook Air, which are designed to be able to produce low heat at high performance without the need for a massive heatsink. This would allow Apple to get rid of the fans and go for a thinner design.

As for some other smaller details, the keyboard design is to said to leave “almost no space on the side”, effectively giving users a large keyboard without sacrificing overall laptop size. Plus, it’s said that the speaker location will be “above the keyboard and visible,” which is different than current MacBook Pros, which have the speakers situated on the sides, while the current MacBook Airs have the speakers situated below the keyboard.

Specs

Rumors about the 2015 MacBook Air specs are pretty scarce at this point, but it’s practically a given that the new machine will come with some fairly impressive internals. Some reports have suggested that Apple will use Intel’s latest Broadwell processors that deliver great performance at minimal power, meaning that battery life will be rewarded greatly.

However, another report suggests that Apple could opt for its own in-house processor and use its A-series chips in the MacBook Air. It’s believed that Apple’s A-series processor will reach a level of performances that’s comparable to Intel’s Atom and Core i3 lines within the next couple of years. Plus, using in-house processors for MacBooks will allow Apple to have more control over the release cycle for its laptops.

While this may be true, it probably won’t apply to the 2015 MacBook Air — we should still expect this year’s MacBook Air to run Intel chips.

Price

Unfortunately, no price is rumored for the new MacBook Air currently, but some rumors haven given us hints as to what the 2015 MacBook Air could be priced at.

It’s said that the new MacBook Air is expected to come with a 12-inch Retina display and will likely replace the existing 11-inch MacBook Air, suggesting that the new 12-inch model will be the new entry-level MacBook Air, while the 13-inch MacBook Air will continue to sell in Apple Stores.

This could mean that if Apple does indeed replace the 11-inch model with the new 12-inch MacBook Air, it could be fairly inexpensive. However, a new overhauled Mac is usually priced pretty high when it first launches, with the Retina MacBook Pro’s entry-level price set at almost $2,500 when it first launched in 2012.