After a recent report revealed that the redesigned 12-inch Retina MacBook Air will feature a mysterious, never-before-seen, battery charging technology, a new puzzling and hugely unlikely feature for the unreleased laptop has been revealed in a fresh report from Asia.
FROM EARLIER: Mysterious feature teased for rumored Retina MacBook Air
Online publication Digitimes, which said on Tuesday that an iPad Pro version that’s supposed to run both OS X and iOS is in testing, is back with a report that claims Apple’s upcoming Retina MacBook Air packs a touchscreen display.
While Apple already has patents describing the use of touchscreen on Macs, the company has not shipped any OS X computer with a touchscreen display on board. Furthermore, OS X isn’t optimized for touch interaction, even though it does share some design features with iOS.
On more than one occasion, Apple told reporters that it doesn’t plan to unify Mac OS X and iOS, as both ecosystems have their own place in Apple’s strategy.
Digitimes further says that Quanta has started a limited Retina MacBook Air production run, but the device might not be ready for launch in time for the busy Christmas shopping season. Apparently, suppliers are struggling to increase yield rates for new components needed by the slimmer MacBook Air.
“The new MacBook Air is slimmer than existing 11.6- and 13.3-inch MacBook Air models, posing challenge to component makers’ technological capability, the sources said, adding the 12-inch MacBook Air is likely to come with a Retina touch screen,” the publication writes.
Tim Cook has recently teased that Apple is working on devices that haven’t been rumored yet. While the 12.9-inch iPad and the 12-inch Retina MacBook Air appeared in various rumors before that statement, Digitimes — was first to mention Apple is working on an iOS/OS X iPad Pro and a Retina MacBook Air with touchscreen display these unconfirmed reports remain highly questionable for the time being.
