The MacBook Air family is going to get a smaller, slimmer and significantly improved family member at some point in the future, and a new report from Jack March reveals that Apple’s upcoming 12-inch Retina MacBook Air will offer users a complete redesign.
FROM EARLIER: The Retina MacBook Air might have an unexpected surprise for you when it launches… in mid-2015
According to a source familiar with Apple’s plans, the Retina MacBook Air will have a “noticeably thinner design” because it will not have any fans inside. Such laptop designs are possible thanks to Intel’s Core M processor, which is supposed to offer improved performance and power efficiency, and thus let OEMs come up with fanless notebooks and tablets.
The source also revealed that “the display bezels are noticeably thinner, quite similar to the current MacBook Pro Retina lineup,” and that there’s almost no space on either side of the keyboard for anything else. The speaker has been moved above the keyboard, and it’s “visible.”
Most interestingly, the source claims that the new Retina MacBook Air will ditch the MagSafe connector, and instead feature a new, mysterious, battery charging technology that hasn’t been used in any Mac so far. Other details have not been provided, and the source did not know whether this alternative charging method had been finalized or not.
Finally, Apple is also said to ditch the standard USB port in Retina MacBook Airs, and replace it with reversible USB Type C ports. March further reiterated that the MacBook Airs will arrive in various color options, matching the iPhone colors, at some point in mid-2015.
