According to a bunch of rumors and supply-chain sources, 2018 is going to finally be the year that Apple launches a new MacBook Air. We don’t have all the details just, but a few consistent rumors are that it will have a Retina screen (a huge improvement over the dated non-HD panel on the current MacBook Air), and a budget-friendly price of around $800.
If those two things are true, Apple is basically going to be printing money. Most people I know love the MacBook Air’s size, battery life, and port selection very dearly, so if Apple can stick in a better screen and keep the price low, it’ll be a home run.
That’s also the assessment reached by top insider analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a new report, the KGI analyst claims that Apple’s MacBook line will see the best year-on-year growth of any of Apple’s product lines, with a forecasted growth of 13-16%. That’s compared to a forecast of 7-10% for iPad and 4-6% for iPhone.
According to Street Insider, the bulk of the growth comes from “new models,” which we assume to be the new MacBook Air:
Kuo added that shipments of components look to grow 60-80% QoQ in 2Q18 on the start of shipments of new models.
Most of the shipments will happen in later in the year he said, with 2nd-half shipments accounting for 65-70% the of annual shipments.
The other good news here for Apple-watchers is that Touch Bar MacBook Pro shipments are “significantly up,” so maybe people are finally coming around to the idea of paying $1,800 for a laptop with two screens.
