14 DAY TRIAL // Apple might be planning a new MacBook unveiling this year, according to a new report, as the company is believed to be looking into discontinuing the MacBook Air.
Taiwanese site Digitimes, which has a mixed track on Apple rumors, suggests in a rather scarce report that Cupertino could be planning to introduce a new entry-level MacBook this year using displays manufactured by GIS (General Interface Solution).
This particular supplier is already making LCD panels for the existing MacBook models since 2017, and according to the cited source, could expand production with a 13-inch display that would be specifically aimed at “an entry-level 13-inch MacBook [coming] in the second half of 2018.”
Final goodbye for MacBook Air?
This could be a sign that Apple is finally considering killing off the MacBook Air, a device that’s been around since 2015 and which only received a single CPU upgrade last year. The MacBook Air, however, is the only model in Apple’s lineup that does not feature a Retina display, but it’s believed it survived until now thanks to its strong sales whose main catalyst was the lower price.
In the United States, the MacBook Air pricing starts at $999 for the 128GB version, while the 256GB storage model is priced at $1,199.
Apple, however, is said to be looking into several major hardware refreshes for the MacBook lineup, including an ARM-based processor that could help the firm step away from chipsets manufactured by Intel.
Furthermore, it’s believed Cupertino is also increasingly interested in bringing OLED screens on its top-of-the-line MacBooks, while retaining LCD screens for the entry-level configurations. This could be a strategy similar to what Apple aims to do with the iPhone starting with the 2018 generation, which is expected to include one more affordable model featuring an LCD panel, as well as two more expensive options with OLED screens.
As with every rumor, a healthy dose of skepticism is recommended, despite all of these more or less making sense for Apple and the MacBook lineup.