As usual, Apple is holding the WWDC this year on June 6. Company CEO Tim Cook will take the center stage to announce what Apple has been working on for the past year. What are mostly new iterations of the operating systems that power Apple’s iPhone, iPad, Watch, Mac, TV, and HomePod. But this year, Apple surprises everyone by launching new hardware products. This year’s WWDC is expected to be one of those events and in the lineup could be a new MacBook Air. Rumors are widespread that Apple could introduce a redesigned MacBook Air with several changes. Let us talk about the MacBook Air 2022 and what to expect from it.
A new design
A major part of the rumors around the MacBook Air has pointed out that Apple could give its MacBook Air an overhaul this time. That may include a wide array of colorful options, just like last year’s 24-inch iMac. Since it is the MacBook Air, it will continue to be the lightest model in Apple’s Mac lineup, but certain changes in the design are expected. Apple is also likely to ditch the LCD on the MacBook Air for a MiniLED display, which the company first introduced on an iPad and later on the MacBook Pro last year. But there are some analysts that dispute this possibility.
With last year’s MacBook Pro, Apple showed its renewed interest in giving users more ports years after removing many of them. The MagSafe port returned to the MacBook Pro and this time it is expected to be available on the MacBook Air. There could also be two more Thunderbolt ports available on the machine. But even with the return of these important ports, there are going to be only so many of them on the MacBook Air, considering the thin profile of the laptop.
Rumors also suggest the new MacBook Air could feature an improved FaceTime HD camera that supports 1080p resolution. The existing lineup of MacBook Air models is restricted to 720p HD webcams.
The M2 chip
Apple is widely supposed to be working on a successor to the M1 chip that was introduced back in 2020. The M2 chip will be the first one in Apple’s second-generation Silicon lineup and the upcoming MacBook Air is likely to be the first one to come with that processor. This chip is definitely going to be better in terms of performance and power efficiency than the first-generation M1, but the variants of this chip that arrived later, such as the M1 Pro, M1 Max, and the M1 Max, may still be more powerful. To counter them, Apple might launch M2 Pro, M2 Max, and M2 Ultra later.
Additionally, the battery of the new MacBook Air will likely be more or less the same as the M1 MacBook Air. But Apple could give better battery life in all likelihood to the 2022 MacBook Air.