Apple to Update Their 13-Inch Macbook Air with Cheaper Models In Q2
It looks like Apple is set to release a new generation of 13-inch MacBook Air products that will be easy on consumers' pockets.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated in an investor's note that Apple will release a cheaper 13-inch MacBook Air during the second quarter of this year, more likely after the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June.
The updated 13-inch MacBook Air was a part of the products to look out for in 2018, which Kuo advised to investors. These products that Kuo expected to put Apple in a limelight were the rumored 6.1-inch LCD iPhone, AirPods, and a "more affordable MacBook Air," Mac Rumors reported.
Kuo's analyses expected the new MacBook Air to spur the growth of overall shipments of MacBook models by 10 to 15 percent Year over Year (YoY), up from the 15.5 to 16 million models shipped in 2017.
However, Kuo's notes did not reveal the exact or, at least, the estimated price, as well as the features, of the new MacBook Air. Apple's current generation of 13-inch MacBook Air has a starting price of $999 for the 128GB SSD storage. The other version costs $1,199 because of a larger 256GB SSD storage.
This investor's note by the respected KGI Securities analyst corroborates a report by DigiTimes, via Mac Rumors, that stated Apple will offer a new entry-level 13-inch MacBook by the second half of 2018.
The entry-level's display will reportedly be supplied by General Interface Solution (GIS), who was already the LCD module supplier for Apple's existing MacBook models since the fourth quarter of 2017.
Apple's decision to upgrade their existing 13-inch MacBook Air is long overdue. Perhaps the most substantial update that the Cupertino-based giant made to their MacBook Air product line was in 2015 where they inserted 5th generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors for both the 11-inch and 13-inch models.
They also upgraded it with Thunderbolt 2 and Intel HD Graphics 6000.
After 2015, Apple did not upgrade their MacBook Air product line that much. In fact, they discontinued the 11-inch MacBook Air and gave the 13-inch model a minor bump to its base processor in June last year.
