Almost Certainly No Retina MacBook Air Arriving On October 16th Apple Event

Apple has yet another big media event scheduled for later on this week, and just as was the case in the run-up to last month’s shenanigans, tech fans and commentators are rummaging around for evidence of what might be showcased in three days’ time.

Although it has been rumored for a while now that Apple will be coming through with a Retina MacBook Air at some point in the future, a new report from Re/code has all-but confirmed that we won’t be seeing it this week, and although we basically knew this already, Re/code’s word has been as good as confirmation in recent times.

The MacBook Pro with Retina display first delighted us all the way back in 2012 with its super high resolution, and we, perhaps naively given the Air’s form factor, believed that the slimmer notebook would soon follow suit. Two years on, here we are, and with Apple expected to showcase a new Mac mini and Retina iMac later on this week, some were still holding out hope that the elusive 12-inch Retina MacBook Air would also be joining.

Putting a slight dampener on the hoopla building up ahead of Thursday’s keynote at Town Hall, the source of Re/code has confirmed that no Retina MacBook Air will be on the agenda, and while Apple "may well" have future plans in this regard, we won’t be seeing the fruits of these endeavors just yet.

The last we heard, Apple was apparently waiting for Intel to prepare its next-gen, 14nm ‘Broadwell’ processors. As ever, the Mac maker is likely to get first dibs on the newer chips once prepared, although reports suggest that Intel is still a few months off completion.

Instead, Thursday will focus on a new iPad Air, which may possibly be accompanied by a refreshed iPad mini. We’ve heard decidedly little about the smaller slate compared with its more sizeable counterpart, but with a processor bump, Touch ID fingerprint sensor and anti-glare front panel expected to be among the improvements, prospective iPad purchasers should definitely hold off for now and wait to see what’s next.

Apple’s event kicks off at 10AM Pacific Time, and with OS X Yosemite also expected to be unleashed alongside the new hardware, you won’t miss a trick with our coverage.

(Source: Re/code) 

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