It’s a subject we’ve touched on a few times over the last couple of months, and now the hype surrounding the rumors of the iPad 3 have been somewhat satisfied, the tech world can switch its attentions to other potential Apple releases – namely a 15-inch MacBook Air.
The Air – particularly in its current form factor, has become one of the Cupertino company’s most celebrated products, and with PC makers trying very hard to emulate the wafer-thin design with Ultrabooks, it’s not altogether difficult to see why.
While there has been much talk of the MacBook Pro range being subject do a design overhaul in the image of the Air, spectators have also toyed with the idea of the compacter of the two notebooks adding a third wheel to the current 11 and 13 inch models available.
Electric Pig reckons an "anonymous vendor" at a UK accessories expo in London stated earlier this week that a new size Air would be arriving in a "shakeup [that] will happen in April".
Whilst the MacBook Pro remains vastly superior in terms of specs, Apple has packed in some impressive hardware into the slimmest of designs with the Air, and it wouldn’t exactly be an illogical step to add a 15-inch model to proceedings. Furthermore, it has been reported on numerous occasions that a new Air could capitalize on Intel’s new Ivy Bridge processors, although the chip maker has been somewhat slow in producing them. Still, if a sufficient number can be made, Apple would likely draw favoritism from Intel, which would in turn give the fruit company an edge over competitors.
Unlike the iPhone and iPad, which tend to arrive around the same time each year, Tim Cook’s company doesn’t have a set season for a MacBook Air launch. The first model arrived in January 2008, and was minorly updated later that year. The third installment didn’t arrive until October 2010, although it was worth the wait since that was the point where the design got its current, uber-sleek aesthetics.
The last update was in July of last year, which renders the next release anybody’s guess. Whatever the case, if Apple does manage to pull off its first batch of Ivy Bridge, 15" units by next month, the response of consumers is likely to be as keen as ever.
(via Pocket-Lint)
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