That cheaper Macbook Air seems to arrive anyway this year
Analysts have a tricky job: they have to gamble – often on the basis of incomplete information – about what companies are going to do. A conversation in the corridors here, an internet rumor there: all sources from which you can make a prediction. Sometimes they are wrong, as in the case of the otherwise reliable Ming-Chi Kuo, an Apple specialist. He said at the beginning of this year that for the summer cheap Macbook Airs would be on the market. Has not happened. That does not mean, however, that they are not going to get at all.
Trendforce thinks that the Macbook Airs will arrive after all, but then by the end of this quarter. That would be somewhere before the end of September. Of course, the beginning of September is the time to launch new iPhones, but it could well be that Apple is also going to show the new Macbook Air there.
How cheap is cheap?
There is a constant speculation about a cheap Apple laptop. It is assumed that this will be in the form of a new Macbook Air, but it could of course also be that Apple devises a whole new name for the affordable laptop. It would be frankly strange: the Air series has had no updates for years and is therefore very much behind. Not only on the rest of the Macs, but also on any other laptop of 1100 euros. Because they still cost that.
That is not cheap at all, let’s put that first. Anyway, in a line-up that jumps to 1500 euros in the next step, it is the most affordable Apple laptop. If the company from Cupertino can also deliver some quality (starting with a Retina screen and specifications that do not come from 2010) for that money, it could perhaps revitalize the laptop line. The Macbook Pro’s had a lot of problems this year, so Apple can use a plus when it comes to laptops. We are going to hear about a month.