The MacBook Air 2022 could launch as soon as next week at the Apple WWDC 2022 keynote, which gets underway June 6. And now we have some tasty renders of Apple's rumored new laptop to hold us over until we get to see the real thing.
Concept artist Darvik Patel has imagined what Apple's new entry-level MacBook could look like, and the renders bring to life other rumors we've heard that Apple is bringing several colors to the MacBook Air 2022 lineup.
According to these concepts, the new MacBook Air could come in purple, orange, blue, red, yellow, green and silver/gray, though we're sure the official names of these colors would differ. The iPad Air 2022, for example, comes in Space Gray, Starlight (white), Pink, Blue and Purple.
Interestingly, these renders show a white keyboard, which would be key visual difference between the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. But it's not clear whether Apple would offer this option on multiple models or just a couple. I also have to wonder how clean the keyboard would look after several months of use.
As reported by Wccfetch, the new MacBook Air will likely feature a 13.6-inch display, which would be up slightly from the current 13.3-inch model. There could be a 14.2-inch version, but we don't imagine Apple offering two Air models that are so close in size.
You'll also notice that the bezels around the display of this MacBook Air 2022 concept are significantly slimmer, which would be a welcome upgrade. And there's a notch towards the top of the display, though this would not house Face ID tech based on what we're hearing.
In terms of ports, the renders show a MagSafe connector for power, USB-C and a headphone jack. And the other side houses two more USB-C connectors, all of which presumably support Thunderbolt 4. What's missing is a SD card slot and HDMI port, which are found on the MacBook Pro 14-inch and MacBook Pro 16-inch.
The MacBook Air 2022 is tipped to feature a new Apple M2 chip, which is said to have an 8-core CPU. There could be four efficiency and high-performance cores, plus a 10-core GPU; the previous Apple M1 chip had an 8-core GPU. However, a new report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that the M2 chip may not be very powerful.
We have not heard much about the webcam for the MacBook Air 2022, but we're hoping that Apple upgrades the sensor to 1080p, as this would be key for better quality while on video calls.
Another unknown is the price for the new MacBook Air. We would expect Apple to charge the same $999 starting price, though it would be nice to see $899 for a more viable back-to-school option for parents on a budget. We've seen the current MacBook Air M1 hit that price but only when on sale.
Assuming the MacBook Air 2022 is announced at WWDC 2022, we'll also be learning about all the new features inside macOS 13, as well as iOS 16, watchOS 9 and more. Stay tuned for our live coverage on June 6, and here's how to watch the WWDC 2022 live stream.
