We’ve all heard the rumors about mini-LED displays supposedly coming with the MacBook Pro 2021 models. But what about the MacBook Air? Sadly you may have to wait until next year for that particular upgrade.
That’s according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (via 9to5Mac), who claimed Apple may well release the MacBook Air 2022 with a 13.3-inch mini-LED display.
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The prospect of Apple upgrading its hardware with mini-LED has been rumored for almost a year now. The first of those products arrived earlier this year in the form of the mini-LED 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and there are plenty of rumors suggesting that the expected — but as yet unconfirmed — 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro 2021 models will follow suit.
It was only a matter of time before we started hearing rumors that Apple would be giving the MacBook Air the same treatment. However, it might be a while before this hypothetical device materializes. According to Kuo it won’t launch until “early 2022,” though the analyst wasn’t any more specific than that.
Mini-LED offers a number of advantages over the LCD panels Apple has traditionally featured on its laptops.
Rather than using a single backlight for the entire screen, mini-LED tech uses hundreds of smaller LED clusters. These Mini-LED displays are more energy efficient than LCD, offer higher brightness, better contrast, and deeper blacks. OLED does perform better in a lot of respects, but mini-LED is also a lot less prone to screen burn-in. Plus, Mini-LED uses inorganic Gallium Nitrate, which doesn’t degrade over time.
Recent rumors also claim that the next MacBook Air will feature the Apple M2 chip that is supposedly on the way. Everything we’ve heard suggests it’ll offer better performance than the current M1 chip, though it may have more of a power efficiency focus than the M1X chip rumored to debut on the next MacBook Pros.
However, Apple isn’t likely to confirm or deny any of this information, because it never does. Instead, we’re just going to have to sit tight and be patient, because it could be up to a year before we see whether these MacBook Air rumors are true. And that's assuming the MacBook Air 2022 isn’t delayed, like the 2021 MacBook Pros are said to have been.
If you’re looking for a new Macbook Air right now, it probably isn’t worth waiting to upgrade, especially considering how good the MacBook Air with M1 is. However, if you can afford to be patient, it may well pay off in the long run.
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