Rumors of a new MacBook Air 2022 haven’t gone away, especially since the new MacBook Pro 14-inch and MacBook Pro 16-inch packing the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips were released last year. After the success of those new laptops and the still powerful MacBook Air with M1, eyes are on Apple to deliver an even more impressive version of its affordable ultraportable.
The MacBook Air’s design is starting to look a little long in the tooth compared to the slim and light laptops from the likes of Dell and Asus. There’s plenty of room for improvement, both in terms of aesthetics and processing power.
Current MacBook Air 2022 rumors point towards a new design with thinner display bezels, an M2 chip and a whole suite of new colors. Read on for everything we know so far about the MacBook Air 2022.
MacBook Air 2022 news and rumors (updated February 21)
MacBook Air 2022 possible release date
The MacBook Air 2022 had previously been tipped to release in the second half of 2022 by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman but we have not heard anything more specific thus far.
That leaves us in the realm of guesswork. We’d cautiously suggest the next MacBook Air could arrive in the spring of 2022, as Apple has previously released new MacBook Air laptops around that time. It would also give people a fresh alternative to the new MacBook Pro machine, which will no doubt be seriously pricey and very much for professionals.
According to a reasonably reliable tech tipster, the MacBook Air 2022 could be joined by a MacBook Pro 2022 that’s expected to arrive in the second half of 2022. This date coincides with the previously rumored launch window.
MacBook Air 2022 price speculation
Currently, the most affordable way to get a MacBook, the Air starts at $999. We’d expect Apple to mostly stick with that pricing in order to keep competitive with Windows laptops.
But like a lot of Apple devices, expect that price to jump up when additional RAM and storage are added in.
MacBook Air 2022 design
The reason why you should hold out for the MacBook Air 2022 over the MacBook Air with M1 is that the rumored next-gen model could have a redesign.
Slimmer bezels are expected and one of the 5 things we want from the next MacBook Air. However, that could also mean a notch in the top of the display for the camera, as seen on the MacBook Pro 2021 and suggested in a render by Jon Prosser.
But a more recent suite of renders, reportedly based on CAD designs from supposedly within Apple, show a MacBook Air 2022 with no display notch after all. This might be good news for people who are very anti-notch. But it could mean the next MacBook Air won’t benefit from getting super-slim bezels, though this doesn’t mean there’ll be no slimming of bezels at all, just it might not be as significant as those on the latest MacBook Pros.
And the screen is tipped it use a mini-LED display like the iPad Pro 2021 and new MacBook Pros, which should see a boost in brightness and colors.
More colors are also expected, seeing Apple move away from just Space Gray and Silver. Off-white has been tipped along with other colors that draw inspiration from the pastel hues of the iMac 2021.
There’s no word on a keyboard or trackpad upgrade. But the Force Touch trackpad is one of the best around, and after Apple moved away from the Butterfly keyboard mechanism to re-adopting a scissor key mechanism, typing on MacBooks has been greatly improved.
MacBook Air 2022 MagSafe and ports
For longtime MacBook fans, MagSafe charging was seen as a defining feature, one that separated Apple from PCs. Unfortunately, Apple removed MagSafe following fire safety concerns and a switch to USB Type-C.
But with MagSafe now back on the new MacBook Pros, it’s likely to make its way over to the next MacBook Air. And the rumors thus far have hinted at it coming back to the next-gen Air as well.
However, while the new MacBook Pros also got an SD card reader and HDMI port, one detailed leak claims that the MacBook Air could stick with USB-C ports only. That’s wouldn’t be a huge deal thanks to USB-C enabling a greater degree of connectivity, but people who want more port access might have to embrace the dongle life.
MacBook Air 2022 specs
The current MacBook Air made waves by coming with the Apple M1 chip, a slice of silicon designed in-house by Cupertino’s engineers. It delivered impressive performance, given it’s a chip that runs on ARM’s RISC architecture rather than the x86 architecture of Intel-powered MacBooks and Windows laptops.
The MacBook Air is tipped to use an Apple M2 chip. Rumored to use a 4-nanometer process node, the Apple M2 is expected to favor efficiency over the raw performance offered by the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips.
A separate report via The Information says that Apple the new chip for the MacBook Air is codenamed Ibiza and it could be based on a 3-nanometer process.
RAM and storage are likely to start at the same amounts as the current Air, with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD space. But we’d not be surprised if Apple were to offer 16GB of RAM and storage up to 1TB for the MacBook Air 2022.
MacBook Air 2022 outlook
While the current MacBook Air is rather good, it’s arguably due for a redesign. And that’s what the rumors are pointing towards for the MacBook Air 2022.
If we can get a better display with narrow bezels, as well as an upgraded chipset and MagSafe charging, we can see the next MacBook Air having some serious appeal. This is especially true since it’ll likely be a lot cheaper than the new MacBook Pros.
With all that in mind, here are 5 of the biggest rumored upgrades for the MacBook Air 2022.