Skip to main content

A redesigned, colorful MacBook Air with mini-LED display to launch by mid-2022

Famed Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo is back with another prediction on the upcoming MacBook Air. As reported by MacRumors, Kuo claims the new machine will launch in around mid-2022, come in a variety of colors, and feature a mini-LED screen. He also believes the upcoming MacBook Airs will have a redesigned form factor that will match the design of the upcoming 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros.

In July, Kuo predicted that Apple is soon going to announce the new MacBook Air with a 13-inch mini-LED display set to be released in mid-2022. While most of the details from his latest report remain the same as the predictions he made earlier, he did mention a couple of new features.

A colorful MacBook Air concept shared by Jon Prosser.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Kuo believes that it will come in multiple colors, feature a mini-LED display, a new Apple Silicon SoC, and will undergo a design overhaul to match the form factor of the upcoming MacBook Pros. He mentioned that the machine will leverage flatter top and bottom edges, sport a faster Apple silicon chip, and a MagSafe-branded magnetic power cable. As for its chassis, he believes it will include more squared-off edges similar to the ones we see in the current iPad Pro. Kuo’s predictions on the new MacBook Air match with the ones made earlier by Mark Gurman from Bloomberg and the tipster Jon Prosser.

Recommended Videos

Kuo is unsure about whether the new model will replace the current M1 model or exist as a high-end option. The current model was among the first Apple Silicon Macs when it debuted in late 2020, though the chassis has remained the same since much earlier. Kuo believes if the existing version is discontinued, then the new model will be available at a starting price of the current M1 MacBook Air. On the other hand, if the current version stays, he believes it will undergo a price cut and the new model’s price will be raised to exist as a higher-end alternative.

Kuo also believes that the Chinese manufacturer BOE will become the new Apple supplier for mini-LED displays on the new MacBook Airs, while LG, Sharp, and Foxconn subsidiary GIS will supply mini-LED displays for the upcoming MacBook Pro models.

Dua Rashid
Former Computing Writer
Dua is a media studies graduate student at The New School. She has been hooked on technology since she was a kid and used to…
Apple silicon has made the MacBook Pro a consumer favorite
Someone using a MacBook Pro at a desk.

Apple’s computer lineup has greatly benefitted from its update to the M4 chip in 2024. The brand introduced the M4 MacBook Pro and iMac lines in the last year– and research has further indicated that Apple’s decision to shift from Intel processors to proprietary silicon was a solid move. It has made consumers favor Apple laptops more. 

According to statistics from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), MacBook form factors, in either MacBook Pro or MacBook Air made up 86% of Apple’s PC market share in 2024. Consumers especially favored the M4 MacBook Pro at a rate of 53%, while 33% of MacBook Air models shipped during the year, and 14% of iMac models. These figures vary only slightly from the year prior; however, CIRP noted that Apple appears to have weathered any fluctuations that may have occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Read more
Here’s how Apple’s first foldable MacBook might win me over
The Zenbook Fold 17 open on a table.

Rumors have persisted for years now that Apple is working on a touchscreen MacBook, but I’ve never been truly convinced. For one thing, I don’t see how a touchscreen could improve my MacBook experience enough to justify the inevitable price rise. This is Apple we’re talking about, after all, and there’s just no way that a touchscreen MacBook will possibly come cheap.

As well as that, I’ve long agreed with Steve Jobs’ belief that adding a touchscreen to a regular MacBook is an ergonomic nightmare. Constantly reaching up to the display is a quick way to exhaust your arms, and paining its users isn’t really part of Apple’s playbook. The Mac operating system isn’t designed for touch either, and in any case, adding a touchscreen would result in all manner of greasy fingerprints on your monitor. It’s never seemed like a good idea to me.

Read more
The M4 MacBook Air is displaying some odd behavior we don’t understand yet
Apple MacBook Air 15 M4 front angled view showing display and keyboard.

People are getting their hands on the new M4 MacBook Air this week, which means they're posting lots of discoveries about its performance (and the blueness of the new Sky Blue color). While editing photos in Lightroom Classic, YouTuber Vadim Yuryev noticed that the CPU workload was being handled almost completely by the laptop's six efficiency cores.

https://x.com/VadimYuryev/status/1899986842998784243

Read more