Spotted by MacRumors, display industry analyst Ross Young has posted a subscriber-only tweet revealing that panel shipments for the MacBook Air M4 should be starting in October.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman then confirmed his own information points to the same conclusion — that Apple will launch the next MacBook Air during the first quarter of 2025.
This timing lines up for the MacBook Air, which is now scheduled for calendar Q1. January – March. https://t.co/PeiR2WLHDN https://t.co/05qJCCon29
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) September 19, 2024
This information comes from analysts who observe production trends along with company activity to make estimates about new products and launch dates. While often accurate, companies can also postpone plans at any point and throw estimates off. In other words, make sure to take these theories with a grain of salt.
Along with the displays for the new MacBook Air, panels for a low-end 10.9-inch iPad will also begin shipments next month. Unlike the MacBook Air, however, this suggests the iPad will be coming later than expected, as some people were hoping to see it announced with the new M4 Macs next month.
By the end of 2025, it’s expected that Apple will refresh its entire Mac lineup with M4 chips, marking the first time every product has shared the same chip generation. So while the prediction that MacBook Air M4 will launch before March next year could be incorrect, it shouldn’t be off by too much.
Another point of interest for the new MacBook Air is the RAM. There’s currently talk of Apple upping the minimum RAM for its MacBook Pros to 16GB, which means it’s possible that the same could happen for the Air. This is complete speculation at this point, but it feels like Apple will have a harder time defending 8GB of RAM on the Air if it’s already upped the Pro to 16GB.
The biggest problem with the minimum being so small is that people on a budget do feel forced to go as low as they can when purchasing, but this greatly affects the longevity of their PCs and therefore the value they get out of their purchase. Many people also find themselves wanting to use their MacBooks for heavier-duty activities over time, and 8GB just isn’t enough.
Overall, there’s a lot of Mac speculation to be confirmed or debunked over the next year. First up though, are the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, iMac, and iPad mini refreshes that, with any luck, should be announced sometime next month. We’ll keep you updated on event announcements.