A few months ago, a report claimed that Apple was preparing to redesign the MacBook Air later this year, with a slew of improvements including the return of MagSafe charging, an SD card slot, and more. Now, well-known leakster Jon Prosser has obtained images of the purported new MacBook Air, and revealed a few elements of the device"s design. The images seen here are renders by Twitter user Ian Zelbo, based on images provided by Prosser"s sources.
First off, one of the most noticeable changes is in the colors that the MacBook Air will come in. Prosser says he was shown a blue version of the laptop, but his sources say the laptop will come in very similar colors to those introduced with the 24-inch iMac that was announced just a few weeks ago. If true, it looks like Apple is moving away from the monochrome look it"s been using for its Mac family for years now.
The renders shown also feature much slimmer bezels than the current MacBook Air redesign, but Prosser admits that these were based on guesses, as the images shared didn"t show the bezels clearly. However, many elements are said to be confirmed: for one thing, the bezels will be white, and so will the keys on the keyboard, both of which are big departures from the current iteration. On the topic of the keyboard, the function keys are also shown with full height, rather than the smaller size of the current model, and the trackpad may be smaller because of it.
Other design changes include flat edges all around and an even thinner design that barely accommodates the USB Type-C ports. On that note, the renders only show one USB Type-C port on each side, though Prosser says it"s not guaranteed that MagSafe charging isn"t included, it just wasn"t clearly visible in the images shared by his sources.
Finally, Prosser also points out that the rubber feet on the MacBook Air are being replaced by two long vertical rubber strips.
It"s still very early to tell whether the designs shown here will match the final product, as it"s only been a few months since the latest MacBook Air was introduced. It"s expected that if the new design does come this year, it will likely be towards the end of the year.