Report: Apple's refreshed M2-powered MacBook Air is still a few months out

M2 Macbook Air Concept Screencap (Image credit: Devam Jengra)

What you need to know

Apple won't announce a new MacBook Air until the second half of this year, according to Mark Gurman.
Bloomberg's Apple reporter believes that the M2-powered refresh of Apple's cheapest MacBook won't arrive until much later this year.
Those hoping for an updated 14 or 16-inch MacBook Pro are going to need to wait until next year.

Apple is heavily rumored to have a refreshed and redesigned MacBook Air in the works and while we originally expected it to arrive in the first half of this year, we're now being told that isn't happening. Look to the second half of 2022 instead, we're told.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is the one doing the telling this time around, writing in his weekly Power On newsletter. According to Gurman, the updated Apple silicon version of the MacBook Air was expected to pack an M2 chip and make an appearance in the first half of 2022. That machine was supposed to come with "an all-new design, MagSafe, the M2 chip, and more" but it now looks like we will have to wait until later in 2022 before the new machine is announced.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently pointed to a new MacBook Air coming during the second or third quarter of this year, but they bucked the trend by saying that it will come with an M1 chip rather than an updated M2. Quite which one happens, we'll have to wait and see.

Predictions for new MacBook Air in 2022:
1. Mass production in late 2Q22 or 3Q22
2. Processor: M1 chip
3. No mini-LED display
4. All-new form factor design
5. More color optionsPredictions for new MacBook Air in 2022:
1. Mass production in late 2Q22 or 3Q22
2. Processor: M1 chip
3. No mini-LED display
4. All-new form factor design
5. More color options— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 9, 2022 March 9, 2022

Back to Gurman and the Bloomberg reporter also believes that we won't see a new MacBook Pro refresh until next year, at least in terms of the high-end 14 and 16-inch versions. They're already the best Macs for people who need portable machines, but with the M2 chip not likely to arrive until later this year the M2 Pro and M2 Max variants are unlikely to be announced until 2023.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

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