MacBook Air (2022) May Not Carry a Wide Range of Colours; Shipments Could Hit 7 Million in Second Half

Apple is expected to unveil its new MacBook Air at the WWDC 2022 keynote later on Monday — after much anticipation and delay. While formal details about the new model are yet to be announced, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and TF International Securities’ analyst Ming-Chi Kuo both have suggested that the new MacBook Air model — aka MacBook Air (2022) — would come with mostly three standard colour options. This is unlike the earlier reports that suggested a wide range of shades available with the new model. Gurman also suggested that Apple might have delayed the launch of its 13-inch MacBook Pro and would not unveil it at WWDC. However, an Apple Authorised Reseller was spotted carrying hidden listings for both the new 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.

Gurman on Twitter claimed that the reports suggesting the new MacBook Air coming in multiple colour options are “probably exaggerated” and not true as he believed the new model would come in only standard Gold, Silver, and Space Gray colours. He, however, noted that there would be a fresh Gold colour shade with a Champagne like finish and may be a new Dark Blue colour similar to last year’s iMac.

Kuo expressed agreement with Gurman’s claim and tweeted that the MacBook Air (2022) would more likely to come in three standard colour options along with one new colour — instead of carrying iMac’s rainbow-style shades that were expected previously.

The analyst also predicts that Apple would ship six to seven million units of the new MacBook Air in the second half of 2022. The prediction, though, depends on Quanta’s Shanghai capacity and would only meet the predicted number if the facility reaches back to its pre-lockdown level before the third quarter.

Kuo said that the delivery of the MacBook Air (2022) would be better than the MacBook Pro models since the former is expected to be produced by Quanta and Foxconn, while the latter is manufactured at Quanta’s factories.

In his newsletter titled Power On, Gurman said that the MacBook Air (2022) would come with a design “not dissimilar” to the current MacBook Pro models. This suggests that we could get a notch this time on the MacBook Air.

Giving further details on the design, Gurman said the new MacBook Air would carry a pair of USB Type-C ports, MagSafe charging, and Touch ID support. The new model is also said to retain the 13-inch display size that is available on the existing MacBook Air models.

Apple was also speculated to unveil its new 13-inch MacBook Pro as a part of its new MacBook portfolio. However, Gurman said that the original launch plans for that MacBook Pro have been put on hold due to the lockdowns in China.

The China lockdowns are also likely to impact the availability of the new MacBook Air.

In his newsletter, Gurman said that he would expect “shortages or a non-immediate” availability of the new model due to the shutdowns of factories in the Chinese region.

He also presumed in a tweet that Apple might eventually decide to not launch the new MacBook Air at the WWDC keynote due to the factory shutdowns in China and release date gap.

Nevertheless, Apple Authorised Reseller B&H Photo Video carried hidden product listings for a 14-inch MacBook Air and a 13-inch MacBook Pro — both carrying the M2 chip.

As reported by 9to5Mac, the B&H website includes the listings for the 14-inch MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro without any details.

It is likely that the listings would just be placeholders on the basis of rumours. However, the timing of their emergence on the Web seems interesting.

That said, the WWDC 2022 keynote is taking place at 10:30pm IST on Monday where we’ll officially see what Apple has to unveil this time. The event will be livestreamed through Apple’s social media channels, apps, and website for public viewing.