Apple MacBook Air Refresh Reportedly Delayed, May Launch at Lower Price
Apple is reportedly planning a cheaper MacBook Air and it may launch later this year. Rumours about a more affordable 13-inch MacBook Air have been surfacing for quite some time now. Apple was expected to release a new MacBook Air with a lower price tag during the second quarter of 2018, possibly at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2018, but a new report says the production has been delayed to the second half of 2018.
The report claims the company plans to update its MacBook Air range with a model that could retail for roughly Rs. 60,000, or even as low as roughly Rs. 53,300. It appears to be a part of a plan to “boost MacBook sales by 10 percent” and reclaim some of the low-price laptop market where Chromebooks have been popular.
Suppliers that have started production for some MacBook Air components are now expected to suffer from high inventories and low capacity utilization until Apple starts to take shipments for the new device. Apple has not provided any explanation for the delay, but the report says that it could be something to do with key components like processors.
To note, the new laptop will reportedly feature a slim design, high-resolution ‘Retina’ screen, and the latest Intel processor. This means no switch to Apple’s homegrown processors just yet.
The 13-inch MacBook Air, a popular choice for college students, is currently sold starting at $999 (roughly Rs. 66,600) for 128GB of PCIe-based storage, a 1.8GHz dual-core i5 processor, and 8GB of LPDDR3 RAM. It is priced at Rs. 77,200 in India, though usually at much lower prices in the open market. The device last saw a minor update at WWDC 2017, with a slightly faster processor, and 8GB of RAM as a default.
