MacBook Air With USB-C Again Rumored, Launch Timeframe UnclearLast month, Japanese blog
Mac Otakara reported that Apple plans to announce
new MacBook Air models featuring USB-C ports based on the
Thunderbolt 3 protocol by the end of June, and begin shipping the notebooks to retailers in August. It is now seven weeks later, however, and the rumor has yet to materialize.
![macbook_airs_2015" width="800" height="263" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-475526](http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2015/11/macbook_airs_2015.jpg)
But if a new report from Taiwanese website
DigiTimes is to believed, Apple still has plans to release a new
MacBook Air with USB-C ports after all. The report does not provide a launch timeframe for the updated notebooks, but the secondary rumor suggests
Mac Otakara may have been off on timing only.
Currently, Apple has decided to adopt the USB Type-C interface for its MacBook Air, while Asustek Computer and Hewlett-Packard (HP) are upgrading one of their notebooks' regular USB port to the Type-C. Lenovo, Acer and Dell are still evaluating the option.
DigiTimes previously reported that Apple will begin shipping new
"ultra-thin" 13-inch and 15-inch MacBooks at the end of the second quarter, which ended in late June. The report said the new MacBooks would "share a design similar to the existing 12-inch MacBook" and be "thinner than [the] existing MacBook Air."
DigiTimes also previously reported that Apple plans to release new ultra-thin MacBooks with
metal injection molded hinges in the second half of 2016. The website is not always an accurate source of Apple's upcoming product plans, but it has well-connected supply chain sources that have proven reliable at times in the past.
Apple's entire Mac lineup, beyond the
2016 12-inch MacBook, has stagnated. Apple has not released a new MacBook Air in
over 500 days, beyond a
minor 8GB RAM bump for 13-inch models in April. Some believe the MacBook Air's days are numbered, but perhaps the notebook will live on until Apple can sell the 12-inch MacBook from $999.
Alternatively, it is possible that
DigiTimes is misinterpreting a
thinner MacBook Pro with USB-C ports as a MacBook Air.
If a new MacBook Air is incoming, a late-year launch is most probable. KGI Securities analyst
Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple will launch
three new MacBook models by year's end: a thin and light 13-inch MacBook in the June-September quarter, and two thinner and lighter 13-inch and 15-inch
MacBook Pro models in the September-December quarter.
<div class="linkback">Related Roundup:
MacBook Air Tags:
digitimes.com,
USB-C Buyer's Guide:
MacBook Air (Don't Buy) </div>
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MacBook Air With USB-C Again Rumored, Launch Timeframe Unclear