Apple just released the newest MacBook Air a few months ago but now we're hearing rumors of yet another model arriving in 2019.
Analyst firm IHS Markit told Forbes that a refreshed MacBook Air with 10th Gen processors will arrive later this year. Few details about the upcoming laptop were offered except that it will come with 10th Gen Comet Lake Y-series chips.
IHS Markit's report actually states that Apple would use Amber Lake chips, but that's likely a mistake caused by Intel's CPU naming scheme. In Intel's database, the new 10th Gen Comet Lake Y-series chips, including the quad-core i7-10510Y, are listed as "formerly Amber Lake," which, as you might have guessed, is causing all sorts of confusion.
As farfetched as that might sound, releasing another MacBook Air actually makes a lot of sense for Apple. Apart from a lower price and True Tone display, the 2019 MacBook Air is practically identical to the 2018 version. That includes the processor: an Intel 8th Gen Y-series chip that failed to impress us with its below-average benchmark scores. Now that Intel announced 10th Gen Comet and Ice Lake CPUs, Apple has a chance to rectify the disappointing performance of this year's MacBook Air.
While we haven't yet tested a 10th Gen Comet Lake chip, there is a good chance they will provide significant performance leaps over 8th Gen chips. Especially since the new low-power Y-series models, which are now quad-core whereas the 8th Gen CPUs in the current MacBook Air are only dual-core.
Apple wouldn't be the first to re-release a laptop with the latest CPUs. Lenovo released an 8th Gen version of its X1 Carbon and X1 Yoga in June, only to announce new 10th Gen models for later this month. Dell did the same thing with the XPS 13, although the 8th Gen model was released in the first quarter of this year.
As much as we praised Apple for overhauling the MacBook Air last year, there are still some things that could be improved. Underwhelming performance is our chief complaint, which this rumored refresh will hopefully address. Apple is also said to be making changes to the maligned butterfly-style keyboard and could switch (pun intended) to a more traditional scissor setup.
If these reports hold true, then we'll likely see a new MacBook Air at Apple's September event.
