14 DAY TRIAL // A computer rumored for more than a year to be in the works at Apple, the 12-inch MacBook Air is finally coming to fruition in 2015, according to people with access to the latest prototypes.
Renderings created by Michael Steeber reveal that Apple is changing the design of its most popular Mac, reducing its size and weight. The bezels of the upcoming 12-inch MacBook Air are much thinner, allowing for the screen to fit in a chassis about the same size of the current-generation 11-inch MBA.
The keyboard will be slightly narrower, the trackpad will be taller, and there will be four speakers placed at the top of the keyboard. The name “MacBook Air” can be found on today’s ultra-slim notebooks, but the upcoming version has a screen bezel so thin that it might no longer accommodate this marketing/design element.
There will be far fewer ports placed along the left and right sides of the computer: just one USB Type-C connector, and one headphone jack. According to the renderings, two microphones will sit next to the audio port, one of which is tasked with noise cancellation.
The clamshell design tapering from top to bottom remains in place, and the plastic radio windows currently found on the bottom side of the case will most likely remain there as well since Apple seems determined to continue to use aluminum (which blocks wireless signals) for the enclosure.
