- Apple’s MacBook Air M4 expected to launch soon this year
- M4 models rumored to be in mass production, codenamed J713 and J715
- The M5 chip is also expected to be unveiled later this year.
While all eyes may have been focused on Apple’s plans to introduce the rumored M5 chip after last year’s late reveal of the M4, new rumors suggest that the M4 MacBook Air will launch this year.
According to trusted Apple leaker Mark Gurman (as highlighted by Notebookcheck), the 13-inch and 15-inch models of the MacBook Air M4 will launch soon this year, codenamed J713 and J715. Gurman says these models are already in production, meaning their launch could occur in a matter of months.
This would complete the MacBook M4 line after the launch of the updated MacBook Pro last year. Considering the price of the current M2 MacBook Air ($999/£999/AU$1,599) and M3 MacBook Air ($1,099/£1,099/AU$1,799) models, Gurman expects Apple to replace the M3 models with the alleged M4 models while maintaining the M2 on. the market as a more affordable option.
We still have the possible reveal of the rumored M5 chip scheduled for later this year, so Gurman’s prediction is certainly plausible, as it usually is.
What does this mean for M5 MacBooks?
In addition to the M4 MacBook Air, M5 MacBooks are rumored to be introduced this year; There isn’t much hope that the M5 MacBooks will feature major redesigns, as they are supposedly planned for next year’s M6 MacBooks, according to Gurman.
Given the performance capabilities of the M4 range of chips, I expect the M5 chip to take things up another notch, as we saw with the jump from the M3 to the M4. Apple has finally moved away from the base configuration’s unwanted 8GB of unified memory (which is essentially just system RAM shared between the CPU and integrated GPU), so from now on, multitaskers and gamers should be satisfied in the future.
While we may have to wait another year to see the rumored OLED MacBook Pro with other new features, we probably shouldn’t rule out the upcoming M5 models based on these rumors, especially if you haven’t upgraded to an M4 model yet.
Personally, I’ve never been drawn to MacBooks as my primary device of choice, but as a big gamer, seeing the addition of new triple-A games like Cyberpunk 2077 is gradually changing this opinion: the current 10-core GPU in the most powerful MacBook Air M3 models is enough to handle recently added titles like the Resident Evil 4 remake (which I loved), so I hope the M5 chip doubles this performance increase as Apple starts to get more serious about gaming on the Mac.
