What's Lighter Than Air? New Air

With rumors circulating about a new iPod touch with camera and Apple TVs running iOS, one wonders if any changes may be coming to the Mac line of products. According to a rumor, at least one Mac product will soon be seeing a major overhaul.

The MacBook Air, originally heralded as "Apple's answer to the netbook," was groundbreaking with its extremely low weight and size when first released. Now, thanks to the iPad, its reason for being is far less clear. The MacBook Air is positioned between then iPad and MacBook lines in size and functionality, yet the price is that of an entry-level MacBook and iPad combined. According to a story on Macrumors.com, the MacBook Air is one of the devices that will be seeing an update later this year. Rumored specs include an Intel Core-i series ultra-low power processor and a smaller 11.6" display (down from 13.3"). Mingchi Kuo, a senior analyst from Digitimes, had this to share:

"Kuo, citing discussions with upstream component makers, noted that the 11.6-inch MacBook Air will feature an even slimmer and lighter design than the previous-generation models and the technologies used for the design and concept are expected to be broadly used in the company's other product lines to boost their competitiveness."

With the original MacBook Air, technologies like the machined aluminum frame made it into the rest of Apple's portable product line. It will be interesting to see what new technologies a second-generation MacBook Air will bring with it. What can we expect? One thing is for certain; for the Macbook Air to be a hot seller, the price point will have to change. The smaller screen and standardized processor may be an effort to lower the cost. A MacBook Air refresh may also be the time to bring a Multi-Touch display to the Mac product lines as rumored by sites like Looprumors. If Multi-Touch is added, then the ability to load iOS apps on an OSX device also becomes a real possibility. This would mean you could be working on an accounting spreadsheet while a small window on your machine is displaying the outcome of a Zombie attack on your backyard foliage. Whatever the changes may be, it will be very interesting to see what Apple believes will put air back in the sails of MacBook Air sales.

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