The much-rumoured 12-inch MacBook Air with Retina display has taken a new twist, with one report suggesting it will come with a touch screen, and another saying it’s a 2-in-1 device that will run OS X and iOS.
Apple devices are often the subject of ferocious rumourmongering, and this year has been no different, with plenty of rumours about two iPhone 6 models and an Apple Watch panning out, others like a sapphire screen for the iPhones proved false.
While rumours of a 12.9-inch iPad Plus that can multitask with two windows open in a split-screen have swirled, 2014 may finally be the year Apple announces a MacBook Air/iPad hybrid, with release in 2015 – something I’ve long wanted since the iPad first emerged.
Taiwanese news outlet Digitimes has posted two stories recently concerning these rumours, but that’s no guarantee of accuracy given the outlet’s spotty history of rumour hits and misses, but it’s still a fascinating topic.
Digitimes’ first rumour revolves around Apple making a 2-in-1 ultrabook/tablet hybrid with a 12.9-inch screen, which some claim might run iOS in tablet mode and OS X when docked with a keyboard.
Personally I’d want such a device to run either operating system at the same time in whichever configuration I wanted to use it, but just because I want something doesn’t mean that Apple is going to do it.
We’ve also seen Microsoft’s relatively unsuccessful attempts at creating the perfect 2-in-1 device, although the Surface Pro 3 is clearly its best attempt yet and even better is surely in store for any Surface Pro 4.
Digitimes claims Apple has had two prototypes in development – one that’s just a 12.9-inch tablet and the other that’s a 2-in-1 device, but with Apple’s much anticipated iPad event due on October 16, there’s just over a week before we’ll find out what Apple had planned.
If no 2-in-1 device appears, it could well still be scheduled for a 2015 announcement and release, or it might never appear at all, but at least October 16 will give at least some answers.
The second rumour from Digitimes revolves around Apple’s “12-inch” MacBook Air going into production, at first in small quantities, and then ramping up in 2015.
This device is meant to be thinner than the current 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch MacBook Airs, with earlier rumours suggesting the trackpad wouldn’t be clickable, although the suggestion this model will include a touch screen is new – at least to me.
Whether these two devices are one and the same or two and the different, so to speak, is yet to be seen, but it all adds to the pre-launch fun and speculation that is everyone’s wont prior to, during and post any of Apple’s launches.
All we know for sure is that Apple has promised 2014 would see “the best product pipeline in 25 years”, so if a 5K-resolution 27-inch iMac and a 2-in-1 MacPad Air Hybrid emerges, amongst whatever else Apple has up its sleeve, we would be both surprised and not surprised at the same time, even though that’s a contradiction in terms.
All we have to do now is to wait until next week for the truth to emerge, and if the rumoured devices don’t appear, for the rumour mill to kick right back into high gear once more.
Happy iSpeculation!
