It looks like we might get the MacBook Air with M4 CPU a bit sooner than we expected early in 2025.
MacRumors highlighted a tweet (for subscribers) from Ross Young, a display industry analyst and regular leaker regarding all things Apple, in which Young told us that panel shipments for the MacBook Air M4 would purportedly kick off in October.
Another well-known leaker, Mark Gurman, then chimed in on X to note that the timing of screen shipments lines up with the launch timeframe he’s heard – and that Apple now plans to debut the MacBook Air M4 refreshes of its 13-inch and 15-inch models in Q1 of 2025, so March at the latest (add salt to taste).
This timing lines up for the MacBook Air, which is now scheduled for calendar Q1. January – March. https://t.co/PeiR2WLHDN https://t.co/05qJCCon29September 19, 2024
Young also let us know that low-end wallet-friendly iPad (10.9-inch) display shipments will also begin in October, alongside the MacBook Air screens.
That rather pours cold water on the idea that we’ll see this tablet alongside the new Macs set to be revealed by Apple next month (MacBook Pro M4, iMac M4, and Mac mini M4) – if screen shipments are only just beginning in October, launch is still some way off yet.
Analysis: Hot on the heels of the MacBook Pro M4?
As ever, we need to be cautious about anything from the rumor mill, but these are two heavyweight leakers where Apple is concerned, both with solid track records.
Indeed, Gurman has told us multiple times before that the MacBook Air M4 is due in early 2025 (and other leakers have too), and most recently said to expect these refreshed laptops in the spring of 2025.
This latest piece of speculation pointing to Q1 2025 feels a little more optimistic about the release being closer to hand, then, as March is early spring, of course (and in theory, it could be even earlier than that).
Going by recent buzz on the grapevine regarding RAM upgrades, we’re also hoping that the new MacBook Airs come with a minimum of 16GB of Unified Memory even at the entry-level (perhaps that really is overly optimistic, though – but it should be the case for the MacBook Pro M4).
Next year is also when Apple is expected to initiate another couple of M4 upgrades for Macs, namely the Mac Pro and Mac Studio models, but those aren’t expected to arrive until later in 2025.