According to AppleInsider, Apple is preparing to produce a new series of MacBook Air with Intel Sandy Bridge processors and Thunderbolt technology. The new MacBook Pro series launched last week has these 2 technologies and Apple would intend to bring it to the Air series that would be "renewed" earlier this year. Last year, Steve Jobs presented the new MacBook Air series in a conference that took place in November, surprising the audience with a very thin, very reliable and much more powerful laptop than the previous generation.
Kuo tells AppleInsider that his latest round of checks with suppliers and system builders in the region reveals that MacBook Air shipments are set to rebound during the current calendar quarter, fueled by an upgrade to Intel's latest Sandy Bridge microprocessors, integrated Intel graphics, and the expected adoption of the new Thunderbolt high-speed I/O technology that made its debut on MacBook Pros earlier this year.
Should Apple follow its current trend of using ultra-low-variants for the 11.6-inch MacBook Air and low-voltage ones for the 13.3-inch models, consumers can expect to see new 11.6-inch MacBook Airs sporting 1.4GHz to 1.6GHz Core i5 and Core i7 chips and 13.3-inch MacBook Airs with 2.10 and 2.30GHz Core i7 processors.
Apparently, the Core 2 Duo technology in the current MacBook Air series is much too "old" for Apple, which considers that i5 and i7 processors must be part of all MacBooks. Thunderbolt technology is new on the market and for now MacBook Pros are the only devices that can use it, but in the near future the launch of several accessories capable of transferring files at very high speeds via Thunderbolt is announced. For Apple this technology will become a standard and MacBook Air must have this standard.
