In April, the first rumors appeared indicating that Apple will launch a new MacBook Air series that will implement Thunderbolt technology and the Sandy Bridge platform. According to an analyst with sources inside the Apple company, this new series would be launched this month. It seems that Apple's partners have already started manufacturing the new models and it is estimated that by the end of the month no less than 400.000 units would be available on the market. Apple will not make changes to the external design of the MacBook Air, everything will happen inside where the new hardware components will bring an impressive increase in performance compared to the current series.
Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo exclusively told AppleInsider that the Mac maker has placed orders for the production of a total of 380,000 Sandy Bridge-based 11.6 and 13.3-inch MacBook Airs this month.
The analyst, whose industry checks have long provided accurate insight into the Cupertino-based company's future hardware plans, notes that roughly 55 percent (or 209,000) of those MacBook Airs will be of the 11.6-inch varieties, which have proven slightly more popular than the 13.3-inch offerings due to their more attractive entry-level price points.
So far, none of the resellers of Apple products have announced that the stocks in stores are almost finished, but Apple could decide to launch the new MacBook Air series even before OS X Lion. For those looking for a cheap and ultraportable Mac, I think it's extremely good news because the performance increase brought by the Sandy Bridge platform will represent a major plus for running OS X Lion.
