- Apple's M4 MacBook Air is expected to launch soon this year
- M4 models rumored to be in mass production, codenamed J713 and J715
- The M5 chip is also expected to be unveiled later this year
While all eyes may have shifted toward Apple's plans to unveil the rumored M5 chip after last year's late M4 reveal, new rumors suggest the M4 MacBook Air will launch this year.
According to reliable Apple leaker Mark Gurman (as highlighted by Notebookcheck), 13-inch and 15-inch models of the M4 MacBook Air will launch soon this year, codenamed J713 and J715. Gurman states that these models are already in production, which means a launch could occur in a matter of months.
This would complete the M4 MacBook lineup after last year's launch of the updated MacBook Pro. Considering the pricing of the current M2 MacBook Air ($999/£999/AU$1,599) and M3 MacBook Air ($1,099/£1,099/AU$1,799) models, Gurman expects Apple to replace the M3 models with the purported M4 models while keeping M2 on the market as a more affordable option.
We still have the potential reveal of the rumored M5 chip slated for later this year, so Gurman's prediction is certainly plausible - as it quite often is.
What does this mean for M5 MacBooks?
As well as the M4 MacBook Air, M5 MacBooks are rumored to be unveiled this year - there isn't much hope that M5 MacBooks will feature any major redesigns, as those are supposedly planned for next year's M6 MacBooks according to Gurman.
Considering the performance capabilities of the M4 chip range, I expect the M5 chip to take things up another small notch as we saw with the leap from the M3 to the M4. Apple has finally moved away from the undesired 8GB of base-configuration unified memory (which is essentially just system RAM shared between the CPU and integrated GPU), so from here on out, multitaskers and gamers should be satisfied going forward.
While we may have to wait another year for the rumored OLED MacBook Pro packed with other new features, we probably shouldn't write the upcoming M5 models off based on these rumors - especially if you haven’t yet upgraded to an M4 model.
Personally, I’ve never really been drawn towards MacBooks as my primary device of choice, but as a big gamer, seeing the addition of new triple-A games like Cyberpunk 2077 is gradually shifting this opinion - the current 10-core GPU on the stronger M3 MacBook Air models is enough to handle recently added titles like the Resident Evil 4 remake (which I absolutely loved), so I’m expecting the M5 chip to double down on this performance boost as Apple starts to take gaming on Mac more seriously.
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