15 Inch MacBook Air Now Set To Hit First Quarter Of 2012, Along With Refresh To The Line [The 15 Inch MacBook Air Is Set To Hit In The First Quarter Of Next Year According To Reports--Won't Be Coming Alone]

Posted on TFTS by Steve Anderson on Monday, 28. November 2011 under: Computers & Computing, PCs, Notebooks, Netbooks & Tablets

It was just a week ago when we heard from our own Chris Smith about the 15 inch MacBook Air, and that there was a good chance that it was set for a release in 2012. Well, a new set of reports have just broken cover to give us a slightly narrower range as far as actually seeing some of these hit shelves, and the new word puts it much closer than previously expected.

The new word says the 15 inch MacBook Air, and a refresh in hardware for the 11.6 inch and 13.3 inch models as well, will be hitting stores in the opening months of 2012 with an eye to having the whole thing on shelves by the end of the first quarter. What’s more, the reports further suggest that several of Apple’s suppliers have already started building the new models, making it very likely that completed models will start seeing shelf time in the range specified.

Even better, for those of you who are considering a MacBook Air purchase now, you may want to wait. And not because someone may be looking to pick it up for you for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or whatever holiday you favor, but because Apple will likely be dropping prices on the current models ahead of a refresh. Of course, you may want to just wait until the refresh itself, because word is that the refresh will put Ivy Bridge processors into the systems, giving them the one-two punch of both a boost in the processing power (on both the CPU and GPU alike) as well as burning less juice to achieve it.

It wasn’t so long ago that the 15 inch MacBook Air was being regarded as dead, so some surprise at this news is perfectly natural. Still though, given the popularity of the MacBook Air line, as well as the recent onslaught of competitors in the field, it’s not surprising to see Apple have some kind of interest in keeping the line up and running.

But what do you guys think here? Figure that we’ll see the new MacBook Air models come out next year? Or do you think that these reports are jumping the gun? No matter what you think, we always like hearing from you, so hit the comments section and tell us what you think about the possible MacBook Air refresh!