MacBook Air Refresh With Spec Bumps Said To Be Coming Tomorrow

Apple is planning a mid-cycle spec bump for the MacBook Air, according to a new report from 9to5Mac. The key feature of this update is said to be the use of new next-gen Intel Haswell processors, according to the report, as well as changes to the basic storage configurations available for the SSD drives of the machines. The designs will remain the same, however, and this isn’t the supposed 12-inch Retina MacBook Air that has been mentioned by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in the past.

It’s not uncommon for Apple to update its Mac hardware with improved internal components mid-way through the year. The last time the MacBook Air was updated was in June at WWDC last year, when it got the first version of Intel’s Haswell processor architecture, bumping battery life up considerably. This new generation arriving tomorrow would likely improve general performance and speed but should keep battery life the same. If Apple does tweak the MacBook Air tomorrow with these improvements, it’s likely that we won’t see a big change in the ultraportable until much later in the year (so not at WWDC in June).

The update could be very quiet, so if you’re in the market for a new notebook, be ready to take a close look at the Apple Store website tomorrow to spot the differences. Or, as usual, tune in here where we’ll let you know what exactly has changed.

Update: 9to5Mac now reports that the changes coming to the lineup include a 1.4-GHz Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 2.7GHz for the entry level 13-inch model, along with similar bumps for the 11-inch device and other configurations.