X

MacBook Air, OS X Lion due next week?

A couple of reports say that next week Apple is expected to refresh the MacBook Air at the same time it releases the OS X Lion operating system.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
See full bio
Brooke Crothers
2 min read

The ides of July are almost upon us. And that can mean only thing: the arrival of OS X Lion with the refreshed MacBook Air in tow. At least, that's what two Apple enthusiast sites are reporting.

9to5Mac says that a "few overseas sources" tell them that "Apple Retail stores are planning 'overnights' on July 13th." Overnights typically entail a refresh of Apple store displays and training on new products.

And AppleInsider is hearing similar chatter, citing a "bulletin" posted to Apple's internal retail news network "advising store management to perform RAM upgrades to certain Mac models on the showroom floors by Sunday, July 10th at the latest." The deduction: this is needed to ready those models for upgrades to Lion.

Apple is already on the record with statements about a July release. At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June, the company announced that it would be releasing Lion as a $29.99 update to users in July. The OS has already reached gold master status, according to reports.

Probably not coincidentally, the OS X Lion page on Apple's site shows the new operating system running on the MacBook Air
Probably not coincidentally, the OS X Lion page on Apple's site shows the new operating system running on the MacBook Air. Apple

OS X Lion will bring plenty of enhancements and tweaks, including iCloud services built into the software, iOS-style Launchpad to house apps, full-screen apps and previewing Preview PDFs full-screen, Mission Control that comes up with a three-finger swipe, automatic tracking of document version history, and a resume feature that picks up where the user left off, among other new features.

And the new MacBook Air will be the perfect platform to utilize some of these iOS-like features. Weighing a scant 2.3 pounds (11.6-inch model), it is expected to pack fast Intel Sandy Bridge Core i series processors for the first time and a Thunderbolt port--both features already present on its 13-inch MacBook Pro cousin.

A CNET report last month, citing a research note from Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore, said that supplier checks suggest the production of the new Air could "ramp to as high as 1.5 [million] units per [quarter] or 50 percent of the MacBook business." That would be a significant milestone since it would point to the future of Apple's laptop development focus: small, light designs with iPad-like characteristics.

Whitmore also said that OS X Lion will "spur a large part of the 54 [million] Mac installed base to upgrade."