Apple might have slowed down their innovations a bit lately, but the company still knows how to release a quality product, as well as generate hype about what they’re doing. Recently, the MacBook Air Retina Display has been enjoying a lot of attention from tech geeks, and the reason should be clear just from the device’s name – it will feature Apple’s famous “Retina Display” technology, this time on a 12 inch screen, according to reports.
The name “Retina Display” is just a marketing term of course, and the reality is that screens under this branding typically feature an extremely high resolution, much higher than standard laptop/desktop screens, while still having a regular screen size. As a result, these screens tend to have a very high pixel density, which makes their picture much sharper and clearer compared to a regular display.
The point, according to Apple’s previous statements about the technology, is to develop a screen where users can’t even see the pixels unless they look really close, and they’ve managed to pull that off quite well with previous devices that have used “Retina” technology.
The MacBook Air is a special device on its own, being Apple’s lightest entry into the laptop market, and a device marketed entirely around its size and weight. It’s a very thin, light model, which in its new edition will sport a 12 inch display, according to reports (as opposed to the standard 11.6 and 13.3 inch displays featured in previous models).
There have also been reports that the device will get a drastic overall redesign, although it wasn’t made clear what that will involve precisely. It’s rumored that Apple are internally calling the device the “MacBook Stealth”, and it will remove the standard-sized USB ports, as well as the MagSafe connector and SD card slot.
Instead, users will find a new reversible USB Type-C port, a headphone jack and two microphones as the only openings on the device, as Apple have apparently taken an even more minimalistic approach with its physical design. Most users seem to agree that there isn’t much need for a large number of USB ports on a laptop, and a USB hub can usually fix that problem in most cases anyway, so the reduction of the number of ports has actually been a welcome change for most.
Apple are also expected to officially showcase the Apple Watch during the week, and there has been speculation that they will also take the opportunity to talk a little about the new MacBook Air Retina Display. This hasn’t been confirmed officially so far, but there are several sources pointing in that direction.