Tim Cook Says ‘There’s Something in the Air’ This Week
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Apple CEO Tim Cook has recently been on a roll with new product teasers. First came his “newest member of the family” tweet hinting at what turned out to be the iPhone 16e. Now he’s shared another post on X that’s considerably more on the nose.
Unlike the February 13 post, which provided little to go on besides a shimmering Apple logo, today’s teaser is a dead giveaway for what we can expect, with a video clip telling us “There’s Something in the Air.”
However, the timeline is less specific, with Cook specifying only “This week,” compared to the earlier post which gave a set date of February 19.
Of course, the “newest member of the family” post turned out to be a hint that the successor to the budget iPhone SE would indeed join the iPhone 16 family. Although this aligned with a couple of rumors we’d already heard before, those came from less reliable sources than usual, so it still wasn’t entirely what Cook was getting at until the iPhone 16e was finally unveiled a week later
While Apple’s latest entry-level iPhone was a surprise worthy of Cook’s cryptic teaser, the “Air” reference almost certainly points to a new M4 MacBook Air. Between Apple’s latest release timeline and the rumor mill, that product is pretty much a given at this point.
The M3 MacBook Air was more quietly released 364 days ago, on March 4, 2024. Not only are we due for an M4 refresh, but there’s a very real possibility Apple might choose to release it tomorrow to give the cycle a certain synergy. The M3 MacBook Pro and M4 MacBook Pro lineups were announced on October 30, 2023 and October 30, 2024, respectively. It would be quite a lark if the M4 MacBook Pro also comes out one year to the day after its predecessor (who says Apple can’t be whimsical).
Either way, it’s definitely the right week for it. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has been saying it’s just around the corner for a few weeks now, and in yesterday’s Power On newsletter he said the M4 MacBook Air unveiling is “imminent.”
There’s also a lot less mystery surrounding the M4 MacBook Air. By all reports, it will be another spec bump upgrade, taking the design of the current M3 version and dropping in the more powerful M4 chip. As usual, don’t expect higher-end M4 versions, as the MacBook Air remains the entry-level machine. However, unlike last year’s release which opened at 8 GB, the M4 MacBook Air is guaranteed to start with at least 16 GB of RAM after Apple retroactively bumped the base memory in even its oldest M2 MacBook Air last fall.
The only real question mark on the M4 MacBook Air is what Apple will do with the front-facing camera. The M4 MacBook Pro got a bump to a 12 megapixel (MP) Center Stage camera, so there’s a possibility the new MacBook Air could follow suit, as it’s shared the same camera specs with the Pro models since it was redesigned in 2022. It could also similarly follow in the footsteps of the base M4 MacBook Pro by gaining a third Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) port.
While there’s no doubt the “Air” teaser points to an M4 MacBook Air, there’s also been some speculation that Apple may also plan to unveil a new iPad Air. That product is also on the horizon, but Gurman says it’s unlikely to arrive in the next few days. The current M2 MacBook Air was unveiled in May 2024, so it feels a bit early for a sequel, whereas the M4 MacBook Air is right on schedule.
