Apple killed the 12” MacBook last year – the product hadn’t received any hardware update for almost two years. In 2018, the company unveiled the revamped MacBook Air which basically took the spot held by the 12” MacBook. The Mac laptop line is much simpler now – MacBook Air for basic use and MacBook Pro for any sort of professional work.
Earlier this year, Apple took the wraps off its ARM chips project for the Mac. The company is due to announce a Mac product running on company’s own processor (Apple Silicon). During the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Tim Cook said that the company will start shipping its first ARM based Mac before the end of 2020.
A variety of rumours have suggested that the first Mac to use Apple Silicon could be a new 12” MacBook. It does make sense as the company is pushing its own chips for the performance gains while being efficient. A smaller 12” MacBook could showcase the power and efficiency of the Apple Silicon without requiring any sort of cooling (fans).
The first generation 12” MacBook which released in 2015 was a troubled product. It was expensive and packed very less power; it also did not have any fans for cooling. The company was using first generation of Intel chips that were designed to run without fans for cooling. However, the lacklustre performance could not justify the super high price tag.
Some Apple pundits have pointed out that Apple was probably waiting for Intel to release better chips for use in fan-less laptops and it could be the reason why the 12” MacBook saw no updates for two straight years. At the end or during the waiting period, the company must have begun exploring the option of creating its own ARM chips for use in Mac computers.
