MagSafe to return to the MacBook Air this year

Abhay Ram
By Abhay Ram - News Editor
MacBook Air (2021) representational image
MacBook Air (2021) representational image

Apple’s upcoming redesigned MacBook Air will feature the good old MagSafe charging port, according to reports obtained by MacRumours. The company is expected to release the next generation MacBook Air in various colours – following the recent design revamp of the iMac. The upcoming MacBook Air will reportedly also ditch the wedge shaped design for a completely flat design – similar to the current generation MacBook Pro.

In January, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that the next generation MacBook Air would have the MagSafe charging capability. Prior to the 2016 MacBook Pro refresh, all Mac laptops shipped with the magnetic charging cord and all the laptops had the MagSafe port except for the ill fated 2015 12” MacBook. It was indeed the 12” MacBook which started the trend of Macs moving to being completely USB-C powered and nothing else.

MacBook Air (2021) representational image

Good days ahead for the Mac

The 12” MacBook also introduced the world to the Butterfly Keyboard which was very troublesome. Apple brought the Butterfly Keyboard mechanism to the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air machines as well overtime but it was so bad that the company had to offer free repair services. However, in November 2019, Apple agreed that the Butterfly Keyboard was a bad move and moved back to using the traditional scissor switch keyboard mechanism and introduced the 16” MacBook Pro – the first machine to ditch the Butterfly Keyboard in favour of the Magic Keyboard (a slightly tweaked scissor switch keyboard mechanism).

Redesigned MacBook Air leaked by Jon Prosser
Redesigned MacBook Air leaked by Jon Prosser

The upcoming MacBook Air refresh will also reportedly feature slightly larger function keys, according to the notorious Apple products leaker Jon Prosser. The size of the function keys will reportedly be in line with all the other keys. On the current generation MacBook Air, the function keys are much shorter compared to the rest of the keys (leaving the arrow keys aside). Based on the renders leaked by Prosser, the TouchID sensor also looks slightly larger.

By Abhay Ram News Editor
Abhay Ram is a News Editor at iLounge. He has been writing about the Apple ecosystem and accessories since 2010. Abhay's work has been featured in various publications. When he's not writing about all things Apple, you can find him playing video games or enjoying a good cup of coffee.