Key news: MacBook Air “thinner and lighter”, iPhone 13 smaller Notch, iOS 14.4 coming soon

We continue to hear much more about Apple’s plans for its Mac line this week, including news of a redesigned next-generation MacBook Air and the return of an SD card slot as part of the new MacBook Pro design. Apple is working on Face ID for Mac, but it will not appear on a redesigned iMac this year, as originally planned.

This week there were also rumors about the iPhone 13 getting a notch smaller, and Apple is almost ready to release a set of operating system updates, including iOS 14.4 and macOS 11.2, as Release Candidate versions of all updates have been sent to developers. other testers this week. Read on for details on all these stories from last week!

Apple working on the next-generation MacBook Air ‘thinner and lighter’ with MagSafe, may be launched in the second half of 2021

Following the rumors of last Friday, BloombergMark Gurman published a new report this week sharing a few more details about Apple’s product plans. Most notably, Gurman says Apple is working on a thinner and lighter MacBook Air that could be launched later this year or next year. The new MacBook Air will include an updated Apple silicon chip, MagSafe charging and perhaps a smaller body enabled by reducing display bezels.

The redesigned MacBook Air is considered a top-of-the-line model that will be sold alongside cheaper models that continue to use the current design. Apple reportedly considered making a 15-inch version of the MacBook Air to go along with the popular 13-inch size, but chose not to advance the model, at least for the next generation.

According to rumors, iPhone 13 features camera stabilization with smaller sensor displacement on all models

Apple plans to combine several Face ID components into one module to allow for at least a slightly smaller notch on iPhone 13 models, according to DigiTimes.

The same report states that Apple plans to extend optical image stabilization with sensor shift to the entire iPhone 13 lineup, compared to just the iPhone 12 Pro Max among current models. The technology stabilizes the camera’s sensor instead of individual lenses for even greater image stabilization. Together with a larger sensor, users can expect even better photo quality.

Earlier this month, DigiTimes said that the LiDAR Scanner will also be expanded to the entire iPhone 13 line, while mmWave 5G is expected to be available on iPhone 13 models sold outside the United States.

IMac facial ID likely to be returned to the second iteration of the new future design

Gurman also shared that while Apple is working on developing Face ID technology for its line of Macs and planning to introduce it to the redesigned iMac that it discussed last week, Apple decided not to include it in the initial release.

In addition, he says Apple has tested the offer of cellular connectivity for its Mac line, but it looks like that won’t happen anytime soon either.

Next MacBook Pro to feature SD card reader

Redesigned MacBook Pro models are also in the works, as reported by Bloomberg last week, and one of the curiosities of this initial report was that the new designs will include more doors than the current models.

This week’s report exposes this statement somewhat, stating specifically that the new MacBook Pro models will include the return of an SD card slot, making it easier for photographers and other users of the popular removable storage standard to directly use the cards on their Macs without the need for a separate card reader.

iOS 14.4 Release Candidate now available

Apple this week seeded the Release Candidate version of iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4 for developers and public beta testers. This release is expected to reflect the final release of software updates soon.

iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4 are relatively minor updates. Apple’s release notes confirm that iOS 14.4 features a notification for when the camera cannot be verified as a genuine new Apple camera on the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, and there are several others bug fixes. The update also improves Handoff functionality with the HomePod mini.

Apple also seeded Release Candidate versions of macOS 11.2, watchOS 7.3 and tvOS 14.4 for testing. All software updates are expected to be released to the public in the near future.

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