Excitement was generated yesterday when it appeared that a 14-inch MacBook Air was one of a number of “hidden product listings” discovered on the website of Apple authorized reseller B&H Photo. However, the company has responded by saying these are not real listings.
Not only were they just pre-event guesses, but they weren’t even guesses for this event …
Background
Things kicked off on Saturday, when listings were spotted for an “M2 Mac mini” and a “Mac mini tower.” When we conducted our own searches of the site the next day, we spotted listings for a 14-inch MacBook Air and a 13-inch MacBook Pro.
With Apple’s WWDC keynote just two days away at the time, many believed that the company had been tipped off about upcoming product announcements.
In both pieces, we were careful to caution that they should not be treated as evidence of the products.
Website listings on Apple authorized resellers are often unreliable indicators. In general, Apple does not share details about its announcements with third-party partners until after the event is over. In the past, retailers have created placeholder pages for all sorts of Apple products that never came to pass […]
It is crucial to treat these product listings with skepticism. Retailers oftentimes prepare product listings for products even while they are still only rumored.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman issued the same caution.
I don’t believe resellers and carriers get any inside info on what’s to come before Apple announces it. Typically details are shared during or just after the keynote from Apple’s team that deals with resellers. Sometimes they’ll get “something’s coming” but not details like this.
To be clear, those machines may very well launch tomorrow. But that doesn’t mean B&H is evidence of that. There are also exceptions to this, but only for minor updates (as in a new iPhone color) and that’s for top tier carrier partners.
B&H confirms the listings aren’t real
B&H’s senior manager of web creative content Shawn C. Steiner has now confirmed that the listings were just placeholder guesses – and not even for today’s keynote!
These aren’t real SKUs. Preemptively made before the last event and not properly removed. All guesses based on rumors.
Which is to say, the listings were created ahead of the March 8 “Peek performance” event at which Apple announced the Mac Studio, Studio Display, and more.
More cynical types were suggesting that B&H leaked the placeholder listings in order to drive traffic to their website.
Hope not over for 14-inch MacBook Air hopefuls
Of course, none of this means that Apple won’t release a 14-inch MacBook Air. A new model is one of the more solid rumors for the event, and with Apple having some time ago switched from 15-inch to 16-inch for the MacBook Pro, then a similar switch from 13-inch to 14-inch for smaller models wouldn’t be a surprise.
Equally, however, it may be that screen size is one of the differentiators as Apple updates the Air.
What we are expecting is a redesign more in keeping with the latest MacBook Pro models, several colors, white bezels, MagSafe, limited ports, and the M2 chip. You can read more about our expectations here.
One rumor that seems unlikely to pan out (for now, at least) is the Air being available in the same colors as the latest iMac.
One of the rumors about the next-generation MacBook Air points to the availability of the new laptop in multiple new colors, similar to the M1 iMac that comes in blue, green, pink, silver, yellow, orange, and purple. However, Gurman now says that these rumors are “probably exaggerated.”
The journalist expects that Apple will keep the same colors as the current generation MacBook Air, which comes in silver, space gray, and gold. However, the new gold will be more like “champagne,” while there’s also the possibility of a new blue model – but nothing beyond that.
We don’t have long to wait until we find out, and we’ll of course be bringing you full details.
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