After M1, Apple seems to have a slew of new feature lineup for future Mac. In a new Bloomberg report, Mark Gurman says future Macs could offer Face ID and 5G cellular connectivity. He also notes that FaceID on Mac was supposed to arrive this year and was delayed due to a new design. The same report also talked about new MacBook Air that could come later this year.

Apple has also developed underlying Mac support for both cellular connectivity — the ability for Macs to connect to the internet via smartphone networks — and Face ID, the company’s facial recognition system. But neither feature appears to be coming soon. To that end, Apple had originally planned face ID to arrive in this year’s iMac redesign, but it’s now unlikely to be included in the first iteration of the new design.

Apple Inc. is working on a thinner and lighter version of the MacBook Air, the company’s mass-market laptop, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The new computer is planned to be released during the second half of this year at the earliest or in 2022. It will include Apple’s MagSafe charging technology and a next-generation version of its in-house Mac processors. Apple has discussed making the laptop smaller by shrinking the border around the screen, which will remain 13-inches. The current model weighs 2.8 pounds and is just over half an inch at its thickest point.

The new MacBook Air is expected to be thinner and lighter. Furthermore, it will feature a MagSafe charger and will be powered by Apple’s latest M1 chip. In all likelihood, Apple might trim the bezels and make the MacBook Air sleeker than ever. That said, it will continue to offer a 13-inch display.

Our Take

Apple has taken the flak for ignoring Mac and only focussing on the hardware upgrade. New features like Touchbar and others have failed to catch up. In other words, the MacBook lineup is very predictable, and we feel that Apple is playing safe. However, the addition of Face ID and 5G connectivity should give users new reasons to upgrade to MacBook.