Apple Reportedly Beginning Production of Next-Generation MacBook Air Models

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of Concord Securities today reported to AppleInsider that Apple's manufacturing partners are scheduled to pump out nearly 400,000 units of revamped MacBook Air models this month as the company looks toward a refresh of the popular ultra-thin notebook.

Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo exclusively told AppleInsider that the Mac maker has placed orders for the production of a total of 380,000 Sandy Bridge-based 11.6 and 13.3-inch MacBook Airs this month.

The analyst, whose industry checks have long provided accurate insight into the Cupertino-based company's future hardware plans, notes that roughly 55 percent (or 209,000) of those MacBook Airs will be of the 11.6-inch varieties, which have proven slightly more popular than the 13.3-inch offerings due to their more attractive entry-level price points.

Rumors of a MacBook Air refresh in the near future have been circulating for some time, with rumors dating as far back as mid-February indicating that Apple was planning a June update for the line. Kuo weighed in in late April to say that Apple would begin production of the new models in May, while another claim from last month pegged the refresh for the June-July timeframe.

Apple's new MacBook Air models are expected to be powered by Intel's Sandy Bridge platform, a significant upgrade over the Core 2 Duo processors found in the current models.

Outcome:MacBook Airs did launch in July. We presume this report was correct.