Citing anonymous sources, one of these units could be a MacBook that measures 12-inches diagonally, but will be significantly thinner and somewhat lighter than current units, and equipped with a Retina display as well. However, it’s currently unclear whether Apple will refer to this unit as a MacBook Air, or a MacBook Pro. On top of that, the report also claims that Apple may release either a 4K resolution display, or a 4K iMac all in one desktop.
The upcoming release of OS X Yosemite, which features an updated interface, may be part of the driving force behind the development of new high-resolution hardware.
“Those interface elements appear especially optimized on higher-resolution screens, so it makes sense for us to debut new Retina Macs around the time of Yosemite’s release,” an unnamed source said.
While the 12-inch Retina MacBook and the 4k monitor/iMac could be released sometime in the third or fourth quarter of this year, issues with Intel chipsets could push the release of these devices to 2015.
For what it’s worth, the 12-inch Retina MacBook rumor is nothing new. Back in January, we reported that Daniel Matte, an analyst with market research firm Canalys, wrote on his personal blog that Apple could very well choose to introduce a 12-inch (11.88-inch, to be exact) MacBook Air this year with a Retina-like resolution of 2,732 x 1,536. Why these dimensions and this particular screen resolution? Matte noted that an 11.88-inch Retina MacBook Air packing a 2,732 x 1,536 display resolution would have the same exact pixel density of the 9.7-inch 2048 x 1536 Retina iPad, which amounts to 264 pixels per inch, or ppi.
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