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Is Apple about to launch a totally redesigned, 12-inch MacBook Air?

Is Apple about to launch a totally redesigned, 12-inch MacBook Air?

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Codename: MacBook Stealth

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Every year, Apple does some counterprogramming at CES. This year, whether it meant to or not, it may have some big news: 9to5Mac has some new details that say there's a 12-inch MacBook Air with a completely new design, a higher-resolution display, and few of the trappings we've come to expect from a MacBook Air.

Here's Mark Gurman at 9to5Mac:

Apple is preparing an all-new MacBook Air for 2015 with a radically new design that jettisons standards such as full-sized USB ports, MagSafe connectors, and SD card slots in favor of a markedly thinner and lighter body with a higher-resolution display. Sources within Apple, who have used internal prototype versions of the upcoming computer, have provided in-depth details about the machine, and our exclusive artist renditions of the revamped MacBook Air provide the first close look at Apple’s first major step in mobile Mac computing since the Retina MacBook Pro launch in 2012.

According to Gurman's sources, there are a number of other changes as well. The function keys and arrow keys have been redesigned, and the keyboard sits completely edge to edge on the palmrest. It's smaller and narrower, apparently, and the trackpad doesn't have the same clicking feedback. Of course, let's be clear: these are leaks and sources, who are often working with incomplete and occasionally incorrect information. Things also change, a lot, between leaks and release. But also, Mark Gurman has a long history of being right.

These photos, too, are not real. They are renderings, guesses as to what the Macbook might be. But if these sources are right, confirming rumors we've been hearing for months and years — of a lighter, thinner, higher-res MacBook Air — 2015 could be a big year for Apple's laptops.

MacBook Air 12-inch

Read next: 12-inch MacBook review.