Apple to upgrade MacBook Air with Thunderbolt I/O and Intel SandyBridge by July

Apple is due to launch its MacBook Air line-up of ultra-thin laptop upgrade with SandyBridge platform and Thunderbolt interface by July.

DigiTimes reported that the new 11.3 and 13.3-inch laptops from the Apple camp will be ready for shipping by late May.

Main supply chain makers for the new models remain about the same as for the existing MacBook Air, with Quanta Computer solely responsible for assembly, Catcher Technology supplying casings, Auras Technology a main supplier of thermal modules, Shin Zu Shing supplying hinges, and Simplo Technology and Dynapack supplying batteries, the sources pointed out. However, none of the makers have confirmed their participation in making new MacBook Airs, DigiTimes reported.

In February Apple updated its MacBook Pro line-up of laptops with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors Thunderbolt I/O, AMD Radeon HD Graphics and FaceTime HD camera. Apple speaking about the Thunderbolt technology said: Developed by Intel with collaboration from Apple, Thunderbolt enables expandability never before possible on a notebook computer. Featuring two bi-directional channels with transfer speeds up to an amazing 10Gbps each, Thunderbolt delivers PCI Express directly to external high performance peripherals such as RAID arrays, and can support FireWire and USB consumer devices and Gigabit Ethernet networks via adapters.

The Light Peak/Thunderbolt allows users to connect multiple devices with a single cable and transmits data at a speed of up to 10Gbps data from various devices. Apple states that the Thunderbolt I/O technology allows a user to daisy-chain up to six new peripherals - such as the Promise Pegasus RAID or LaCie Little Big Disk1 - plus an Apple LED Cinema Display.

On May 3, Apple announced upgrades to its iMac line-up of desktops. The upgrade included Sandy Bridge chips, Thunderbolt I/O, new Radeon HD graphics processor and in-built FaceTime HD camera.

Thus in a line-up of these upgrades, a possible upgrade to MacBook Airs is imminent.

Apple unveiled its ultra-thin range of MacBook Air's in Oct. 2010. Available in 11-inch and 13-inch models, the laptops weigh 2.3 pounds and 2.9 pounds respectively. The 11-inch model measures quite thin, 0.11-inches at its thinnest point and 0.68-inches at its thickest. Both the models use a solid state flash storage.

DigiTimes report puts to rest an earlier rumor from SemiAccurate which stated that Apple is due to move its new line of laptops and possibly desktops to ARM-based chips.