Whether the next MacBook Air will appear this year or next year, the rumors are not certain. Once expected to debut in the fall with the MacBook Air 2021, Apple may concentrate on the MacBook Pro 2021 and release a new MacBook Air laptop in 2022 instead.

In any case, the slimmest MacBook you can still buy is due for a refresh, if not a redesign. The MacBook Air M1 with its surprisingly high-performance Apple M1 chip is impressive, but its design is hardly cutting edge in the face of products like the Dell XPS 13 OLED.

So we have compiled a list of five things to expect from the next MacBook Air, based on rumors and our own desires.

There is no arguing that the MacBook Air is a nice laptop. Like all MacBooks, the MacBook Air is well-made and has a high-end industrial design. But we've seen that aesthetic for generations now and would like to see a complete overhaul.

For starters, we'd like to see the rumors of more color options come true, as space gray and silver are becoming a bit stale in the Apple product lineup. Given that the latest Surface Laptop 4 comes in a mix of colors, there is no reason why the next MacBook should not. The new MacBook Air design is also said to feature flat edges, similar to the iPad Pro.

We would also like to see more ports on the new MacBook Air. I know Apple wants to stick with USB-C, but doubling the number of ports to four and adding an SD card reader would make Cupertino smile a lot.

Most notably, Apple is trimming down the display bezels. It's very thick compared to Windows 10 laptops like the aforementioned XPS 13. we're not saying Apple needs to crack Dell's InfinityEdge display, but a slimmer bezel and better screen-to-body ratio would tick one of our boxes! It would be a big check.

Speaking of screens, we're hoping for a display upgrade on the upcoming MacBook Air; while it's unlikely to have a mini-LED panel like the iPad Pro 2021 or the rumored MacBook Pro 2021 16-inch, it's at least as likely as the current MacBook Pro M1, we feel it is possible that it will have a screen equivalent to the MacBook Pro M1.

The MacBook Air's current Retina display is not as bright as the MacBook Pro's. Therefore, we would like to see the same 500 nits brightness, but increasing the brightness to 1,000 nits would be even better to help view HRD10 content.

We would also like to see a larger display on the MacBook Air; a 13-inch panel would be fine, but we feel that a 14-inch display could be mounted in a 13-inch chassis if Apple shaved the bezel.

Also, a higher refresh rate would be great, such as a 120Hz panel, to make the entire desktop and gaming experience smoother.

The Apple M2 chip is rumored to be in the new MacBook Air. While the next-generation MacBook Pro will have the more powerful M1X chip, the second-generation Apple silicon slice in the MacBook Air is expected to be more about efficiency than pure power.

Given that the MacBook Air is intended for general computing rather than heavy workloads, targeting efficiency seems like a good idea. As a result, if we can implement a chip that consumes power only when performing simple tasks, the MacBook Air's battery might last a day or longer. This would be rather convenient for those who often work away from a power source.

However, where Apple could increase overall power is the amount of RAM that comes by default in the next MacBook Air; you can get a MacBook Air M1 with 16GB of RAM, but it is an expensive upgrade compared to the default 8GB. But it is an expensive upgrade compared to the default 8GB. But if you open a lot of apps or use browser tabs, especially Chrome, 8GB is not a lot. For this reason, we would like to see the default option set to 16GB.

We hope MagSafe charging will return to the new MacBook Air.

MagSafe was not only a better way to connect the charging cable compared to the USB-C charging that the previous generation MacBook Air now has, but also meant that the Air was less likely to fly off the table to the ground if the charging cable was bumped or tripped This was the case.

I don't expect Apple to bring back the dedicated MagSafe charging port, but Cupertino engineers could find a way to integrate it into the USB-C port.

There is no denying that Apple's decision in late 2019 to discontinue the controversial butterfly mechanism keyboard that the MacBook has used for nearly five years was a wise move. However, the return to the scissor key mechanism definitely failed to hit the high points of the original tactile keyboard on pre-2015 MacBooks.

So for the next MacBook Air, we hope Apple improves the keyboard, especially the tactile typing experience; a 1.5mm of travel and snappy response like the Surface or Dell XPS 13 would be ideal.

Of course, Apple could go to the extreme and use one of its patents to create a virtual keyboard. That would get our attention, but probably not the most practical typing experience. So we would settle for an overall improved and refined keyboard.

None of these proposed changes, upgrades, and tweaks to the new MacBook Air are extreme. And we believe they are within Apple's reach and more realistic than a MacBook Air with a touchscreen. We hope Cupertino really takes a scalpel to the MacBook Air and tweaks it a bit. Because if the tweaks work out, the new Air might just top our best laptops list.