New Apple MacBook Air models tipped for WWDC 2013 – Haswell and faster Wi-Fi set to feature

As well as the near-certain launch of iOS7 at next week’s annual WWDC bash from Apple, the Cupertino company are now being tipped to reveal new hardware at the event. Set to take top billing is a new line up of MacBook Air products for 2013.

So what’s set for inclusion in the slimline new notebooks? For starters, Intel’s latest Haswell 4th-gen Core processors looks a dead-cert, offering improved battery efficiency and double the integrated graphics capabilities of last year’s Ivy Bridge generation.

A dual-microphone system, similar to that seen in the Retina MacBook Pro line-up is also set for inclusion according to 9to5Mac, alongside faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi chips.

What’s looking very unlikely to feature however is Intel’s Thunderbolt 2 technology. Though rumoured for inclusion, Intel revealed today that their new data transfer protocol (capable of 20Gbps speeds) won’t hit mass production until much later this year in time for a 2014 roll-out.

Apple’s 2013 WWDC keynote kicks off on Monday. We’ll bring you all the latest official announcements as they’re delivered then.