New 12-inch air-cooled MacBook on its way

Apple fans, strap yourself in if you are waiting news of a new, silent 12-inch MacBook.

The news of a new fanless MacBook comes from a previously reliable source on Chinese site, Weiphone.

Along with fanless cooling, the rumoured MacBook will also feature a new trackpad.

The new trackpad will no longer include the clicky, mechanical button system which is currently used. That, in combination with having no fan, should result in near-silent operation.

A 12-inch MacBook would fall neatly ‘twixt the 11 and 13-inch MacBook Air models, and just beneath the 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models – the thing is, at this point no one really knows where this mysterious MacBook will slide in.

Personally, I think that a 12-inch MacBook Air with a thinner bezel could replace the 11-inch size-for-size and then the 13-inch could get the same skinny bezel treatment.

It’s currently unclear exactly how the buttonless trackpad will work, but Apple has filed a patent for a buttonless trackpad which uses multiple sensors and an actuator to mimic clicking a button.

The source also believes that MacBook Air updates are on the way, so you can expect to see Retina Displays across all MacBook Air models.

The iWatch also gets a mention. The source confirms that an iWatch device exists, but it’s still currently in its prototype stage and it’ll be a while before anything is officially announced.