[NewsPoster]

Taiwan-based supplier Quanta Computer has entered into "volume" production of Apple's alleged upcoming 12-inch MacBook Air, according to supply chain sources. The laptop is reportedly on track to ship in the first quarter of the year, despite other rumors pointing to the second quarter. The new sources say that Quanta has escalated recruitment efforts in order to speed up production.

The company is in fact said to be planning to hire an extra 30,000 workers, something made more complicated by the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, this year taking place on February 19. As with Christmas in the West, much of southeast Asia shuts down for Lunar New Year celebrations.

The sources add that they expect the new Air to replace the current 11-inch model, while leaving the 13-inch size intact. DigiTimes also suggests that the 12-inch Air will have a Retina display, but recent reports have made no mention of the technology. The MacBook Air is Apple's only major product line without Retina support. DigiTimes has a mixed track record in reporting on Apple speculation.

[lockhartt]

I can't help but wonder, based on the strange commonalities of their descriptions like the four-speaker configuration and the fact that the iPad Plus backplate form photo looks more like a display backplate for a MacBook Air, that the 12" iPad and 12" MacBook Air may be the same product. No way I'm I 100% convinced this is the case... but enough to wonder at the possibility.

[DiabloConQueso]

I'm tellin' ya, I foresee this as being the first Apple-branded laptop that uses an ARM processor -- like you said, some kind of iPad-esque, MacBook Air-esque crossover product.

Like you, I'm not 100% convinced of this either, but definitely enough to entertain the idea.

[Spheric Harlot]

It will be a MacBook Air. It will run the new generation of intel processors (which have JUST been announced). It will also run OS X.

There may well be an iPad "Pro" or whatever at 12" at some point. It will not have an attached keyboard, and it will not run OS X; it will run iOS.

[djbeta]

I would like to think that this is a hybrid... however, I am not sure how Apple could possibly bridge the iOS-Mac OS gap.. too many differences I think.... no file system, for example, in iOS... It's not Apple's style to release a dual-booting type system with clunky interrelation, if any, between them.. I'm not nearly knowledgeable enough to know how/if this might be possible.. anyone have any ideas... I do think that it would be cool if this thing resembled a Yoga.

[Charles Martin]

I have to point out that hybrids haven't done especially well for the PC industry, so I'm not seeing any reason why Apple would go that route. Still, this is one of things I like about Apple: hard to predict.