The 12-inch Retina MacBook Air is reported to put in an appearance in the first quarter of 2015. This may be the reason rumors keep surfacing about Quanta Computer, Apple's partner in manufacturing its notebook offerings, which is reportedly recruiting about 30,000 more workers to augment its manpower for the production of the upcoming MacBook Air and, eventually, the Apple Watch. 

Digitimes, citing sources close to Quanta, reported that the new laptop will kill off the existing 11-inch model. The 13-inch MacBook Air, on the other hand, will hang around. The 12-inch Retina MacBook Air will receive a display makeover, where a higher resolution screen will be integrated to the device, just like what Apple did to its recent iPad and iMac offerings. There are also reports that diamond bezels will be trimmed down for a relatively larger display and a more streamlined look. 

The Retina MacBook Air could come in an incredibly slim and light build as speculations suggest that Apple will leave out MagSafe connectors and USB ports for a single USB Type-C port, which will make the USB inputs reversible and therefore easy to use. But Apple is expected to keep the headphone jack and a pair of microphones intact. Stuff TV added that the keyboard will be extended to the edges of its body but will, at the same time, have the keys stick closer together. In addition, the speakers will be moved above the keys and a visible grill will be embedded directly beneath the keyboard, lining up the speaker. 

Lastly, under the upcoming Retina MacBook Air's hood will dwell an all-new energy-efficient Broadwell Core M processor, to which the laptop will owe its thinness as this will eliminate the need for a fan as well as the subtle yet a bit irking sound it makes while it operates. This will also make it more portable than its would-be predecessors.