Cellular connectivity and Face ID planned for future Macs

5g Iphone
5g Iphone (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Apple has developed the underlying support for cellular connectivity in its Macs.
  • It could mean MacBooks of the future would work over 4G or even 5G.
  • Apple also has plans to bring Face ID to Mac, but it will take some time.

A new report says Apple has plans to bring cellular connectivity and Face ID to Macs of the future.

In a report about Apple's new upcoming MacBook Air, Mark Gurman notes the following:

Apple has also developed underlying Mac support for both cellular connectivity — the ability for Macs to connect to the internet via smartphone networks — and Face ID, the company's facial recognition system. But neither feature appears to be coming soon. To that end, Face ID had originally been planned to arrive in this year's iMac redesign, but it's now unlikely to be included in the first iteration of the new design.

The comment comes as part of a larger report about Apple's brand new upcoming MacBook Air, which could debut as soon as later this year. From the earlier report:

From Bloomberg's Mark Gurman:Apple Inc. is working on a thinner and lighter version of the MacBook Air, the company's mass-market laptop, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The new computer is planned to be released during the second half of this year at the earliest or in 2022. It will include Apple's MagSafe charging technology and a next-generation version of the company's in-house Mac processors. Apple has discussed making the laptop smaller by shrinking the border around the screen, which will remain 13-inches. The current model weighs 2.8 pounds and is just over half an inch at its thickest point.The headlines; the new MacBook Air will be both thinner and lighter and could debut as early as the second half of 2021. It will feature MagSafe and next-generation Apple silicon processors. Apple could make the laptop's bezels smaller to reduce the form factor, but the display will remain at 13-inches

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design.

Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9