An Apple 15-inch MacBook Air continues to be heavily rumoured for a release within the next few months, but a new report suggests that anyone hoping for it to sport a new chip will be left disappointed.

Apple hasn't yet confirmed that it is getting ready to release a new 15-inch version of its popular MacBook Air, but rumours continue to swirl. We heard recently that the machine could launch as soon as April 2023, with display analyst Ross Young of the belief that a release is just around the corner.

But if that is indeed true, it now looks increasingly unlikely that the machine will sport the next-generation Apple silicon that some had hoped for. With no M3 chip now expected, it looks more likely that the 15-inch MacBook Air will use an M2-series chip instead.

MacRumors reports that a paywalled DigiTimes report claims that not only is the 15-inch MacBook Air ready for an imminent announcement, but also that it is already in production.

"Industry sources said the 15-inch MacBook Air began mass production after the Lunar New Year and is expected to be released in the second quarter," the report claims. The Lunar New Year was on 22 January 2023.

If that is indeed the case then the machine will likely use the M2 chips that we already know about, whether that is the base model M2 as is the case with the 13-inch MacBook Air, or something else. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had previously claimed that the M2 Pro chip would be used, although he had also suggested that the machine might not carry the "Air" moniker at all. Instead, it could simply be called the "MacBook."

Notably, the same DigiTimes report believes that Apple could update the MacBook Air again in the second half of 2023, adding the new M3 chips in the process. But that seems unlikely given the chances of Apple updating the same lineup twice within a matter of months.