MacBook Air accounts for 28% of Apple laptop shipments, 15″ version rumored

It’s thin, it’s light, and it makes up nearly a third of Apple’s laptop shipments.

Apple’s MacBook Air ultraportable has seen explosive growth since its summer revamp, and it now makes up 28 percent of Apple’s notebook shipments, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty.

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That’s a big jump over the 8 percent share the MacBook Air held before its latest update, as AppleInsider reports, and it’s a sign that Apple will likely focus more on its ultraportable line in the future. Clearly, consumers are hankering for ultrathin Apple laptops.

The company has long been rumored to be developing a larger version of the Air, and the latest report from Digitimes indicates that Apple is indeed working on something in the 15-inch range. At this point, it’s too early to tell if the 15-inch ultraportable is another Air, or simply a slimmed down version of the MacBook Pro. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some design elements from the Air in Apple’s other laptops soon though — that certainly makes more sense than adding a bigger and heavier model to its ultraportable lineup.

Digitimes says the 15-inch ultrathin laptop could appear as early as the second quarter of next year. If it ends up being another Air model, I wouldn’t hold out much hope for the inclusion of an optical disc drive — Digitimes notes that would be extremely difficult given the thickness restrictions of the Air.