Apple Inc. is reportedly planning to launch a “radical” new 12 inch Macbook Air that is so small that it abandons a standard USB port for the small, new USB-C.

According to 9to5Mac, usually a reliable source of Apple news, the “radically new” design jettisons usual Macbook Air standards such as full-sized USB ports, MagSafe connectors, and SD card slots in place of “a markedly thinner and lighter body with a higher-resolution display.”

The site quotes sources within Apple, who are said to have used internal prototype versions of the upcoming laptop.

The new 12-inch MacBook Air is said to be considerably smaller than the current 13-inch version, yet (and perhaps remarkably) also slightly narrower than the already seriously thin 11-inch model. To fit the new size it’s claimed that the bezel on the screen has been also seriously reduced.

Other revamps include all aspects of the unibody from the keyboard to the trackpad to the speakers being changed. The new keyboard is said to sit edge-to-edge across the width of the laptop, and in a move that will possibly annoy some, the key set has been subtly redesigned so that the keys sit closers together.

Allegedly the working name for the new laptop in Apple’s Cupertino head quarters is “Macbook Stealth” but it will likely be launch as part of the Macbook Air lineup.

It has been years since Steve Jobs launched the first Macbook Air by demonstrating that it could fit in a brown inter-office envelope. That Apple is trying to make it smaller again is reminiscent of the pre-smart phone mobile phone market, where companies were trying to outdo each other with smaller, and more compact phones. The move seems logical: there’s no other way for Apple to innovate on a product that is already a market leader in terms of form factor and design, although we’re likely still a few years off from having a Macbook Air that will literally be about as thin as a piece of paper.

Image credit: Apple.