Apple is reportedly planning to drop all full-size USB ports from its 2015 12-inch MacBook Air in order to slim down the device and add new features.

Various rumors have been making rounds recently in regards to Apple's MacBook plans for this year, and the company is expected to come up with exciting new products in 2015. Most of the recent rumors have focused on a redesigned MacBook that would ditch the fan and the physical trackpad keys, but now a new report claims to have more information on a 12-inch MacBook Air to launch this year.

More specifically, Apple-centric publication 9to5Mac reports that the next-generation 12-inch MacBook Air will lose the full-sized USB ports in favors of new features such as a keyboard that goes all the way across its body, as well as a new display with a higher resolution. Moreover, the new MacBook Air will reportedly be thinner and lighter than ever.

Apple is expected to start shipping its next-generation MacBook Air sometime in mid-2015, and various reports already indicate that the company is getting closer to mass producing the device. It remains unclear at this point just how much this 12-inch MacBook Air will cost, but more information will surely surface in the near future.

"Apple is preparing an all-new MacBook Air for 2015 with a radically new design that jettisons standards such as full-sized USB ports, MagSafe connectors, and SD card slots in favor of a markedly thinner and lighter body with a higher-resolution display," 9to5Mac explains. "Sources within Apple, who have used internal prototype versions of the upcoming computer, have provided in-depth details about the machine, and our exclusive artist renditions of the revamped MacBook Air provide the first close look at Apple's first major step in mobile Mac computing since the Retina MacBook Pro launch in 2012."

Moreover, this purported 12-inch MacBook Air will reportedly employ some new type of USB port that will allow it to drop all of the other ports found in the current MacBook Air models, except for the headphone port.

Apple has reportedly revamped the entire body of this 12-inch MacBook Air, changing the keyboard, trackpad, and speakers, in addition to the ports.

Keep in mind, however, that Apple has yet to offer any official information in this regards, which means that it all remains in the rumor state at this point. As always in such cases, take all leaks, rumors and reports with a hefty grain of salt.