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13-Inch vs. 15-Inch MacBook Air Buyer's Guide

Since the Macbook Air 15" only has two USB ports (Thunderbolt 3/USB-C), a dock is a obligatory addition for many. Here's a pretty extensive artice about docks. What do you think would be a good/the best choice?
 
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sw1tcher said:
2008 13" MacBook Air specs

Height: 0.16 inches to 0.76 inches
Width: 12.8 inches
Depth: 8.94 inches
Weight: 3.0 lbs (1.36 kg)

2023 13" MacBook Air specs

Height: 0.44 inch (1.13 cm)
Width: 11.97 inches (30.41 cm)
Depth: 8.46 inches (21.5 cm)
Weight: 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg)


The current 13-inch MacBook Air has less width, depth and weight than original MacBook Air. The original MacBook Air might have been thinner (0.16 inch) in some areas, but it also was thicker (0.76 inch) in others compared to the all-around thickness of 0.44 inch now.
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Helpful rundown. Thanks for posting it. My mainstay Mac is a 2015 13” MBA. Turns out it is almost exactly halfway between the current 13” and 15” MBAs!

….. ……….. 13” now …. 13” then…..15” now
Width……..11.97 … vs. … 12.8 ..… vs. .….. 13.4
Depth………8.46 … vs. .…. 8.94 ….. vs. ...… 9.35
Weight….….2.7 .… vs. ….… 3 …..…. vs. ….… 3.3

Leaves me in a quandary. Do I go 15” or 13” for the replacement?

Lots more screen real estate with the 15”, which would be good, but would it be worth the much greater width, depth, and weight? And, $200+ more?

The 2015 13” MBA already teeter-totters a bit on the lap. However, once one's palms are on it, it balances better.

Maybe a 14” MBP is the compromise — only 12.3 across, 8.71 deep, but 3.5 pounds! Ouch! Yet, all those ports! But the expense! Almost $500 more. Double ouch!

The 13.6” M2 MBA looks pretty good in these comparisons!

——————————

Elsewhere, I noted that the average height of the older 13” (~.4”) is significantly less than that of the current 13” MBA with its MBP-design language (.44”)!
 
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Saturn007 said:
(...) but 3.5 pounds! Ouch! Yet, all those ports! But the expense! Almost $500 more.
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The Macbook Air 15" is 3.3 pounds (only 0.2 less than a MBP 14").
A Macbook Pro 14" 512GB/16GB is $1.999
A Macbook Air 15" 512GB/16GB is $1.699
For $300 more you get a whole lot more computer.
 
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Can't wait for a teardown. I wouldn't be surprised, with identical specs, if Apple somehow put the MBA 13" system board in the 15" chassis and filled in the extra space with more battery. Cheaper that way.
 
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Max_G said:
The Macbook Air 15" is 3.3 pounds (only 0.2 less than a MBP 14").
A Macbook Pro 14" 512GB/16GB is $1.999
A Macbook Air 15" 512GB/16GB is $1.699
For $300 more you get a whole lot more computer.
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When deals on the M1 Pro 14" for $1500 come and go, that's $200 LESS and still a better computer than the MBA 15.
 
KPOM said:
Most users won't notice the difference between the 8- and 10-core GPUs, but it is nice that Apple is including the higher specs in the base 15" model.
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They did something similar with the 14”/16” MBPs, probably to better drive the larger screens.
 
ccsicecoke said:
No new tech on 15 MBA.
Missing tons of features/ports.
MSRP should be below $1000
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LOL, what rock have you been living under.

Saw a Tesla plaid the other day. same design as orginal, missing a ton of features (I wont elaborate) and a bed, MSRP should be under $20K.
 
Plus sales tax. So $330 in some places. (In the UK VAT is a stupid 20%…., that’s why higher spec models are so much more expensive than lower specs).

Whoever the product manager for laptops is now at Apple, they did a great job at defining and pricing their Air and Pro Models.
 
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cube4ever said:
I was tempted but since I use it mainly with a LG 5k monitor, I went with the maxed-out 13" today.
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Which monitor do you use?

I need guidance. I am struggling to get back into the Mac desktop ecosystem.

I have an aging 27" iMac (home) and use a dual monitor display Windows Dell desktop at work.

I have the option to go Mac at work, but don't want a 24" iMac and not sure how "non-Apple/Studio" displays would work with something like a MBA or even the Mac Mini M2 Pro ... Why doesn't Apple make a "non-Studio Regular Joe/Jill" monitor.

Ideally, I would love to maintain the dual 27 monitors (work) but go back to the Mac ecosystem. 😵
 
How do the speaker and display compare to the 16" MBP? I just bought a 16" MBP 6 days ago and I'm considering returning it for this, but won't do it if the speakers and display are far worse. A similar spec'd 15" MBA with 16/1TB is $1,000 less than the pro.
 
It will be interesting to see teardowns of how this is built, how it compares to the 13", and how many parts they share (which I assume is basically everything besides the display assembly, bottom case, and battery park).

So far, it appears most assume the 15" MacBook Air's battery was embiggened to fill out the extra available space from the larger bottom case size, that extra space just so happened to result in the same battery life as the 13". I'm wondering if Apple embiggened the battery only to the extent needed to match the 13" and there's some unused space in there a-la the Apple Silicon Mac Mini.

Also, it will be interesting to see if the 15" has a custom logic board or it's just the same logic board as the 13", sitting in a bigger case (again like the Apple Silicon Mac Mini).
 
qacjared said:
It will be interesting to see teardowns of how this is built, how it compares to the 13", and how many parts they share (which I assume is basically everything besides the display assembly, bottom case, and battery park).

So far, it appears most assume the 15" MacBook Air's battery was embiggened to fill out the extra available space from the larger bottom case size, that extra space just so happened to result in the same battery life as the 13". I'm wondering if Apple embiggened the battery only to the extent needed to match the 13" and there's some unused space in there a-la the Apple Silicon Mac Mini.

Also, it will be interesting to see if the 15" has a custom logic board or it's just the same logic board as the 13", sitting in a bigger case (again like the Apple Silicon Mac Mini).
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Pretty much just said the same thing in Post #57

I think the word you're looking for is "enlarged", btw... 😉
 
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racer1441 said:
This is the "pro" argument all over again. It's not a real computer if you aren't running 16gb of memory. There are lots of pros out there that aren't playing around with drawings and video. People running companies off of iPads isn't unheard of. The whole attitude about 8gb vs 16gb is insane to me. It's like telling the mom looking for a car to get the family around in she should be buying the mustang not the outback.
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i think that's a bad comparison you making, using car analogy, 8gb would be the 2 door mustang and 16gb would be anything else more than a coupe. unless you planning on selling the mustang in 2-3 years time, more memory only makes sense since OS and apps are only going to take more ram. Os ventura alone already takes up 2-3gb, so you realistically only have 5-6gb of ram for everything else, in my opinion that is extremely frugal computer usage consider its a 1300 dollar laptop.
 
thehunted said:
i think that's a bad comparison you making, using car analogy, 8gb would be the 2 door mustang and 16gb would be anything else more than a coupe. unless you planning on selling the mustang in 2-3 years time, more memory only makes sense since OS and apps are only going to take more ram. Os ventura alone already takes up 2-3gb, so you realistically only have 5-6gb of ram for everything else, in my opinion that is extremely frugal computer usage consider its a 1300 dollar laptop.
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M1 with 8GB base has been out for almost 3 years. I don't see a lot of blowback from M1 owners w/8GB memory complaining that their MacBooks and Mini's are unusable now. Do you?
 
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I would love a m2 Mac, but spending 2k on a laptop that cannot handle dual 1080p screens is a dealbreaker for me. I’ll wait another year for the 3rd time, and see if maybe windows will entice me to switch.
 
Klagarde said:
I would love a m2 Mac, but spending 2k on a laptop that cannot handle dual 1080p screens is a dealbreaker for me. I’ll wait another year for the 3rd time, and see if maybe windows will entice me to switch.
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You could buy a (refurbished) Macbook Pro 14". See comment 56.
 
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arggg14 said:
How do the speaker and display compare to the 16" MBP? I just bought a 16" MBP 6 days ago and I'm considering returning it for this, but won't do it if the speakers and display are far worse. A similar spec'd 15" MBA with 16/1TB is $1,000 less than the pro.
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Screen isn’t as good, regular LED not mini LED, speakers wont be as good, but still better than the 13" Air. The MBA isn’t similarly specced since it is less powerful with fewer ports; I will say that having a usb port on the right is really handy for charging depending on where I sit even though I primarily use MagSafe. If you are unsure, a grand is a lot of money, so return the MBP until you can see the Air in person because better and worse are subjective and you might find the Air’s speakers and screen acceptable considering the money you can save.
 
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