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15-Inch MacBook Air Demand Reportedly 'Weaker Than Expected' So Far

As someone who wanted the 15” MBA so badly to come it was a HUGE disappointment.

I wanted 80% of the power of the 16” MBP in the 15” MBA. Dell XPS 15” with NVIDIA is killing the thin & light space right now among other brands.

If the 15” MBA came with M2 Pro and more GPU cores, it would’ve sold like hot cakes. Instead it’s much slower with less battery life!

Also:

- Screen brightness is horrible
- No WiFi 6E
 
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mikethebigo said:
I don't know if my opinion is a majority or not... but I will not spend that much money on a computer with a 60hz, scaled display. It's really time for those displays to get better.
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It's just one compromise after another for the price, that's why I won't consider it, it will be either the M3 14" OR 16 "
 
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Smartuser said:
"[...] some Apple suppliers have requested a reduction in 15-inch MacBook Air shipments."

Why would suppliers, who make money from what they supply to Apple, request a reduction in shipments?


You profess to be a "normal user", but you're anything but. You're tech-oriented and you post in a Mac forum.

As has been discussed here time and again, 8/256 configurations are enough for 95% (I'd even contend 99%) of regular people's use cases outside of professional video, programming and similar things.
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🤣 You seem to like to make bold assumptions, without having the facts to back them up.
By your own definition, you're not a normal user if you're on here, so how would you know what a normal user's needs are, never mind 99% of them?
I'm not a pro user by any stretch of the imagination, just browsing, word documents & content, I do like quality and I guess, I could be described as a "just in case" buyer 😊
I am an Apple user and I'm on this forum, so that I can be informed, you'd be surprised how much money I've saved or not made poor purchases, by being on a forum like this. Being an Apple enthusiast does not make someone a pro user 😊
 
I think people now are not in a position to spend a lot of money (if any at all) and are looking at true value in their purchasing decision. If they do buy now they want to know that it will be good enough a few years from now, because the economic outlook looks troubling and prices for everything have been increasing faster than their earnings.
 
lazyrighteye said:
Agree: Too... Many... Options. I'd love to see Apple return to a 2-tiere offering - consumer & prosumer - across the board. Simply offer two starting points, configure as needed. While it won't happen (we have Maxes and Pluses and Ultras and Airs and Studios and Pros and SEs and minis and...), it would greatly reduce friction for the shopper. The current offerings are unnecessarily convoluted and confusing - very 90's Microsoft of Apple. I'm no retail Jedi, but I'm pretty sure convoluted and confusing are less than ideal for facilitating transactions. Regardless, Apple seems to be doing pretty good without my sage perspective. 🤪😂

All of that aside, two days ago I picked up a 15" MBA 16/1 TB in space gray. I am between gigs and realized my mid-2014 MBP was no longer functional (trackpad **** the bed, tons of rainbow spinning ball of death, etc). For my current needs (writing, Creative Cloud, etc.), it is perfect: svelte, capable, fun. While maybe not as in-demand as expected, it is an undeniably gorgeous and laughably capable machine (and completely silent). The culmination of decades of learnings. Reminds me of the same refinement in my space gray iPad mini 6 (yes, screen could be better). The pair is pretty solid combo.
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I suspect even the M1 Air would be fantastic compared to the 2014 MBP 😊
 
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CarAnalogy said:
Exactly. Apple's upgrade pricing vs base model continues to be ridiculous. Also a lot of the demand that would have gone to this is, as you implied, already soaked up by the 14" base model.

After getting a 13 Pro I had to have ProMotion on everything else because now 60 Hz displays look broken to me. Apple really needs to get on the higher refresh rate bandwagon on even the base models. Performance and size-wise a 15" Air would be fine for me but I can't even consider it because of that low refresh rate.
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Just one more reason, why the demand is not great
 
Ethosik said:
I think Apple needs to focus a bit on the high end instead. The base M1 still beats anything on the Windows side at that price point. What we need is for Apple to treat their pros better again. It will cause a domino effect on macOS if people move to Windows since an i9-13900k and a 4090 smoke Apple with even a $6,000 markup.
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Only whilst plugged in and with ray tracing in metal applications 😊 However, you're right the M2 Pro's are underwhelming as and upgrade and Apple should do much better with the GPU's and Ray Tracing in particular
 
I was interested in a 15" air, but just think it needs a little better screen and... m3. with its release mid cycle, it feels a bit late. needs the refresh. apple should have delivered it when the m2 smaller airs came.

needs to start with 16gb ram, not have to pay extra.
 
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That’s because people like me who were waiting on the long rumored 15” MBA bought the 13” M2 MBA.

Can’t afford to waste money changing my computer now just to increase the screen size. The M2 13” and 15” MBA should have came out simultaneously.

And also people are probably now waiting on M3.
 
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4odomi said:
The main issue is the base configuration, No one in their right mind will be purchasing 8gb 256gb any more, I'm just a normal user and 256gb is too small for me, I can live with 8gb at the moment, however even I know I need 16gb for future proofing. At £1700 for that config, it's just not good value, compared to 14" Pro.
The next issue is the M2 chip, basically it's just an over clocked M1 with the addition of a media engine, (most buyers of this machine aren't creators), so most buyers like me are waiting for the M3 chip. Consumers these days are too smart to fall for the usual hype.
The final issue is; once you get past the bigger screen, it's compromised at every level compared to the Pro's... Screen, speakers, Pro Motion, Camera, IO's.
Like I said, I'm just a normal user not a pro and the only upgrade I'm considering is the M3 14" or 16" pro.
Once you you get to 16gb & 512gb the 15" is just not value for money.
I said from day one, it was not as good as the hype and these sales figures don't surprise me.
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You shouldn’t compare it to the Pro. The speakers are very good for its size and the 1080p webcam is good too. The M2 chip is a different iteration of the A series, not merely an overclocked M1. M3 might offer some battery/heat improvements but I don’t think it’s going to be revolutionary.
 
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