YouTubers like Luke Miani have been pushing for the 15 inch Air but I wondered how many ordinary folk would actually splash for it.
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15-Inch MacBook Air Demand Reportedly 'Weaker Than Expected' So Far
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"[...] 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?
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.
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.
I would’ve already bought one if they would stop gouging so much for the SSD and RAM upgrades
They continue to turn me off with unbelievably over priced upgrade pricing
They continue to turn me off with unbelievably over priced upgrade pricing
My mom and sister upgraded from a 13” MBA11 to the 13” MBA23 and are quite pleased with the newer unit as it’s a huge step up from their older unit.
Best part is the external dimensions of new unit are only a bit larger than than on the 2011; trading wide bezels for big Retina display was a good move.
They went with the full spec 24/2T (in starlight) just to futureproof it.
Best part is the external dimensions of new unit are only a bit larger than than on the 2011; trading wide bezels for big Retina display was a good move.
They went with the full spec 24/2T (in starlight) just to futureproof it.
Careful. "Weaker demand than expected" does not mean "Weak demand".
I believe there's strong demand for this product, but maybe Apple set its expectations too high.
But yes, as others said, it got released with a chip that is already 1 year old. Put an M3 chip in this and maybe lower RAM and SSD upgrade prices just a bit and boom. It'll sell like hot cakes.
I believe there's strong demand for this product, but maybe Apple set its expectations too high.
But yes, as others said, it got released with a chip that is already 1 year old. Put an M3 chip in this and maybe lower RAM and SSD upgrade prices just a bit and boom. It'll sell like hot cakes.
For the base use case of a Macbook Air, the M1 chip remains plenty. And the M2 13" was already released. The question is - how many people that needed/wanted a Apple Silicon laptop were waiting for this specific model? It is very expensive to switch out of a current Apple silicon laptop to a new one when all of the Apple silicon computers released so far work great.
^ this is it
Apple’s game of bending you over the pole for simple Ram and SSD upgrades is worn out and tired
Probably because everyone interested didn’t have time to wait around and already bought the m2 air 13” … maybe if it came out the same date as the new m2 air 13 they would have seen a more even split in sales.
I would assume "normies" don't care what CPU is inside so long as it's not outdated (it isn't - the M2 is the latest chip available in the Air) and performs well for what they (think they) need.
Homer Simpson talked into buying an M3 Pro ....
I have a feeling that "It's the same computer astronauts use to do their taxes" is going to find use in the next "Is xGB of RAM enough" thread...
I love mine. I downgraded from the 16 MBP M1 Pro to it.
Apple has done inexplicable things before, but no one is going to buy a 15” M2 Air after the M3 drops in the 13” model when they’re not even doing so right now at parity. Apple may let it languish, but it will entirely be their fault this time and not something they can blame on outside factors such as Intel’s product launch cadence.
Note that Apple did launch the iPad 4 only 8 months after the iPad 3, so there is precedent.
This is actually the most coherent lineup we’ve had in some time with one exception:
The Air lineup is the 13”/15” setup the Mac notebooks previously always were and they screen bumped the Pros up to 14”/16”.
That part actually makes sense and the expectation for sales for the newer 15” Air are likely high because before this you either had to compromise and go with the 13” just due to sheer cost to go up to a larger 14” or 16” Pro screen, which would hike the price up to $2000. While you do have some people that would make that jump from $999-$1099 to $2000 and screen size was the primary motivator, to pay double for a product just because there was one feature you “couldn’t live without” [really] doesn’t make for the most satisfying purchase. It was likely more common to get customers that just grin and beared with the smaller screen (at the cost of lower product satisfaction) or worse went with a competitors product.
The part of the lineup that doesn’t make sense is the 13” M2 MacBook Pro. You could argue that, similar to the iPhones, they’re keeping out a previous generation model. And that claim makes sense for the 13” Air with it being M1, but then they spec-bumped the 13” Pro to M2 with the 14”/16” and, although there are some differences, the jump from $1299/$1499 for the 13” Pro M2 to $1999/2499 for the 14” Pro M2 just seems incoherent — as does the $100 price difference to jump from 13” M1 Air to 13” M2 Air. For a 10% difference in price most people would just bite the bullet and buy the newer generation of product. The sale price that Best Buy has the M1 Air at currently ($749) makes more sense and would actually make Apple more competitive with mid range PCs and Chromebooks although historically they’ve never priced anything at -$49 so you’d likely get $799-$899.
Going back to the 13” Pro M2 this model jumps up 35% from base model (256GB) 13” M2 Pro to 14” M2 Pro (base) and while you could argue you’re getting more storage on the base 14” so you should be comparing the “upgraded” 13” M2 Pro (with 512GB) that price point is still a $500 (or 25%) difference in price. The pricing on the Pro side needs a lot of work because it’s very tone deaf. And if both the Air and Pro have M2s, there’s ways that the Pro is actually a more expensive downgrade (ie worse camera quality (720p vs 1080p), smaller screen (13.3 v 13.6), no MagSafe so less connectivity since you’re losing a USB-C to charge) so this again doesn’t make sense either.
What likely didn’t help was staggering the launch of the 15” which again creates buyers remorse for the early adopters of the M2 Air 13” that didn’t want to pay that screen size tax to go 14” or 16” Pro and it would probably help if you kept the pricing on the Air size as is to spec bump the M2s to 16GB - to create more separation between the M1 and M2 but also to create congruency with the 8GB/16GB spec layout of the Pros. I’d be willing to bet that more people pay to upgrade the RAM to 16GB vs the storage to 512GB.
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Not really the issue. I can name a dozen Windows computers that have the same config for the same money.
That’s because Apple should have come up with an 11” ultralight MacBook
Initial customer demand for the new 15-inch MacBook Air has been "weaker than expected," according to a DigiTimes report citing sources within Apple's supply chain. The report claims that 15-inch MacBook Air shipment volume in July has been 50% less than originally estimated amid a broader downturn in the notebook market.
As a result of this "poor start," the report claims that some Apple suppliers have requested a reduction in 15-inch MacBook Air shipments.
Launched at WWDC last month, the 15-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,299 and has the same design and M2 chip as the 13-inch model, but with a larger display and two extra speakers. It is the first time that Apple has offered a 15-inch display for the MacBook Air, which was previously only available in 13-inch and discontinued 11-inch size options.
It's unclear if 15-inch MacBook Air demand has met Apple's own internal expectations so far. Apple is set to report its third quarter earnings results on August 3, and it may share some comments about the laptop then. Other new Macs launched during the quarter included spec-bumped Mac Studio and Mac Pro models.
The report claims that the MacBook supply chain can look forward to the "upcoming announcement" of a new MacBook Pro, without providing any additional details. The publication previously claimed that Apple plans to release a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 chip later this year. The M3 chip is widely expected to be fabricated with TSMC's 3nm process for significant performance and power efficiency improvements compared to the 5nm-based M2 chip in the existing 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Article Link: 15-Inch MacBook Air Demand Reportedly 'Weaker Than Expected' So Far
Well Apple, how about giving the base config 16 Gb RAM at this point? This is 2023, ya know.
Exactly!
We see this everywhere!
It's not good enough to make the same high numbers as before... 🤑
Apple has been pushing the price on all their products and now they are hitting the glass ceiling of what the market will accept. I also expect those who already have an Apple silicon Mac will just look at the prices of a replacement and decide to defer their next upgrade, because with Apple silicon Macs there is enough overhead spare that they can. For that reason alone, I expect sales to decline for all Macs and stay that way going forward as upgrade cycles are stretched out by owners trying to get some value back on their purchases. The longer term solution, is Apple needs to look long and hard at their component upgrade prices on the complete Mac range. All the options on all models are well and truly overpriced.
Too obvious. The price is too high with upgraded version and still starts from 8GB + 256GB.
Man, the M2 generation has been a disaster. The M2 iPad Pro, 13" and 15" MacBook Air, the M2 MacBook Pro line-up all had underwhelming sales. The death is knocking on the Vision Pro's door. It's the last one with the M2 chip. I think it's good that consumers are voting with their wallet. Apple needs to try harder to entice buyers and that's good.
It's not portable? Compared to what, the original 13" Air that Steve Jobs showed us in 2008 when he pulling it out of a manila envelope? Let's see....
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 15" MacBook Air specs
Height: 0.45 inch (1.15 cm)
Width: 13.40 inches (34.04 cm)
Depth: 9.35 inches (23.76 cm)
Weight: 3.3 pounds (1.51 kg)
The 15" Air is marginally larger (0.6 inches wider and 0.41 inches deeper) and is heavier by an astounding 0.3 lbs (0.15 kg) than the original 2008 13" Air.
The 15" Air can also fit in the same 10" x 13" manila envelope Steve Jobs pulled the original 13" Air out of.
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.
I just bought the 13", otherwise I'd get one. My mother got one and it's freakin sweet
Edit: For the dude whose username is G5isAlive, "Hey, laser lips, your mama was a snow blower." ❤️
Edit: For the dude whose username is G5isAlive, "Hey, laser lips, your mama was a snow blower." ❤️
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A side note, but why can't MacBook Airs simply be called MacBooks? The Air naming scheme lost its meaning a long time ago and makes no sense whatsoever today. Seriously, nobody at Apple has raised this question?
Same goes for the iPad range. Do you really need iPad 10th gen and iPad Air?
Same goes for the iPad range. Do you really need iPad 10th gen and iPad Air?
I'm very surprised; many of the tech people made it seem like it would be a big seller. I don't think the specs are the problem as most people outside of techies and gamers don't care. I don't think the price is the problem either, Apple's lineup has never been more reasonable for what you get imo (in the US at least).
Could it be that people want smaller laptops for portability since most media consumption likely happens on a TV/phone/tablet now?
Could it be that people want smaller laptops for portability since most media consumption likely happens on a TV/phone/tablet now?