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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.

MacBook-Air-15-Inch-Feature-Blue.jpg

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
I would've bought one, but they took far too long to release the damn thing. It made sense when they dropped the 17" MacBook Pro and only had the 13" Air as the maximum screen size. 10-ish years later though? I just replaced my MacBook in 2021 with a Pro, because they *still* didn't have the 15" Air that I really wanted.
 
Generally people are pulling back on expenses. Car dealers are sitting on 100 plus day inventory now. Outside of macrurmors unless people need a laptop they won’t just buy it out of the blue. No when groceries are more expensive and interest rates are high. I’m sure the air will bounce back it’s a great product. Over time when people need a laptop they will buy this very compelling product.

Recession is coming.
 
I miss my 11” Air. Was a great travel computer. Now I use a 14” Mbp (that I love), but the shape is just not as nice as the tapered old air
 
Price-wise it's just too expensive unless you settle for the base model. I would need a minimum of 16GB/512GB if I made the jump from my current MBA of the same specs but the M2 chip is not juicy enough I'm afraid.

It really should have launched with the M3 even if that meant it was delayed until later this year or early next year. The M1 is still just too good to spend that kind of money for such a small "upgrade" to the M2.
 
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How has "Air" lost its meaning? The current M2 13" Air is lighter and smaller than the original 2008 13" MacBook Air that Steve Jobs showed us by taking it out of a manila envelope. And the M2 15" Air is only 0.3 lbs (0.15 kg) heavier.

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)

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)

Yes, the MacBook Air was named as such because it was the thinnest and lightest laptop in the lineup AT THE TIME.

The latest MacBook (now discontinued) weighed 2.03 pounds and was Apple's thinnest and lightest laptop ever. At the time, there was also a MacBook Air in the lineup which was actually thicker and heavier.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems weird to have a MacBook Air without a MacBook in the lineup, especially when, again, the latest MacBook was already thinner and lighter than all previous and current MacBook Airs.
 
What's the average lifespan of the SSD? I don't really get maxing out specs just for "futureproofing".

For normal uses, it should outlast the lifespan of macOS upgrades, the most typical source of Mac obsolescence. Basically, Apple decides when it's time for the bulk volume to upgrade... not hardware exhaustion. Exceptions? Certainly. But I wouldn't overly worry about SSD failure vs. macOS vintaging.
 
Great does that mean they'll keep selling that M2 stockpile in some other rehash
 
I got the 16" M1 Max when the M2 released and got a great discount. I will likely wait for the M4 to release, so I can get the M3 discounted lol
 
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I was initially tempted to upgrade my 2020 Intel 13" MBA, but decided not to for three reasons. In order:

1. Surprisingly, despite all the hate, my Intel i5 (with fan) performs perfectly well, even when coding and doing basic ML
2. I run my 13" at 1680x1050 so wouldn't get much more useful space when going to the 15"
3. The cost, as it's not cheap (and I wouldn't get much selling my current MBA)

So ... maybe next year.
I tell you Bang for the buck get the m1 air! I bought the 15" air and returned it, it just wasn't enough of
an upgrade over the 13".
 
I think it is simply price compression. I picked up from Apple a refurb M2 MBP 14 with 1tb SSD for $1869. The MBA 15 with 16gb/1tb is $1899. For a $30 saving I got the superior 120hz miniLED screen, three TB4 ports, headphone jack, HDMI, SD card slot, and dual external monitor support. All for accepting 0.2# more weight, and a slightly thicker but narrower and shorter form factor.
 
To be slightly fair, the $100 2tb nvme will not be directly comparable, but it is still easily 4-5x as much, 2x would be 'reasonable', maybe.
Is it not comparable? A quick search shows me that even the higher-capacity MacBooks have slower speeds than PCIe 3.0 SSDs. You can get a 2tb NVMe drive for $80 that’s faster than the Mac’s, for 10x cheaper. I was being generous to Apple with my numbers.
 
Is it not comparable? A quick search shows me that even the higher-capacity MacBooks have slower speeds than PCIe 3.0 SSDs. You can get a 2tb NVMe drive for $80 that’s faster than the Mac’s, for 10x cheaper. I was being generous to Apple with my numbers.

Some are stuck in the Apple RDF and can’t fathom that Apple is ripping people off
 
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No. The high level laptop market is still fighting the existence of a bunch of nice laptops bought in 2020 and 2021 for work from home plus the massive downsizing of tech companies here in 2022 and 2023 (many of which were using Apple products and now have 1,000 of extra Mac set ups with no employees to use the stuff). Someone made a projection that didn't take these factors into account and now they are wrong. That is all to see here.

But yes there is only modest performance increases between M1 and M2. It doesn't really matter though. If you have an M1 machine right now, then you bought it in November 2020 at the earliest. So the oldest M1 machine out there is not yet three years old. There should be no expectation that those owners are buying a replacement in 2023.
Agreed. It takes a minimum of two years for producing a computer from start to finish, so this was started back during the covid years when this machine would have been flying off the shelves, if it were available back then. So I am sure we are seeing a lot of things coming out now that were originally thought and designed back then. Not many could see what the tech industry is dealing with now.

All those ancient computers have been upgraded for work at home and with the economy the way it is, no one is wanting to spend unnecessarily. Plus, many average consumers are now are focused on food and shelter that previously would have purchased a base model like the 15-inch for the larger screen.

Lots of factors pilling together that has nothing to do with the Mac model itself.
 
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