Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I think it wouldn't have been weaker if Apple had included a 120hz Display. Apple needs to stop taking shortcuts around.
I agree about the shortcuts but I think more people care about the upgrade cost vs 120 hz.
I bought the 15" air(1T and 16 g of ram) but returned it. It was nice but no ports, too much money and not enough
of an upgrade over my m1 air.
 
I expected to like it, but it did feel too big when I tried it in an Apple store. It’s not just the little extra weight; holding it upright from an edge feels even heavier thanks to leverage of that extra weight sticking out further. My 14” M1 Pro doesn’t feel much different, just thicker, and is big enough for me.

Long term MBpro buyer here with a battery-fading Intel MBpro. I thought I'd "downgrade" the MBpro relative power/flexibility and go with this new MB Air. However, when I configured it as I wanted it, MBpros with equal specs and more flexibility/power could be had for about the same price, if not less. I'm apparently the odd Apple person who actually values hard-earned money so I don't like relative value collisions... especially when considering comparable RAM and SSD prices available on the PC side- where competitors compete instead of being only a single source of such components- to see "the Apple premium" in all its glory. 💰💰💰

So I "kicked the can" and simply opened up the Intel MBpro and replaced the battery myself. That was NOT fun with thoroughly glued-down batteries but the process yielded the prize. Battery cost about $55 and now I have about 10-hour battery life with full bootcamp (complete Windows) all in one case. As a working Mac person, that 2-for-1 computer in a relatively small (single) case is a big value. Some clients have some apps that are Windows only. If that keeps up, it makes me think that perhaps the next laptop may need to be a PC. :eek: Then, finish the work on a desktop Mac back at home/office.

Bonus: no nuclear reactor required to power it, no frying eggs on it, etc. It's simply like a new MB again, as Apple themselves made it back when Intel and Intel POWER was coveted by all.

I don't recall it having 10-hour battery when it was brand new but maybe it did. Certainly "20-hour battery life" sounds great but I generally don't work 20-hour days on a laptop, nor even 10-hour days. So 10 is plenty for my purposes.

Now I think I'll ride this one until the wheels actually fall off, so maybe M4 or M5 gets fresh consideration. Or perhaps, it's my last Apple laptop since there is a NEED for (full) Windows but only a WANT for macOS when "on the road."

Had the upgrade pricing not been ridiculou$, I would have probably purchased this new one. But I opt to value the dollars more than just paying any price a corporation wants to fuel "another record quarter of revenue & profit" for shareholders. Maybe next time.
 
Last edited:
Consider holding out for at least the M5/6 and enjoy a debt-free couple of years. That M1 MBP will be plenty powerful for 6 years instead of quitting it in only 3. It should get all macOS upgrades over that period of time. Being able to process 32 streams of 8K instead of 8 at the same time (or whatever the spin says) is probably about 30-31 too many in real world usage.

Crosby, Stills & Nash: "Love the one you're with"
As my tiny YT channel grows, and I increase the length of my videos, the time it takes to export really does become an issue. I know we're spoiled how it was years ago. Dang-it though, a 22-min video at 1080 HDR taking an hour to write out gets on my nerves! :) I have the base 200GB bandwidth 16GB, 16" MBP. I got the "cheap" one as I wasn't sure if I was really going to use it. Now here I am, in it all the time.
 
I was looking into the 15-inch MacBook Air. I concluded that after upgrading SSD to 512 GB and RAM to 16GB (1699$), it'd just be a little more money for the 14-inch MacBook Pro which comes standard with those, and comes with a more powerful M2 Pro processor , and has an integrated cooling system to avoid thermal throttling in extended 3D gaming sessions. The base 14-inch MacBook Air is 1999$ at retail but can sometimes be found discounted for as low as 1749$.
 
Maybe people are still buying the 14 inch M2 MBP because it supports multiple displays and has more sustained performance. I do remember seeing a lot of people picking up the 15 inch Air on launch day though. When my sibling maxes out updates for Ventura on their 2017 4 thunderbolt MBP 13 inch though, this is what I'm gonna get them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: El Szomorito
It is a very niche market, I thought college kids would go for this, nope, they all want the 14" or 13" MBP -
so this is almost in a same predicament as the plus or mini.
 
Consider holding out for at least the M5/6 and enjoy a debt-free couple of years. That M1 MBP will be plenty powerful for 6 years instead of quitting it in only 3. It should get all macOS upgrades over that period of time. Being able to process 32 streams of 8K instead of 8 at the same time (or whatever the spin says) is probably about 30-31 too many in real world usage.

Crosby, Stills & Nash: "Love the one you're with"
I used to upgrade my computer a lot. I use it for work and am an enthusiast so I could justify it. But, I bought a MBP M1Max 64gb when they came out and have zero envy with any of the new machines. It does everything I want very fast and has great battery life. It's nearly the 'perfect' computer.
 
I've gotten a lot of flack for saying this but IMO a person is MUCH better off buying an M1 MBA or upgrading to a 14" M1 gen (Pro/Max) MBP. I went to the Apple Store on the 15" MBA launch date and I couldn't discern the weight from the 16" MBP. It literally negates all value an "Air" is suppose to provide. And the pricing is just wrong, especially when you consider the base SSD speeds and Apple's nudging to upsell to 512GB. A base 14" M1 Pro MBP is still around $1600. I also think people are waiting for M3.

Also, there is truth to the fact that the economy is already softening. Semiconductors are usually a leading indicator. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/c...ales-decline-for-11th-straight-month-73ad29b6
 
  • Like
Reactions: maxoakland
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?
Funny I bought the 15" air and for the stand I had it on i thought it was too light and
that eventually I would knock it onto the floor! Its a great machine but it returned it for that reason
And I just didn't find it was enough of an upgrade over my 13" m1 air.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: 4odomi
Headline aside, I just received mine in midnight color yesterday. Max out the memory but stick with 512GB storage, it's the replacement of the aging MacBook Air from 2018. I haven't owned a 15-inch notebook since the original PowerBook G4. I did my part.
 
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.

Not to mention (but I will) that you are comparing a retail price to purchase ONE (unit) as a consumer vs. Apple Inc buying tens of millions and thus getting much better pricing from suppliers.

That's not saying Apple shouldn't make a profit but there's a difference between reasonable and gouge. However, any time ANY company has ever been able to strangle a market so that one can only buy from ONE source, gouging always follows. It takes competition to drive prices down. No competition = high-to-crazy-high prices. This is made worse when the consumers will defend and/or argue why no competition is ideal.

Tennesse Ernie Ford: "I owe my soul... to the company store" in 16 Tons
 
I've gotten a lot of flack for saying this but IMO a person is MUCH better off buying an M1 MBA or upgrading to a 14" M1 gen (Pro/Max) MBP. I went to the Apple Store on the 15" MBA launch date and I couldn't discern the weight from the 16" MBP. It literally negates all value an "Air" is suppose to provide. And the pricing is just wrong, especially when you consider the base SSD speeds and Apple's nudging to upsell to 512GB. A base 14" M1 Pro MBP is still around $1600. I also think people are waiting for M3.

Also, there is truth to the fact that the economy is already softening. Semiconductors are usually a leading indicator. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/c...ales-decline-for-11th-straight-month-73ad29b6
I get the chip
Stock decline but I just think and esp. outside the US people are Really questioning large purchases now. Not like COVID where no one was spending on food/ going out - but rather on electronics and cars. Time changing!!
 
Not to mention (but I will) that you are comparing a retail price to purchase ONE (unit) as a consumer vs. Apple Inc buying tens of millions and thus getting much better pricing from suppliers.

Lol, yup. And Apple defenders will try to compare their SSD with a top-of-the-line PCIe 4.0 at MSRP to try to justify the Apple tax.
 
If Apple would get with the program and stop starting with a base model 8GB/256GB things might change. It’s almost 2024 that’s just crazy small amounts of memory and storage for MOST people. Greed on those upgrades clearly the reason. Not buying anything till that changes and if my 2016 MBP with 16/512 dies before then I may just think differently.
I have to agree. The 15 Air is exactly what I want but man, 8/256 is so 2010 lol. It’s 2023, 16/512 should be the minimum.
 
Well it’s not like the 13 inch was much better, nor was any of the M2 Macs. The initial M1 launch was a super cycle. It should come as no surprise that the second gen silicon Macs didn’t fare as well.
 
As my tiny YT channel grows, and I increase the length of my videos, the time it takes to export really does become an issue. I know we're spoiled how it was years ago. Dang-it though, a 22-min video at 1080 HDR taking an hour to write out gets on my nerves! :) I have the base 200GB bandwidth 16GB, 16" MBP. I got the "cheap" one as I wasn't sure if I was really going to use it. Now here I am, in it all the time.

I do some video editing myself on an M1 desktop. Tip: export edited video to prores file (this will be relatively quick). Then compress for YouTube with the free Handbrake app with one of the VideoToolbox choices. It is crazy fast. Try it and see for yourself.
 
Have you seen the price of new cars lately? Jeep Grand Wagoneer in my area cost over $100K. Pickup trucks are now selling on average for $55K.
Yah and that’s the point. A year ago people were pulling the trigger on 50k suv and 75k trucks. Now people are pulling back. Average car payments in the USA is now $900 a month. Which is crazy. Tesla even came out with 84 month loans to stimulate sales.
 
  • Like
Reactions: G5isAlive
My 13" MacBook Air, which I absolutely loved except for the small screen, was on its last legs. I wanted to trade it in while I could still get a decent amount for it so I just bought the 15" MacBook Air last week. With my trade-in and Apple Cash I ended up paying about $700 out of pocket for it. So if you spend/save wisely, you won't be shelling out $1400 for a new MacBook anything. I love the larger screen size for my work and it has everything I need including amazing speed. The Pro is just too much computer for the copy editing and writing I do. I love my 15" screen.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.