If it is branded as an Air and if it retains the M2 chip and does not go to an M2 Pro then it will probably remain fanless. So far, most rumors suggest it will be just a scaled up M2 MBA.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
15-Inch MacBook Air Rumored for 2023, But New 12-Inch MacBook Now Unlikely
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I think you can forget about ports as that will be reserved for the Pro line, this will 100% only have MagSafe and 2 thunderbolt ports and a headphone jack just like the current Air
I’m sure they’re looking at what the world economy is doing, and will continue to do, and acting accordingly.
I’ll likely get one. I only bought the 13 inch M1 Pro because my 2014 MBP‘s screen was dying. The larger M1 MBP’s were still months away. The screen on the 13 inch is just a little small dp for me, amd I don’t really need everything from the 26 inch MBP.
I'm ready for it, 15" should be the standard and other models larger or smaller should be secondary to that. 13" and 14" are too small. 16" is nice but its weighs as much as a desktop.
15" air and MBP needs to happen I'm ready to buy. I've been waiting since 2016.
15" air and MBP needs to happen I'm ready to buy. I've been waiting since 2016.
Exactly. If I'm going somewhere I'm unlikely to go back to, I'm bringing two bodies and five lenses. And if I'm there for long enough, my personal computer comes with me - and these days, the work laptop, too. The benefit of going remote for work is that you don't have to be home, but you still have to carry it all with you.
My previous job allowed me to remote-desktop from my MBP (which meant 4lbs of laptop+charger), not so much with the current job - which now means 8lbs of laptop+charger. Adding in 8lbs of m4/3 camera gear, and that's a lot to carry on one's back and put under the seat in front of them - and that's before everything else that you're supposed to carry with you.
Bring on the 12", 2.5lbs MBP!
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Getting paid to predict anything to do with Apple... unlike the rest of us expert forecasters.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
They don't. Apparently buyers in sufficiently large numbers do.
15" air with Apple silicon is what I wanted when we bought the first M1 air, but it didn't exist. Now, for the first time in a very long time, I might even try to sell the M1 to help get the 15" -- or just be happy with what I have because it is pretty great, anyway.
Would be perfect with one or two more usb-c ports and the ability to support a second external monitor, but those are not deal breakers for us and I would expect this is going to be almost exactly like the current M2 air just rebalanced for the larger screen.
Would be perfect with one or two more usb-c ports and the ability to support a second external monitor, but those are not deal breakers for us and I would expect this is going to be almost exactly like the current M2 air just rebalanced for the larger screen.
Would have been an instant purchase for me.
Ditto. I still have my old 12” PowerBook G4 from 2003/4. I just prefer the smaller size.
I get the attraction. Especially if you don't have an iPad or carry one around.
I get this feeling that the M2 was supposed to also get a the smaller process and that it was meant to go into smaller stuff with less throttling. I think we'll have to wait for the M3 for that, just because of supply chain and factory shutdowns delaying all that movement towards the 3nm.
Maybe then!
I have an 11” iPad Pro from 2020 along with the magic keyboard, but I can only use it on a desk when the KB is attached. It’s not comfortable for the lap. This is why I just prefer a laptop.
It also has a slightly-less than full size keyboard, correct? The 12" PowerBook didn't compromise on inputs - it had the same keyboard, trackpad, ports, and drives as its 17" brother, with the only internal compromises being a slight downgrade in processor and GPU for either price or heat issues.
And that's what I'd want in a 12" MBP, the great grandchild of the 12" PowerBook. Just big enough to include a full size keyboard, 4 TB ports, MagSafe, and an SD Card slot on the outside, with just enough space internally for a 17hr battery and proper cooling (like the 14"). I could even trade off the HDMI port, though I know others wouldn't. Just don't give us one USB-C port and tell us it's enough for power and a mouse. And a keyboard. And external monitor, network, SD reader... don't need all of them at once, but I don't want to be in a hotel room (or AirBNB) with bad wifi, needing to choose between charging the battery and getting online.
I remember the 11" MBA, too. Too bad an 11" 16:9 display just ended up being so tiny... the 12" PowerBook had a 22% larger physical area (70 square inches, vs 57.5 square inches).
I love my 11" MBA except that it thermal throttled badly. An M1 version would be terrific. I'm a buyer on that. Really on any compact, full keyboard machine that runs MacOS and is on Apple Silicon.
Yep, the 12” PowerBook had a full size keyboard. I also have the 11” MBA, I have the 2011 model which is rather slow these days. I would’ve bought the 12” MacBook but I just couldn’t deal with that awful butterfly keyboard.
I love the sound of the hypothetical 12” model you described but I just can’t see Apple releasing it with 4 TB posts. Heck, I’d like the MBA to have 4, but no such luck. I have a 2020 MB Pro, the last Intel model, I think, which has 4 ports.
The butterfly keyboard and the one. single. USB-C port. Did it in for me. I could even understand if it was released with TB3 and a dock, but I don't think it was.
Personally, I think Apple needs to have a clear distinction between MB/MBA and MBP - which clearly, doesn't exist these days (ahem, 13" MBP...). I would think four TB ports, dual external display, and some sort of battery life target (rather than weight/thickness target) would make sense, and give the MBPs slightly different design brief. Not saying the MBA or MB can't have some of these features, but I'd like to see the MBP always have these features.
I could see Apple apply some sort of vapor chamber cooling on the 15" MacBook Air. The case of the 15" MacBook Air is large enough to accommodate this.
Yeah, I should have thought about that, and I don't even know what I had in mind. I really don't need a lot of ports, and I still mainly work from a desktop setup. Any extra ports I'd need could be accommodated through a hub. I've gotten by with this intel MBP with the USB-C/Thunderbolt ports, so that would be almost the same.
The limitation of the MBA cooling is it cannot allow sustained load at max power.
If the vapor chamber can sustain the full load of the M2 pro, then it will come in a MBP before MBA.
If the vapor chamber can only sustain peak load of the M2 pro and throttle hard to something close to M2 perf, there is very little interest vs a M2.
Agree, “if” there is a rumored 15” MacBook Air it will not have a fan, therefore throttling when doing tasks and processing at heavy loads. That is what a MacBook Pro is for. I don’t see allowing MacBook Air to function like a Pro even though it might have the ability too.
I still think given the physical size of a potential MacBook Air 15" case, there's easily plentiful room for a vapor chamber cooling system for the M2 (or eventually M3) SoC. Most of the complaints about the current MacBook Air is the M2 SoC running very hot, and putting in fanless vapor chamber cooling solves a lot of issues.
If they stick with the M2 and do not add an M2 Pro, then there will not be a need for a fan. They might put a vapor chamber cooling system in but there is still a heat diffuser on the M2 in the Air. It only gets warm during very heavy sustained processing. If you are doing that on a regular basis you are probably better off with a Pro machine. The normal kinds of things people are doing do not cause the Air to run hot.
It may get interesting when they get to a 3nm process. That may let the M# Pro chip run cool enough to run in an Air with only a vapor chamber system and no active fan.