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15-Inch MacBook Air Stockpiled by Suppliers Ahead of Rumored WWDC Launch

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Apple's supply chain has started stockpiling the rumored 15-inch MacBook Air, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes. The report says the laptop is expected to be announced at Apple's annual developer conference WWDC, which begins June 5.

MacBook-Air-Multiple-Sizes-Feature.jpg

Despite the upcoming 15-inch MacBook Air launch, the sources believe that overall MacBook shipments will likely face a single-digit decrease in 2023 due to a "disappointing" first half of the year. The sources also said "pull-in momentum" for the 15-inch MacBook Air "has not been as strong compared with previous new products."

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the 15-inch MacBook Air to debut at WWDC. Like the 13-inch MacBook Air, the 15-inch model will be powered by the M2 chip with multiple GPU configurations, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

No design changes have been rumored for the 15-inch MacBook Air beyond its larger display size. The 13-inch model is equipped with a notch housing a 1080p camera, a MagSafe 3 charging port, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a scissor switch keyboard with a Touch ID button, and a Force Touch trackpad.

The sources believe MacBook shipments could recover in the second half of 2023 if new MacBooks with 3nm chips are released, but Apple's chipmaker TSMC has reportedly faced 3nm yield issues, so it's unclear when Apple's M3 chip will debut.

Article Link: 15-Inch MacBook Air Stockpiled by Suppliers Ahead of Rumored WWDC Launch
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/05/04/15-inch-macbook-air-stockpiled/
MacRumors said:
Apple's supply chain has started stockpiling the rumored 15-inch MacBook Air, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes. The report says the laptop is expected to be announced at Apple's annual developer conference WWDC, which begins June 5.
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Lmfao 🤣... I think it will launch next week defying again holly cow Gurman prophecies...
 
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“cited by DigiTimes”
Never a good sign, these guys don’t get anything right.
Iirc these people said the iPad mini six will have a home button and not be announced for about a year… literally hours before it was announced without a home button.
Or anyone remember AirPods Pro lite? Which were different than the standard AirPods three.
Or the teardrop design for the iPhone 4S… These people have been getting things wrong for a long time.
 
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oofio2461 said:
I'm betting that the 13' M2 drops down $1,100, M1 MBA to $700, and M2 MBA to $1000, so that the new 15in can take the M2 13' in price spot to be a reasonable $1200.
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I really can't see Apple offering a full fledged laptop at $700 regular price. (disregarding discounts)
It's more likely that they drop the M2 13" at $999 and discontinue the M1 altogether.
 
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Those who jumped on the original M1s have had a remarkable run that looks like it still has some legs. Congratulations!

I recall one of the bigger arguments for Apple switching to Silicon was this idea that Apple would control the chip ugrade cycle and thus "we" would no longer have to wait for "only 'slow,' annual Intel chip upgrades." The gamble with those original M1s beyond only "1st generation anything" potentials was that spin actually proving out.

Instead, M1s have had and continue to have a solid run, much longer being THE chip than probably ANYONE assumed when they were buying one.

Per the original spin slung at each other, we should be well into at least M3 now and talking up the impending M4. If we really swallowed the spin, perhaps even M5 by now. Instead, rumors about M3 yields continue to imply that they might not arrive until NEXT year. If so, that's probably still 10+ months for M1 to continue to be "plenty" for most users. WOW!

It's not often you can buy anything Apple (computer) and stay pretty much fully up to date going into year 4. Early M1 buyers are benefiting from that anomaly... thanks to (a production side effect of) Covid or supply chain or inflation or whatever other reason we want to sling to each other.
 
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oofio2461 said:
I'm betting that the 13' M2 drops down $1,100, M1 MBA to $700, and M2 MBA to $1000, so that the new 15in can take the M2 13' in price spot to be a reasonable $1200.
Click to expand...

I'll take the other side of that bet. I bet Air 15" will be priced shockingly "makes no sense" high vs. MBpro pricing ("might as well just get a MBpro")... and then the illogic in those pricing conflicts will be resolved when the NEXT MBpros are rolled out also at jacked up prices to "fix" this new problem.

Modern Apple is in "maximize profit per sale" mode more than ever before. They don't do that with the volume play of "lower our prices" (and yes, I did notice the new Mac Mini price cut vs. the prior offering).

We'll see... but note in seemingly 500 rumors about a 15" Air, NOT ONE has had ANY rumor about price. "We" seem to be the ones setting pricing expectations that Air should automatically be LESS THAN Pro because of history. What if THIS Air sets the new, higher price point for AIR... to be followed by the new higher price points for PRO? Past (pricing) performance does not necessarily reflect future pricing performance. Apple can do anything it wants.

Note the same kind of conflict between higher configs of Mac Mini vs. Mac Studio. There's many threads about those weird price conflicts too. How will that get resolved? Yes, Apple could decide to cut Mac Mini PRO pricing down to "fit" in well vs. existing Mac Studio pricing... OR the next Mac Studio could have jacked pricing to also "fix" this problem too. I expect that more than Mac Mini Pro price cuts to logically fit vs. Mac Studio.

I'll be quite happy to lose this bet, as I am interested in a new 15"+ laptop myself. But I'm simply assuming based on how I see Apple applying big innovations to squeeze every nickel out of every move. Cutting prices doesn't seem to support that observation. New higher pricing seems a popular card to play.
 
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vagos said:
If it comes with 32gb RAM it's an instant buy for me.
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If it's like the 13" MBA, it'll be 24GB max. Then again, Apple should offer a 32GB BTO option since they'd be able to charge $600 to go from 8GB to 32GB.... $200 per 8GB :rolleyes:
 
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