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

oofio2461 said:
I'm betting that the 13' M2 drops down $1,100, M1 MBA to $700, and M2 MBP to $1000, so that the new 15in can take the M2 13' in price spot to be a reasonable $1200.
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Is there another company making M1 and M2 based laptops and calling them MacBook Air and MacBook Pro? I ask because if we're talking about Apple who's notorious for nickel and diming their customers, this isn't going to happen.
 
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HobeSoundDarryl said:
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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What do you mean longer than anyone assumed? We all knew it would last very long based on what we saw with the iPads.

The M1 is just an iPad chip, so we already knew.
 
People love to drag the smaller iPads for using an LCD, yet they seem to forget that the MacBook Air uses it as well. The story will be no different with the larger model, but people will still speak about it like it’s the second coming of Jobs himself!
 
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tomtad said:
17 inch or no purchase
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Introducing the 17-inch MacBook Hydrogen.

It's going to take some anti-grav (something) to make bigger-screen computers "fit" the whole "Air" concept.

You have a better chance at perhaps a resurrection of 17" MBpro where weight is not central to the branding.

My own very best guess: I suspect 17, 18, 20, 30, 50, etc will be a Goggles benefit in the form of a new kind of laptop where only the keyboard half can be rolled out as "lightest laptop ever" because the screen half is virtualized in the Goggles. I increasingly think Goggles may be Apple's main crack at what is driving others to try to make foldable & rollable ("bigger") screen devices (there's some of this in laptops too).

A virtualized screen can be ANY size at no greater weight... and no cost cut going to supply chain players to actually make physical screens in any size. Conceptually, Apple could both conceive of and "manufacture" any screen size (in Goggles software) all entirely in Cupertino... pocketing the cost savings of not paying someone for a 17 inch screen variant (and all other desired sizes too).

Crazy idea? Yes. But it seems the SIMPLEST thing rumored Goggles could deliver is a flat screen (or two) to watch in virtual reality. And with sizable money savings if Apple could "sell" this as their alternative to folds/rolls, maybe the added profit motivation drives it too? We'll see.

Is this for everyone? Of course not... but some may be quite interested in having an any-size (screen) Mac with them instead of the traditional fixed-sized laptop screen. Traditional laptop vs. half of a laptop + goggles in the travel bag may both serve the SAME kind of users... with one of those able to deliver laptops that have no practical opportunity to be offered if built as laptops are built now. For example, anyone want a 24" laptop? 30"? I'd like to have my 40" UW desktop screen on the road with me when I travel. That's completely impractical "as is." But what if Goggles makes that virtually possible? If so, I'm so very IN- even at the rumored $3K- solely for this ONE benefit.
 
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liangzh said:
13.6" M2 Macbook Air (16/512): $1699
14.2" M2 Macbook Pro (16/512): $1999
15" M2 Macbook Air (16/512): $1849 ???
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we can see a drop in prices....Apple often did
They can remove the M1 air and place the 13" M2 Air at 999
And the 15" Air 16/512 to be around $1699
 
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Zest28 said:
What do you mean longer than anyone assumed? We all knew it would last very long based on what we saw with the iPads.

The M1 is just an iPad chip, so we already knew.
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I mean I expect M chips in Macs to follow the use effect- perceive or real- of A chips in iDevices. A are "incredible", "I can't believe it", "more powerful than anything" at launch and then "getting long in tooth", "slowing down" within only a few years, partially in support of buying the new A-series (replacement) generation. I suspect(ed) M-series to get on that very same train (in spite of common, long-term expectations that Macs should outlast mobile iDevices).

How do we collectively feel about A-series iDevices sold at the same time as M1 Macs? I'm seeing plenty of "long in tooth", "slowing down" posts implying "upgrade time." Why? Because that A series is feeling like it is no longer working fast enough... a curious effect that seems to happen every other year or three.

Conceptually, M1 devices- of which I own one myself- could be getting there by this point too. Instead, M2 is mostly M1 with some refinements, so M1 people should generally feel their Macs are just about as fast as ever, etc. I'm not seeing much "long in tooth" etc about M1 Macs yet. But I fully expect it to arrive just like it does with A-series iDevices.

I suspect if we were on the originally-imagined pace such that M3 or perhaps even M4 was "latest & greatest" right now, M1 Macs would feel like A13/14 bionic is starting to be perceived now.

Instead, I'm happy my M1 still seems fresh & robust and- if M3 Macs are still upwards of 10 months out- it may have at least that long to continue to "feel" that way before the mysterious slow downs begin to show themselves.

Maybe it won't be like that with M-series? I only have A-series as a guide influencing my imagination.
 
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My predication, the updated 13” Air and the new 15”, see the reintroduction of the glowing Apple logo on the lid. :p

Possibly 13” Air to be rebranded as the 33cm Air, alongside the launch of a new 38cm Air ;)
 
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I will be buying one! Can't wait. Recently sold my 16" M1 Max for only a couple hundred less than I purchased it, owned it for over a year and a half. Sold it in anticipation for the 15" Air. I did not need all of the power of the M1 Max.
 
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