15-Inch MacBook Air With M2-Like Chip Spotted in Developer Logs

[surfzen21]

Apple needs to ship all MBA with the same M2, until they actually have a M3 availability. No point to mix and match AS processors. Should say at some point now they use this new SoC, an even better deal for the line. In comparison the M1 Max/Ultra Studio Mac is an another oddity given the M2 Max MBP availability. Yeah I think it bugs people that entire products are not updated vs something else that is.

This report seems very weird considering we just heard how apple slashed their M2 production for the past 2 months.

But, yes, I dont see them offering the smaller one with an M2 and the larger with an M3. I was just hoping that both would be upgraded with the new chip-set.

 

[kalafalas]

I’m in love with my M2 air, it’s the best Mac I’ve ever owned by far. Im gonna have this thing for a long long time. I even throw some light blender and Logic and it performs like a champ. 16gb of ram is a must though, 8gb is a joke even for light users in 2023.

I personally find the 13” to be the perfect size, but I know so many who want a bigger screen and don’t need more than an air. This is going to be a huge hit. M1, M2, M3 doesn’t really matter for this product all of them are overkill for the target audience, to those it matters will be getting a pro anyway.

Edit: more rambling lol
I had a 15” 2016 Pro before this, and between the size and the awful keyboard I ended up selling it after a year and went back to my trusty 13” 2013 Pro. This M2 feels like a perfect evolution of the 2013 model I loved so dearly, and that’s probably one of the reasons I like it so much. My only complaint really is even just a single usb-c port on the right would have made a big difference, but not a deal breaker. I’ve had plenty of other models for work in my time, using a 14” pro right now and I love it but it’s overkill for what I do with it and it’s quite heavy and big. I’m particularly impressed with the M2 airs display, it’s surprisingly close to my 14” in black levels and colors even though it’s not miniLED, but I do miss promotion. And I love how dim it gets at night! I’ll probably upgrade when they have an OLED Air, but like gen 3 or so with all the issues ironed out.

 

[compwiz1202]

I’m in love with my M2 air, it’s the best Mac I’ve ever owned by far. Im gonna have this thing for a long long time. I even throw some light blender and Logic and it performs like a champ. 16gb of ram is a must though, 8gb is a joke even for light users in 2023.

I personally find the 13” to be the perfect size, but I know so many who want a bigger screen and don’t need more than an air. This is going to be a huge hit. M1, M2, M3 doesn’t really matter for this product all of them are overkill for the target audience, to those it matters will be getting a pro anyway.

Exactly, I don't want M3 OLED or whatever else pushes the price into Pro range. I'd take the largest screen M1 Air if that would lower the price.

 

[AppleIsEveryWhere]

confusing!! Gurman said this and Ming-Chi Kuo said this?!?!?! Min mentioned that the new upcoming MacBook Air 15 will have M3.. and now Gurman says it will have M2, which of them we suppose to believe?

 

[jclardy]

Interesting, I wonder if they are going to try and "flip" the launches with this, so the Pro's get the new processors first. It is super weird that the M2 "MacBook Pro" released before the 14"/16" real MBP's. Even the Air had better CPU performance for a few months as M2 Pro was made ready.

Release the 15" Air now to sell them, update the M3 MBP's in November, then launch M3 13/15" next spring.

 

[SevLucas]

Very enticed to buy this when it comes out, but I can't be the only one that's still bothered by the notch on these new machines.. Am I? Yeah? Oh okay.

 

[v0lume4]

8GB base memory still? That means $200 to upgrade to 16GB.

And the base model will have the slow 256GB SSD too.

Oh, Apple....

It's unforgivable at this point.

 

[v0lume4]

Very enticed to buy this when it comes out, but I can't be the only one that's still bothered by the notch on these new machines.. Am I? Yeah? Oh okay.

Not at all. It's a blemish on an otherwise beautiful machine. And an intentional, boneheaded engineering decision.

 

[v0lume4]

The 15" Air is going to be the product of the year.

 

[surfzen21]

I’m in love with my M2 air, it’s the best Mac I’ve ever owned by far. Im gonna have this thing for a long long time. I even throw some light blender and Logic and it performs like a champ. 16gb of ram is a must though, 8gb is a joke even for light users in 2023.

I personally find the 13” to be the perfect size, but I know so many who want a bigger screen and don’t need more than an air. This is going to be a huge hit. M1, M2, M3 doesn’t really matter for this product all of them are overkill for the target audience, to those it matters will be getting a pro anyway.

I had a 15” 2016 before this, and between the size and the awful keyboard I ended up selling it after a year and went back to my trusty 13” 2013”. This M2 feels like a perfect evolution of the 2013 model I loved so dearly, and that’s probably one of the reasons I like it so much.

And that's part of my dilemma. Once I add 16gb of ram and 1TB of storage I'm basically at the pro price and with the pro I will get a better screen. I don't need something ultra light and portable. The new 14 in Pro will be lighter than my current MacBook Pro.

I do, however, really like the midnight color.

 

[Mr. Dee]

It's not anymore how much power it has, it's about how much power it can deliver at the minimum wattage possible.

And for Star Bucks, Word documents and Chrome tabs, it should be enough. What it really removes is the expensive compromise of having to spend over 2k to get a bigger screen.

 

[aliasfox]

Wow, is it finally happening? After over a decade of "Apple's totally gonna release a 15-inch MacBook Air this year, pinky promise" rumors, is the 15-inch MBA finally becoming a reality? 😯

(sees Mark Gurman's name) Oh... never mind.

Oh please. I'm still waiting for Apple to release the PowerBook G5. It's been 20 years, so any day now.

 

[GMShadow]

The current M2 products are as follows:

Mac14,7 - 13" MBP M2
Mac14,5/9 - 14" MBP M2
Mac14,6/10 - 16" MBP M2
Mac14,2 - 13" MBA M2
Mac14,3/12 - Mac Mini M2

And this is Mac15,3? Yeah, I'm sure Apple just incremented the major version number for no reason and it's totally staying with M2.


(and before someone asks, the Mac Studio is Mac13,1/2).

 

[sw1tcher]

... but I can't be the only one that's still bothered by the notch on these new machines.. Am I? Yeah? Oh okay.

No big deal.

Still better than Dynamic Island

 

[kalafalas]

And that's part of my dilemma. Once I add 16gb of ram and 1TB of storage I'm basically at the pro price and with the pro I will get a better screen. I don't need something ultra light and portable. The new 14 in Pro will be lighter than my current MacBook Pro.

I do, however, really like the midnight color.

I have a 14” pro for work and I’m quite surprised at how similar the displays are (unless you’re watching hdr content which is impossible to find on the Mac). The contrast, colors, and brightness blow me away compared to even my old 13” M1 Pro I had before the 14” for work, and unless you’re in a pitch black room you won’t be able to tell which one is miniLED. I esp love how dim it gets compared to older macs. You only notice the resolution difference if doing pixel-perfect art, which you’ll want the better chip for anyway. All that said, I do wish it had promotion. And the air is dramatically lighter than the pro, I can stick it in my messenger bag and forget it’s there but my pro is a hardcover novel. Unelss you really need the performance of the chip, I wouldn’t let the display stop you from getting the air until OLED comes around.

 

[greenbreadmmm]

Forgive if I'm being dense, but this doesn't prove the m3 isnt coming in the 15" air, rather the m3 isn't increasing in cores/ram, correct?

 

[kalafalas]

So A17 will be the first, as always, then ipads and macs

M3 will be based on A16, but I doubt we will see yearly updates like we do the phone chips. Going from intel to a series was the big jump, now it’s iterative again.

 

[crsh1976]

Seems like we're overthinking this, it's likely just going to be a 15-inch version of the current M2 MBA.

If Apple wants to be fancy, they will offer a higher variant of it with a basic M2 Pro like they did with the Mini, but I wouldn't hold my breath considering that would be encroaching on MBP territory.

 

[sw1tcher]

The report indicates that the chip in the new MacBook Air configuration spotted in the logs has an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, just like the M2 chip, along with 8GB of RAM.

The new Air is also listed with a display resolution equal to that of the 14-inch MacBook Pro.

A 13" MBA M2 8-core/8-core with 16GB / 512GB is $1599
A 13" MBA M2 8-core/10-core with 16GB / 512GB is $1699
A 14" MBP M2 Pro 10-core/16-core with 16GB / 512GB is $1999

A 15" MBA M2 8-core/10-core with 16GB / 512GB will probably put this at $1999

If so, wouldn't it then make better sense to just get a 14" MBP instead?

 

[kalafalas]

Very enticed to buy this when it comes out, but I can't be the only one that's still bothered by the notch on these new machines.. Am I? Yeah? Oh okay.

Just set a dark wallpaper and forget it exists

 

[TheHareBear]

Oh please. I'm still waiting for Apple to release the PowerBook G5. It's been 20 years, so any day now.

Inside rumour has them out next Tuesday

 

[Dave245]

It makes sense for Apple to use the M2 chip, the average consumer isn't going to be bothered about the latest and greatest chip. The M2 is fast enough for most people, especially the target audience of the MacBook Air. Those who want more power and want the latest and greatest chipset will get the Pro.

I also think WWDC is going to be packed enough as it is with all the software announcements, plus a new OS for the headset and the VR headset itself is rumoured to be announced. This 15" MacBook Air could be announced via a press resale at any time now "The MacBook Air now in a 15" size" is all Apple have to say really, especially if the screen will be the same (just bigger) and the overall specs are the same as the current Air.

 

[prime17569]

The current M2 products are as follows:

Mac14,7 - 13" MBP M2
Mac14,5/9 - 14" MBP M2
Mac14,6/10 - 16" MBP M2
Mac14,2 - 13" MBA M2
Mac14,3/12 - Mac Mini M2

And this is Mac15,3? Yeah, I'm sure Apple just incremented the major version number for no reason and it's totally staying with M2.


(and before someone asks, the Mac Studio is Mac13,1/2).

I was going to say the exact same thing. This is almost certainly an M3-based product.

In any case, 8 GB of RAM is far too small for 2023. The default should be 16 by now. Unless this is an effort by Apple to forcefully keep their software memory-efficient.

 

[Dydegu]

If you’re in the market for an Air, you don’t need whatever incremental increase M3 will bring.

You buy it because it’s lightweight, fanless, has a larger screen, and comes in cool colors. If you’re worried about processing speeds and saving seconds off of your video file export, buy a Pro.

 

[sw1tcher]

In any case, 8 GB of RAM is far too small for 2023. The default should be 16 by now. Unless this is an effort by Apple to forcefully keep their software memory-efficient margins high.

Yes. Seems about right.