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15-Inch MacBook Air With M2-Like Chip Spotted in Developer Logs
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M2 is about 10 % faster than M1, while among their iPhone contemporaries, A14 is about 10 % faster than A12. So nothing wrong with M2 in particular. Speed increases of 5 % per year could be the new normal. Of course, Apple might wow us with the next generation of chips, due to the die size shrink.
Believe Apple when they announce it. All else is speculation.
But as the first processor for a laptop or desktop, you'd hope for slightly more gain with the second model, especially as it was a lot longer than a year between M1 and M2...
Retro @ the first day 😂"M2-like"? "On par with M2"? "Or a very similar chip"? What is THAT?
M2+? M2.5? M2 Junior Pro? (Or borrowing from AT&T 5G marketing before actual 5G) M2 Evolution? M1 Nitro/XL/Deluxe/<other marketing suffix>?
I know a few people here are a bit annoyed that it’s not going to be an M3 model.
But what is the M3 going to offer that’s not available with the M2?
Ok, it will be a bit faster, but the M2 is already very fast. The M1 is already fast enough for most people.
It will have longer battery life. But the M2 and M1 already have class leading battery life with x86 machines nowhere near them.
I guess it’ll have more graphics cores? But would you really buy an MBA if you’re bothered about graphics?
The point that I’m making is that people who are concerned about there not being an M3 MBA+ are probably in the market for a MBP.
The MBA has always prioritised thinness and lightness - not necessarily processor speed.
It’s only with the advent of the Mx chips that all Macs inherit fast processor power and excellent battery life, as a given.
But what is the M3 going to offer that’s not available with the M2?
Ok, it will be a bit faster, but the M2 is already very fast. The M1 is already fast enough for most people.
It will have longer battery life. But the M2 and M1 already have class leading battery life with x86 machines nowhere near them.
I guess it’ll have more graphics cores? But would you really buy an MBA if you’re bothered about graphics?
The point that I’m making is that people who are concerned about there not being an M3 MBA+ are probably in the market for a MBP.
The MBA has always prioritised thinness and lightness - not necessarily processor speed.
It’s only with the advent of the Mx chips that all Macs inherit fast processor power and excellent battery life, as a given.
While thinness has its fans, we are still not marketing a iPad but a MBA laptop, and so as it gets larger, it’s important to be very comfortable to hold/use as well as not lose its surviability attributes if one buys sione kind of slip case or hard shell that prevents accidental drop damage when carrying it everywhere. I look forward to see how this larger 15” form factor works out.
8GB base memory still? That means $200 to upgrade to 16GB.
And the base model will have the slow 256GB SSD too.
Oh, Apple....
I know 8GB/256GB on a 15 inch Macbook in 2023 is criminal - very sad that Apple relies on the loyality of its customer to push such antics.
I don’t think some people realize how big of a deal this is. It’s taken over a decade for us to get a larger portable Mac that isn’t top of the line “Pro” power. Apple Silicon is so powerful and efficient that there are those of us who could do the 16” MBP size but with a base M2 and a storage bump.
It’s been a LONG wait, but it sounds like we are FINALLY getting there.
And how about the possibility of more color choices? Seriously awesome 😎
It’s been a LONG wait, but it sounds like we are FINALLY getting there.
And how about the possibility of more color choices? Seriously awesome 😎
Yes that’s one way to look at it. Still even if it’s larger will it be in the long term any better to use then the smaller 13.6” MBA for mobile users such as commuters using trains, planes? This is based on what people decided when selecting 14” versus 16” MBP never mind the weight. I was still hoping that if this works out they look smaller like 12” size for a fully functional MB AS platform can represent a serious product not a toy like the Intel platform examples From previous years.
The Pros have a higher pixel density than the Airs, so this does make sense.
Assuming no one is buying the M2? I see a complete rebranding of apple silicon incoming.
They will drop $99 off everything or add free lowest tier airpods. The M2 MacBook air should be $999 and the M1 air $699. Imagine how many more machines they would sell. How many more people they would bring into the eco system and the massive amount of new service subscribers they would gain. Apple is shooting itself in the foot and knowingly doing it. There is absolutely NO REASON for the prices right now. Apple feels completely out of touch with society. They want to look hip and cool. But younger generations don't give a sh*t about any of that if they can’t afford it.
Tim Cooke has to go. Under him I’ve seen my apple shares soar a few times. But I’ve lost more money in the last three years with apple than any company I’m currently investing in.
Tim has to go.
And the company needs to completely re evaluate its pricing to come in line with reality.
The days of making 60% profit are gone. When windows and android are continuing to integrate the walled off apple garden will shrink.
I’ve already decided to switch to android after my 14PM takes a poop. I loath the dynamic island. And Siri feels dumber and dumber with every use.
I’m seeing apple rebrand the entire apple silicon lineup. No one wants the M2 series. Intel and AMD offer the same performance for fractions of the price, fractions of the repair cost, and actual expandability. Which apple has all but sank into the bottom of the ocean.
It turns out people WANT expandability, be WANT to be able to repair a laptop when a single stick of ram dies, and not have to replace the entire logic board. People want more storage, and externals are great. But why in gods name does a 1TB hard drive cost $450 more in a 16” MacBook Pro than it does in a 17” MSI rendering laptop? ( and the msi has a faster read write and can be upgraded and replaced ) apple set itself down a path to failure.
From a Macworld article.
Bloomberg reported this week that the MacBook Air in testing has a processor ”on par with” the M2 in the 13-inch MacBook Air. That’s a great chip with fantastic performance, but there are also rumors that there could be an M2 Pro option like the Mac mini.
Compared to the M2 chip in the 13-inch MacBook Air, Apple’s M2 Pro chip is 20 percent faster in CPU and 30 percent faster in GPU performance. Early reports about the 15-inch MacBook Air stated that Apple may offer an M2 Pro option, with an M2 standard configuration. If that’s so, that’s a huge boost over the current Air.
The performance gains may not sound like much, and most folks won’t feel the difference in everyday use. But users whose work is data intensive need every bit of processing power they can get, and the boost from the M2 Pro can save a lot of time.
However, could Apple use its new M3 chip instead of an M2 Pro? A recent report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said that Apple “wants to put its Mac-grade processors on an annual upgrade cycle like the A-series chips in the iPhone,” but it’s probably a little too early for the M3 to arrive. Still, it’s an intriguing notion.
The M3 supposedly offers up to 20 percent faster over a M2.
Bloomberg reported this week that the MacBook Air in testing has a processor ”on par with” the M2 in the 13-inch MacBook Air. That’s a great chip with fantastic performance, but there are also rumors that there could be an M2 Pro option like the Mac mini.
Compared to the M2 chip in the 13-inch MacBook Air, Apple’s M2 Pro chip is 20 percent faster in CPU and 30 percent faster in GPU performance. Early reports about the 15-inch MacBook Air stated that Apple may offer an M2 Pro option, with an M2 standard configuration. If that’s so, that’s a huge boost over the current Air.
The performance gains may not sound like much, and most folks won’t feel the difference in everyday use. But users whose work is data intensive need every bit of processing power they can get, and the boost from the M2 Pro can save a lot of time.
However, could Apple use its new M3 chip instead of an M2 Pro? A recent report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said that Apple “wants to put its Mac-grade processors on an annual upgrade cycle like the A-series chips in the iPhone,” but it’s probably a little too early for the M3 to arrive. Still, it’s an intriguing notion.
The M3 supposedly offers up to 20 percent faster over a M2.
No, they don't. If they did, we never would have got down this road to what we have now. Macs lost the ability to upgrade RAM well before the M1 came along.
Modern electronics has been all about size, weight, speed, etc... not expandability. People just want convenience, nothing more (and not the convenience of expandability or repair).
Yes I'm generalizing here, but I'm talking about what the majority of people care about. I don't like it either, but it's the reality of the situation. I doubt anything will change any time soon.
...so that you can experience that Apps UI burn-in and not be able to use your laptop outdoors, which is like the whole idea of laptop mobility? Good thinking.
Just because there is some sort of new technology out there, it doesn't necessarily make it practical in all applications.
I would kinda understand if you wanted to wait for microLED though.
Let's face it people. It's too soon for M3. First we'll see it in an iPad, along with new chips for the iphones just before christmas or a bit earlier and then M3 laptops (so probably Q1 2024). The only machine that would make sense to distort the order of release and get M3 sooner is a Mac Pro, to have an edge on all the other Apple products, although seeing how Macs sales are plummeting in general, I wouldn't hold my breath for that either - at this point Mac Pro can drop next year as well or even come in a form of rebranded M3 Mac Studio - Tim Cook is good with counting money and if anything makes Mac a "Pro" at this point, is a Mac case with swappable "brain" unit and graphic card slot. This is a huge R&D undertaking and our current 2022 computer market is not the best climate for that kind of investment. Alternative is Mac Studio line rebranded as Mac Pro for M3 release.
This being said, I'm stuck with my Late 2014 27" 5K iMac for yet another year I regret not buying M1 when it first dropped, buying M2 right now seems like a bad investment in the long run. Sigh
This being said, I'm stuck with my Late 2014 27" 5K iMac for yet another year
I regret not buying M1 when it first dropped, buying M2 right now seems like a bad investment in the long run. SighThat MacBook Pro is so chubby with all kinds of gpu capability only a small percentage need, they know the 15 air will sell like hotcakes no matter what, so they can save the m3 for another selling point. I wouldn’t be surprised if they argued this topic as much as we do. (Because the efficiency/power balance of an m3 within an Air is a perfect combination.)
It's nice to read a lot of sanity in this thread, for a change. It's a pity Apple is taking advantage of the loyalty they built up over such a long period. Losing my last MacBook Air because RAM died was infuriating, especially when the Time Machine backup I had proved to be useless. I'd happily take the performance impact to have removable storage and RAM. I doubt the day to day impact is noticeable anyway- my partner's gaming laptop has removable components and it handily outperforms Apple's top end offerings in data science tasks.
OLED screen ?
Latest bluetooth & wifi standard//5.3 and wifi6e support
More graphic cores( why not? )
a better passive cooling (liquid metal or smth) ?
The fact Apple removed the ability to cheaply repair devices doesn't mean people WANTED Apple to remove the ability. In a device like the MacBook Pro you could easily fit removable RAM, storage and an easier to remove battery with no added thickness.