Apple should make a 14" Air

[awshucks]

Hot take Apple should make the base MacBook Air 14". It still wouldn't be bigger than the pre-Retina Airs. I guess then they'd either discontinue the 15" or make a 16" Air, and bring the base M-series chip to the 16" Pro to make it more affordable in order for people to still buy the Pro. Or not, since the 15 inch Air is not the greatest selling Mac. What do you think? I'd love to hear some opinions on my take.

 

[krspkbl]

14" and 17"

15" is too small. I hated using it. Literally just sold my 15" Air today. If I ever get a MacBook again it will be the MBP 16" but I do wish they'd bring back the 17". I suppose if they did then 17" would be kept for the MBP. Air could move to 16"

 

[glambutnerdy]

I'd love a return of the 13 inch Pro. Lol

That, and replaceable SSD's. I refuse to buy a modern MacBook solely for that reason.

 

[JPack]

They should, but they don’t because of marketing reasons. Same reason why iPad Air is only 10.9-inches while Pro is 11.

 

[helloapple1]

Agreed. Would love a 14.6" MBA or something around there.

 

[McScooby]

They should, but they don’t because of marketing reasons. Same reason why iPad Air is only 10.9-inches while Pro is 11.

Is the Air not 11" & 13"?

 

[JPack]

Is the Air not 11" & 13"?

No, check the specs.

 

[McScooby]

No, check the specs.

Mental!🤯

 

[Apple_Robert]

I tried the 15" Air and decided it was too big. I sold it and went back to the 13" Air. I also had the 14" MBP which was nice but, I decided I didn't need all the bells and whistles.

 

[gregmac19]

I tried the 15" Air and decided it was too big. I sold it and went back to the 13" Air.

What was too big? I am curious, because I am trying to decide between the 13” and 15”.

 

[Apple_Robert]

What was too big? I am curious, because I am trying to decide between the 13” and 15”.

Too big for the lap and carrying back and forth. For me, the 13" feels so much better in hand and on the lap.

 

[Happy_John]

The current 13” MBA really is the perfect size for a “bring everywhere” laptop. I wouldn’t change it.

I’m not sure changing the 15” to 16” ( and again the ‘inches’ are marketing. Ot’s not exactly N inch difference ) would make any noticeable difference.

Calling for a huge MacBook is calling to bring back the equivalent of the 17” MacBook - but with an ever bigger screen as bezels have shrunk - and I don’t know it that’s feasible - the 17” did have an ibsensely big screen in it’s day, but it was NOT a very portable machine, personally, I felt the keyboard looked weird because the proportions were off.

I,m not sure if it would sell. - If you want a big, but less portable screen, it would make sense just to plug the MacBook into n external monitor, then unplug when you want to be portable.

And, if your wan5 a huge screen and be mobile at the same time, at some point the price of headsets / VR glasses will drop to be. VALID OPTION ( I don’t mean Vision Pro, I mean „dumb glasses” that are simply displaying video from another device and have some very basic controls)

I could see the MacBook Air screen switching from 13” / 15” to 14” / 16”, but not because the agila is to make the screen bigger - it might happen when the MBP gets an OLED screen and the current ProMotion screenys Apple put in the MBP are recycled into use in MBAs.

 

[throAU]

If you want more screen real estate than a 15-16" machine, either plug in a monitor or run sidecar off a 13" ipad.

 

[Happy_John]

No, check the specs.

Apple shrunk everything except the screen, the keyboard and the trackpad.

The form factor of an M2 or higher 13” MBA is barely more than the 11” non-Retina MBA, the same with the 15” MBA and old 13” MBA.

So I can understand why many long term MBA users’ brains think 13” when they see a 15”.

MBAs have gotten a hell of a lot smaller. At this point 12” would orally be the smallest screen size Apple could on a laptop while having their standard Mac keyboard size.

 

[MBAir2010]

I still use that MBAir2010 11.?" and yes that screen is small in 2025 compared to 2010.
although one night at an outdoor tavern in 2012 a bunch of hockey fans had to gather around my table
to watch a Stanley cup final game on that screen since the TVs satellites reception went out.

I forgot who won.......

 

[Happy_John]

If you want more screen real estate than a 15-16" machine, either plug in a monitor or run sidecar off a 13" ipad.

My wife has has had an 13” iPad Pro as her main work machine for a few years (pencil makes more sense than a keyboard for a lot of the work she does) and this years she upgraded from a 2015 13” MBA to a 13” M4 MacBook Air ( for the admin / paperwork part of her job).

I have to say, given the form factor of the new MBA and of her iPad Pro, using sidecar is extremely satisfying on the eyes. With the iPad on a stand beside the MacBook, it looks and feels like a “proper” desktop workstation setup.

It’s a better (if more extensive) portion for her than a MBA ( or even Pro) with one huge screen, as you’ve a lot more flexibility, depending on on what you want to get done.

 

[MBAir2010]

pencil makes more sense than a keyboard for a lot of the work she does) using sidecar is extremely satisfying on the eyes.

can she, you recommend a specific application for drawing on the iPad and editing on a MacBook M series?
I use affinity on the MacBook which does not sidecar from the iPad, gen 10.

my situation is I draw comics on an app that tis only for the iPad,
then save them to the MBA for publication and duplicate/storing purposes.

thanks in advance!

 

[Happy_John]

can she, you recommend a specific application for drawing on the iPad and editing on a MacBook M series?
I use affinity on the MacBook which does not sidecar from the iPad, gen 10.

my situation is I draw comics on an app that tis only for the iPad,
then save them to the MBA for publication and duplicate/storing purposes.

thanks in advance!

Wy wife's not an illustrator - she's a mathematician, so for her the essential app on iPad is Goodnotes 6, and it syncs across to MacOS automatically ( a single license allows you to use the app over all platforms). It's not a professional illustration app though, it has SOME drawing tools but it's more aimed for notes, presentations, brainstorming, online meetings etc, - a good balance of handwritten text, text converted into "text", doodles, quick graphs etc. It's also quite customisable.

For more accurate drawing / illustration work, ProCreate is THE app on iPad, but there's no MacOS version. :-(. You could draw in ProCreate and then export to a different product on the MacOS, but I guess you're already swopping between apps already, so this isn't the perfect solution for you.

Sketchbook is on both iPadOS and MacOS, it's not as fully featured as ProCreate, but it does work seamlessly across the platforms.

Away from specific use-cases, I'd argue that, if you use any iPad with any pencil, and also use a Mac, Goodnotes is something you should have on both devices, just because it's very handy to have.

 

[throAU]

My wife has has had an 13” iPad Pro as her main work machine for a few years (pencil makes more sense than a keyboard for a lot of the work she does) and this years she upgraded from a 2015 13” MBA to a 13” M4 MacBook Air ( for the admin / paperwork part of her job).

I have to say, given the form factor of the new MBA and of her iPad Pro, using sidecar is extremely satisfying on the eyes. With the iPad on a stand beside the MacBook, it looks and feels like a “proper” desktop workstation setup.

It’s a better (if more extensive) portion for her than a MBA ( or even Pro) with one huge screen, as you’ve a lot more flexibility, depending on on what you want to get done.

Yup, i do sidecar with 14" pro and 11" iPad Air.

Next iPad will be a 13" pro to make it even better. It means i can take my multi-screen desktop setup wherever i like.

I already have the ipad for other reasons (note taking, sketching diagrams, etc.) so sidecar was a really nice value-add by Apple.

For me, a 14" pro and an ipad give me more screen real estate than a 16" macbook pro (and more importantly, 2x full screen apps side by side), and i'm carrying the ipad anyway so...

 

[batlogic]

Wy wife's not an illustrator - she's afatchematician, so for her the essential app on iPad is Goodnotes 6, and it syncs across to MacOS automatically ( a single license allows you to use the app over all platforms). It's not a professional illustration app though, it has SOME drawing tools but it's more aimed for notes, presentations, brainstorming, online meetings etc, - a good balance of handwritten text, text converted into "text", doodles, quick graphs etc. It's also quite customisable.

For more accurate drawing / illustration work, ProCreate is THE app on iPad, but there's no MacOS version. :-(. You could draw in ProCreate and then export to a different product on the MacOS, but I guess you're already swopping between apps already, so this isn't the perfect solution for you.

Sketchbook is on both iPadOS and MacOS, it's not as fully featured as ProCreate, but it does work seamlessly across the platforms.

Away from specific use-cases, I'd argue that, if you use any iPad with any pencil, and also use a Mac, Goodnotes is something you should have on both devices, just because it's very handy to have.

can she, you recommend a specific application for drawing on the iPad and editing on a MacBook M series?
I use affinity on the MacBook which does not sidecar from the iPad, gen 10.

my situation is I draw comics on an app that tis only for the iPad,
then save them to the MBA for publication and duplicate/storing purposes.

thanks in advance!

Hopefully this could help you

Affinity Designer 2 Help

 

[Happy_John]

Yup, i do sidecar with 14" pro and 11" iPad Air.

Next iPad will be a 13" pro to make it even better. It means i can take my multi-screen desktop setup wherever i like.

I already have the ipad for other reasons (note taking, sketching diagrams, etc.) so sidecar was a really nice value-add by Apple.

For me, a 14" pro and an ipad give me more screen real estate than a 16" macbook pro (and more importantly, 2x full screen apps side by side), and i'm carrying the ipad anyway so...

Matching the screen size makes it much better, so you'll notice the difference with the 13" iPad. Huh less jarring on your eyes and brain when you're constantly switching the screen you are looking at when working with both together.

And it's much for flexible and one big screen. Everything can go into a small backpack. An ipad, a laptop and the full on set-up.

 

[throAU]

And it's much for flexible and one big screen. Everything can go into a small backpack. An ipad, a laptop and the full on set-up.

Exactly. As i said i carry an ipad anyway for other things. And i can optionally not take either the ipad or the macbook if i want to travel light. A 15/16" macbook is a lot heavier than just carrying an iPad if i have a fairly light usage day planned.

Last time i did that was for a network training course. Cloud simulated network switches.

Was hilarious. Most of the other guys present had big pc gaming laptops and were faffing around with trying to find enough extension cords and adapters to run off AC power.

I ran the entire day and did all the cloud network courses off iPad Safari on battery without charging (didn't even bring my charger).


Multiple devices, instead of one big device (if you can make it work) rocks.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

The current 13” MBA really is the perfect size for a “bring everywhere” laptop. I wouldn’t change it.

I’m not sure changing the 15” to 16” ( and again the ‘inches’ are marketing. Ot’s not exactly N inch difference ) would make any noticeable difference.

Calling for a huge MacBook is calling to bring back the equivalent of the 17” MacBook - but with an ever bigger screen as bezels have shrunk - and I don’t know it that’s feasible - the 17” did have an ibsensely big screen in it’s day, but it was NOT a very portable machine, personally, I felt the keyboard looked weird because the proportions were off.

I,m not sure if it would sell. - If you want a big, but less portable screen, it would make sense just to plug the MacBook into n external monitor, then unplug when you want to be portable.

And, if your wan5 a huge screen and be mobile at the same time, at some point the price of headsets / VR glasses will drop to be. VALID OPTION ( I don’t mean Vision Pro, I mean „dumb glasses” that are simply displaying video from another device and have some very basic controls)

I could see the MacBook Air screen switching from 13” / 15” to 14” / 16”, but not because the agila is to make the screen bigger - it might happen when the MBP gets an OLED screen and the current ProMotion screenys Apple put in the MBP are recycled into use in MBAs.

I carried a 17" everywhere and simply liked having the extra real estate, worth the weight IMO. With today's/tomorrow's M5 tech Apple could build a 17" MBP that weighs about the same as the current 16" [16" being nominal, diagonal sizing] MBP does.

If Apple builds a 17" MBP I will preorder one with a nano-texture display and 128 GB RAM minimum [unless we are in a recession at the time, which current tariff craziness seems to make likely].

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Exactly. As i said i carry an ipad anyway for other things. And i can optionally not take either the ipad or the macbook if i want to travel light. A 15/16" macbook is a lot heavier than just carrying an iPad if i have a fairly light usage day planned.

Last time i did that was for a network training course. Cloud simulated network switches.

Was hilarious. Most of the other guys present had big pc gaming laptops and were faffing around with trying to find enough extension cords and adapters to run off AC power.

I ran the entire day and did all the cloud network courses off iPad Safari on battery without charging (didn't even bring my charger).


Multiple devices, instead of one big device (if you can make it work) rocks.

Any modern Mac laptop will easily go all day on battery.

 

[subjonas]

Size preference/weight tolerance is pretty subjective. So the logical thing for a company to do is to just try to cater to the most popular preferences with as few SKUs as possible. I don't think there's a way to know if 14" and 16" screens covers the MBA user preference spread better than 13" and 15" just from intuition, nor can I assume that my personal preference is the same as that of the average person. Best we could do is take a very small and not-so-random sample survey.