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Apple's Upcoming 15-Inch MacBook Air: What We Know

ApplesAreSweet&Sour said:
Apple ALWAYS ties specs, display size/quality, and price together exponentially to clearly and aggressively define the value of each product: The less you pay, the smaller display size you get and the less impressive specs.

The minute Apple does a low spec laptop with a display that's as big as the Pro devices, or a small display laptop with specs as good as the Pro device's, the value hierarchy is broken and total revenue will suffer tremendously.

1st Gen SE was not kept iPhone 5 size and style to appease the "small phone lover" demographic. It was kept small to not cannibalise iPhone 6S sales.

Apple cannot have two devices occupy the same "step" on the "value ladder".

This is the same reason why the "analyst predictions" of Apple doing a 5.5" iPhone 8 Plus SE 3rd for launch in 2022 was absolutely ridiculous and just as far-fetched as a 15" inch MacBook.

Look at the iPad lineup, it's the exact same strategy: The less you pay the smaller the specs and display, and vice versa.

What's next, a new 30" Studio Display to kill most Pro Display XDR sales?

Y'all are day dreaming big time with all these in-between devices. Apple has never done them and never will!
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That's very much not true.

The iPad mini, while only having a 7.8" screen is far more powerful than the basic iPad with it's 10.2" screen and is also a good deal more expensive.

The iPad Air has virtually the same size screen (at 10.9") as the iPad Pro 11".

The iPhone 13 and 13 Pro have the same screen size.

Back in the day, the 12" and 14" iBooks lived alongside the 12", 15" and 17" PowerBooks.

So not only has Apple done these "in-between" devices, they still do.
 
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Will be interesting to see how this will be place in the lineup price wise: the 13”M2 Air is only £150 cheaper than the 14” M1 Pro given the same specs: will a potential 15” Air cost as much as the more powerful Pro model? Would the extra portability be worth loosing performance, ports and the beautiful panel of the Pro models?
 
noraa said:
That's very much not true.

The iPad mini, while only having a 7.8" screen is far more powerful than the basic iPad with it's 10.2" screen and is also a good deal more expensive.

The iPad Air has virtually the same size screen (at 10.9") as the iPad Pro 11".

The iPhone 13 and 13 Pro have the same screen size.

Back in the day, the 12" and 14" iBooks lived alongside the 12", 15" and 17" PowerBooks.

So not only has Apple done these "in-between" devices, they still do.
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.. which is why I specifically wrote "size/quality"

-You're not going to get iPad Pro size or quality in the mid-tier iPads, iPad Air and mini. The same goes for iPhone 13 and 13 Pro -about same size display. But display quality is vastly inferior on the cheapest of the two.

Furthermore, Apple makes the mini a perfect step down from M1 Air by limiting the mini to A15 and 4GB, etc.

There are no in-between devices and thus no way to "game" Apple's product line-ups. It's all extremely well calculated and strategically planned out to have consumers clearly understand what value they are trading off by spending less than what the most expensive device is asking.

Sure, if you don't have a clue about just how little it costs Apple to make an iPhone SE 2022 versus a 13 Pro Max, or an M1 Air vs. M1 11" Pro, then obviously you're not going to grasp the value ladder fully and might think M1 Air is almost the same as a Pro. But it's still very real.

What your subjective perception tells you these products have in value is one thing. Maybe only an iPad mini makes sense for your particular use case. I don't know.

But that doesn't alter the market value of the components Apple has to buy to make them and how much more they are spending to make an M1 Air versus a 14" M1 MBP.

A 15" non-Pro MacBook could only happen if it's aesthetically and spec-wise much lower value than MacBooks Pro.
 
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I’m trying to wrap my head around where a 15in. MacBook Air, or MacBook, is supposed to fit it in.

A 15 would be very appealing to a lot of people particularly if it’s priced right. But where in the lineup is it supposed to fit in?

Currently you have M1 MBA, M2 MBA, M2 MBP then a big jump to MBP 14 and 16.

It’s not needed in the Pro line because you already have that covered. Could it be the eventual replacement for the current 13.3 MBP? Because presently what is the incentive for buying the 13.3 MBP over the new 13.6 M2 MBA except for those few people who absolutely need the performance edge of a fan cooled device and/or love the touchbar?
 
Tagbert said:
It would give them a small and large laptop in both their consumer line and their pro line. The differentiators would be price, performance, and features like mini-LED. Not complicated at all.
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Okay, I get it. So when are they going to reintroduce a 17", or 18" MacBook Pro. I'd love a much larger MBP. I'd hate to travel with it, but would love the size for 'consuming content', which seems to be my only reason for living apparently. HAH!
 
15.2“ and practically no bezels sounds like a PowerBook G4 Titanium with regards to footprint.

I think the fact that this is on the table likely means that the MacBook Pro line is going to push higher in price. As it is, the MBA‘s list price is very close to the 14” MBP’s sale price when both are equipped with 16/512 ($1,699 for MBA, as low as $1,750 for MBP), so a 15” MB would end up being more expensive, assuming a 16/512 configuration remains BTO only like on the 13” and thus unlikely to be discounted. If the 15” starts $200 more than the 13”, then even that price gap will disappear - you’ll end up with nearly equivalently sized machines, just the one with significantly less horsepower will actually end up being more expensive at retail.

The next revision of the MBP will likely then have to start at $2199 (or thereabouts) for this to make sense.

We’ll see. Also, let’s not forget that Apple sold five laptops in four sizes, at the same time, in the past: 12” and 14” iBooks were on the market with 12”, 15”, and 17” PowerBooks, and Apple sells a lot more these days.
 
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Wish Apple would just go back to MacBook and MacBook Pro. Time to drop the Air since the new model is just a regular 13 inch notebook size now.
 
I'm sure many of us Apple fans would love for Apple to drop the 'Air' thing, but it's just not going to happen.

Marketing is important to Apple and the 'MBA' moniker is WAY too recognizable for them to take it back.

It's clear Apple has settled into the Air/Pro combo for laptops.

iPads are a different story because the base iPad is the 'cheapest' computing device Apple sells.

Regardless of the name, I think a 15" MBA would be great and I hope this rumor is true.
 
lol, :apple: MacBook Air 13" 2012 i5 still works great :D
i just want larger screen and bigger SSD
and MagSafe, yes (or with adapter)
no ugly notch please
looking for used MBP 16" 2019, they going cheaper, but they are heavy
or MacBook Air 13" M1 2020 with still perfect design
 
Most of the laptops I see sold are in the &600-$800 CAN range and those are obviously Windows machines. People make the jump to a $1299 MacBook Air, and up, because they want/value the Apple experience. It needs to be said that when they make that jump they’re getting distinctly superior performance, battery life and longer expected service life over most any Windows laptop priced similarly or below.

Of course, they are losing the option of a larger 15in. display (which many people, particularly those older, like) as well as full keyboard with numeric keypad. But if Apple could give them that option without absurd pricing I think it could be a killer sales wise.
 
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Tagbert said:
I don’t see that there was consensus on this just that that was all that Apple was willing to provide in the consumer line of laptops. In the PC world 15” laptops are very popular. Lots of people want a larger screen, either because they want more workspace or they need things a little larger for their vision needs. They don’t need the power, weight, and cost of a 16” MBP. Just something a little bigger and a little more expensive than a 13” MBA. A 15” would be wider than a 13” but would not need to be significantly thicker and then the weight would still be less than the 14” MBP..
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I mean.. if you say so. In the parts of corporate space I've been in, the PC laptops have also been 13" for the most part.
 
A larger MacBook Air would be fantastic. Looking forward to this MacBook from Apple. Hopefully Apple launches it real soon. Hope Apple will not be pricing it high!
 
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svish said:
A larger MacBook Air would be fantastic. Looking forward to this MacBook from Apple. Hopefully Apple launches it real soon. Hope Apple will not be pricing it high!
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good luck with that, haha! 😂

(but yeah, agreed that a 15" consumer level Mac laptop would be great...)
 
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I now, finally, understand Apple's planned laptop lineup.

There will be 4 devices -- 13", 14", 15", and 16" MacBook Pros!

The Air has become a marketing slogan; nothing more, nothing less. They're simply giving more ports and such to the 14" and 16". With the "new" very old design of the M2 MBA, we now have four rectangular, squared-off front edge MBPs! 😎
 
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