Do you think Apple could release a 16" MBA ?

[Lwii2boo]

Hi everybody,

As mentioned, I would love to see a M2 MBA 16" in 2022 for instance since M1 I don't need plenty more CPU/GPU power.
What I would fully love is having improvement in display quality (like those in the pros !), ports and screen real estate. But i don't need more than M1 performance. What I want is silence, no fans, strong efficiency, not extreme CPU/GPU perf.

Since Apple should release a 6.7" Max "non-pro" iPhone in 2022, I was wondering if a big screen could be not a pro exclusive thing in the Macbook line-up ?

 

[fa8362]

No, they won't. The air is a mass market laptop. A 16" screen is not a mass market laptop feature. Too expensive for mass market.

 

[mosh.jinton]

You currently have to spend $2000 to get a screen bigger than 13", and $2500 for one bigger than 14". I know Apple want to push people towards those Pro models, but I think there's definitely a space for a 16" Air for people who want to do photo/video work or just have the extra screen space, but don't need an M1 Pro machine. I imagine they'd keep all the other advantages of the 14 and 16 inch Pros to those models though so it doesn't weaken the case for them.

 

[physicsguy13]

I don’t see that happening and it is one of the reasons that I went with the Pro. I probably don’t need the power for what I normally do, but this is my primary computer and I wanted a larger screen. I could have gone with an iMac, but there are times when I need to travel.

 

[UltimateSyn]

It is apparently something they have considered / are considering. https://www.macrumors.com/2021/02/23/apple-developing-15-inch-macbook-air/

I think it would sell like hotcakes but with the incredible power of the baseline M1 it may eat into their higher-end, 16" MBP sales way too much. I know Apple often 'doesn't care' about cannibalizing itself, but it could be significant...

 

[Pro Apple Silicon]

Nope, not a chance.

 

[Lwii2boo]

No, they won't. The air is a mass market laptop. A 16" screen is not a mass market laptop feature. Too expensive for mass market.

You are wrong, 15-16" is appealing to a lot of people. What can delay/stop this is simply cannibalization not market size.
Do you really think all Pro Max phone owners bought it only for camera or pro features ? A lot of them bought it for screen size. Exact same with previous MBP 15/16". Sure it's not true for everyone but if there is a lot of people willing to overpay just to get the screen size they want it's definitely means there is a real market for this.

Manufacturers tend to sell big screen size with big hardware to improve even more margin. Having 15-16" screen is convenient for a lot of people what is not is a huge price increase with components that most people will not 100% exploit. Apple is perfectly aware of that.

 

[fa8362]

You are wrong, 15-16" is appealing to a lot of people. What can delay/stop this is simply cannibalization not market size.
Do you really think all Pro Max phone owners bought it only for camera or pro features ? A lot of them bought it for screen size. Exact same with previous MBP 15/16". Sure it's not true for everyone but if there is a lot of people willing to overpay just to get the screen size they want it's definitely means there is a real market for this.

Manufacturers tend to sell big screen size with big hardware to improve even more margin. Having 15-16" screen is convenient for a lot of people what is not is a huge price increase with components that most people will not 100% exploit. Apple is perfectly aware of that.

I would think that reality should demonstrate to you that you're wrong. If you are right, where is the 16" macbook? They've had 14 years to produce it. Where is it?

 

[Salty Pirate]

I would be all over a larger size air w/M1 or M1 Pro chip.

I think a 15in air would be perfect.

 

[EnderTW]

Air won't get the M1 Pro due to thermal requirements but I don't see why they wouldn't do a larger screen Air.

It would give all the people on these forums who don't need a professional grade computer a very good computer with a larger screen. I'd be surprised if Apple doesn't do it here.

 

[DHagan4755]

Air won't get the M1 Pro due to thermal requirements but I don't see why they wouldn't do a larger screen Air.

It would give all the people on these forums who don't need a professional grade computer a very good computer with a larger screen. I'd be surprised if Apple doesn't do it here.

Right. They've clearly shown you can get the same performance in different size form factors with the iPads so why would that stop them on the Mac? Apple isn't afraid of cannibalization of their products since they're still buying Apple.

 

[Realityck]

Hi everybody,

As mentioned, I would love to see a M2 MBA 16" in 2022 for instance since M1 I don't need plenty more CPU/GPU power.

Given you have M1 based 13" MBP, I see no possibility of a much lighter 13" Air being as large as a 16" MBP. It seems Apple sees anyone wanting a larger sized laptop as being performance based, even if its the lowest cost M Pro 8/14 SoC.

Unfortunately the thermals involved won't permit a M Pro implementation, that not to say that there couldn't be a 13" Air with a M2 with reduced set of cores as in the M1 eventually.

 

[Lwii2boo]

I would think that reality should demonstrate to you that you're wrong. If you are right, where is the 16" macbook? They've had 14 years to produce it. Where is it?

Do you read my message or have any business sense ?
It's about cannibalization not feasibility.

Remember Apple is a trillion dollar company not your friend - they know perfectly well how to upsell and how to sell maximum volumes at the highest possible prices. If they don't want to build a MBA 16 it's because it would negatively impact mbp 16 sales which result to less money for them in total MacBook sales in $.

iPhone sizes has increased multiple times, it's perfectly possible that Apple reconsider it more seriously if they feel it can increase sales not reducing them.

 

[MF878]

In years past, I don’t think a 15”/16” Air would’ve made a lot of sense in the lineup because of how much price and performance overlap there would have been with the lower end 13” Pros. However, it sounds like the lineup next year could be eliminating an “affordable” Pro, looking something more like this:

MacBook Air (M1) - $999
MacBook ¿Air? (M2) - $1,299
MacBook Pro 14” - $1,999
MacBook Pro 16” - $2,499

In this scenario, there would potentially be room for a larger consumer-focused model with the same specs starting at $1,499. The rumour mill hasn’t inferred this though, and I don’t think it would be a priority for Apple right now. Also, if this did ever happen, I wouldn’t be surprised if the consumer model came in 13” and 15” sizes to differentiate them a bit more from the Pros.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

I don’t see it happening. If you want the 16” screen, you will have to go Pro. Just like the 12.9” iPad only being a Pro, I would assume the same will be for the MacBook Pro 16”.

 

[ascender]

They could, but I don't think they will. They're well aware that anybody who wants a larger Mac laptop has no choice but to spring for a 16" MBP.

I think its kind of nuts that anybody who wants more than a couple of ports or a larger screen needs to buy a MBP, especially now that the M1 chip is so capable.

 

[fa8362]

Do you read my message or have any business sense ?
It's about cannibalization not feasibility.

Remember Apple is a trillion dollar company not your friend - they know perfectly well how to upsell and how to sell maximum volumes at the highest possible prices. If they don't want to build a MBA 16 it's because it would negatively impact mbp 16 sales which result to less money for them in total MacBook sales in $.

iPhone sizes has increased multiple times, it's perfectly possible that Apple reconsider it more seriously if they feel it can increase sales not reducing them.

Feasibility was never the issue. If that was your question, then it was silly to begin with.

 

[GoodGuy313]

Given with the performance of the M1 on the Air and how SoC will evolve the entire lineup of Mac computers, I honestly think Apple should rebrand the ‘Macbook Air’ and call it just ‘Macbook’. The Air was basically touted as a thin ‘ultrabook’ for web, e-mails and light workload. Now, it is extremely more capable.

So, it would not be a far fetched idea if in the next few years you a have a laptop lineup of:

Macbook 13”
Macbook 15”

Macbook Pro 14”
Macbook Pro 16”

Although Apple might just keep the Air as a base 13” consumer friendly for the masses and the larger sizes for the Pro notebooks.

 

[Lwii2boo]

Feasibility was never the issue. If that was your question, then it was silly to begin with.

Sorry indeed, I missed this word on this, I meant market size as said in my very first reply to you.

Given with the performance of the M1 on the Air and how SoC will evolve the entire lineup of Mac computers, I honestly think Apple should rebrand the ‘Macbook Air’ and call it just ‘Macbook’. The Air was basically touted as a thin ‘ultrabook’ for web, e-mails and light workload. Now, it is extremely more capable.

So, it would not be a far fetched idea if in the next few years you a have a laptop lineup of:

Macbook 13”
Macbook 15”

Macbook Pro 14”
Macbook Pro 16”

Although Apple might just keep the Air as a base 13” consumer friendly for the masses and the larger sizes for the Pro notebooks.

Yes it's a good idea ! I would expect in the long term only 2 sizes (14/16"), it's an easier line-up to understand in 30sec for an average consumer and Apple has more economies of scale to reduce HW cost production.