If that means they both get M3, then I don't mind a slight delay for the 15 inch's arrival...
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Gurman: New 13-Inch and 15-Inch MacBook Airs Likely to Launch by Summer
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"Consumers" is what this model would be aimed at, so makes sense to give it an M2 to both keep the price low(er) and to protect the 16" MacBook Pro (which likely will not see M3 Pro/Max until Q4 2023 or Q1 2024).
That SoC is going into the 2023 Mac Pro.
MacBook Air is the significant majority of all Mac sales so it is the one model that makes sense to give regular updates since the sales and replacement/upgrade cycles are the strongest so you always want something "fresh and new" to drive both.
Not until the 16" MacBook Pro gets OLED.
Sounds like a way to protect the 16" MacBook Pro.
I wonder if apple feels compelled to offer a 15" MBA because the 16" MBP is so darn heavy?? 🤷♂️
I think it has more to do with the same thinking behind the 14 Plus: people want bigger screens, but they don't want to pay "Pro" prices.
We shall see. Even if it’s a little lighter, I’ll be fine. I also hate how hot it gets doing light stuff on it.
It would be interesting to see how many of the smallest SSD units they even manufacture? I can't imagine many people buy the base model. I think they just want to be able to advertise a low starting price.
On the other hand I suppose some people just use external storage. IMO the smallest SSD offered should be at least 512GB. Anything less is just silly.
Same here, very happy with my MPB 14" M2 but main USP is the fantastic XDR 120Hz screen.The 15" Air would be a Day One buy for me, regardless of the chip...if it had mini LED.
The MacBook Pro I have is definitely overkill for me. I don't need all this processing power or RAM. And I'd love to have a lighter-weight laptop that does everything I'd need it to do. Unfortunately, I've been using this incredibly beautiful mini LED display for over a year now and there's no way I could go back to a standard LCD.I feel the same about the 14 Plus. I don't need the enormous camera bump and I'd love to get a thinner, lighter phone. But I can't go back to 60 Hz. If they ever bring more advanced displays to their "entry-level" products I'll consider switching. For now, it has to be "Pro" for me.
I could really use $120K. Guess I'll go buy an M2 MBA then. Thanks for the tip!
Back in 2015-2017, lots of folks loved the 12" form factor enough to sacrifice performance and battery life.
With Apple's M-series silicon, there's no need for sacrifices.
I'd gladly buy one for on-the-go in addition to my main Macbook. I'm sure I'm far from the only one who would do this.
This flip flopping between M2 and M3 and 13 and 15 was not on my Gurman bingo card. 🥱
Does anyone think they would put an M3 in an update release 13in and the M2 in a completely new model 15in
😵
What in the................
Does anyone think they would put an M3 in an update release 13in and the M2 in a completely new model 15in
😵
What in the................
If Apple puts an M2 into the 15" MBA and an M3 into the 13" MBA, it'll be a giant slap in the face to everyone who buys the 15" machine.
Of course, Apple knows many will buy the 15" machine anyway, so they might just do it, and hold the 15" M3 back until 2024 just to be a d*ck.
But the next 13" MBA will definitely get an M3, otherwise people have little reason to buy it over the current M2 MBA.
Of course, Apple knows many will buy the 15" machine anyway, so they might just do it, and hold the 15" M3 back until 2024 just to be a d*ck.
But the next 13" MBA will definitely get an M3, otherwise people have little reason to buy it over the current M2 MBA.
Diffidently, the recent energy efficient AS SoC's could make a perfect 12" MB/MBA now. Before with intel processors it would be something anemic comparably stuck to using a 2017 1.3GHz dual-core Intel Core in the last 12" MB offered.
What this article indicates is that Mark Gurman doesn't know anything more than the rest of us. Just educated guesses...
Very true.
But what appealed to most folks about the M2 MBA was not that it had an M2 chip: the M1 was already plenty powerful for most typical MBA buyers.
The M2 MBA was an exciting upgrade because it was the first totally new form factor for a Macbook Air in over 10 years. It came with magsafe, a brighter (and slightly larger) display, and better webcam.
It makes sense to me that Apple would update the M2 MBA to M3 with very few other changes. (Maybe WiFi6E?)
Yep. And it sounds like Gurman needs to put the pipe down as well.
The M3 is going to be based on the A17, which is coming in September. There's absolutely no way they will introduce the M3 3-4 months before the iPhone event.
1000 nit sustained XDR MiniLED displays use much more battery capacity, specially the larger the display is. Thats is going away from Air lightness to a 14"/16" MBP. Perhaps eventually you'll see a OLED display used.
Why would it be 1000 nit sustained?
On the contrary, the mini-LEDs enable local dimming and therefore require less battery.
Thats a comparison to screen specs involving the 11"/12.9" IPad Pros, and the 14"/16" MBP that use mini-LED backlighting to allow full HDR. The OLED displays in the latest iPhones are 1000 nits max brightness (typical); 1600 nits peak brightness (HDR); 2000 nits peak brightness (outdoor). The current 13.6" MBA LCD is a normal 500 nits LCD LED backlit screen. Do you expect a 15.5" MBA to cost noticeably more, then you start to compare it directly to both the MBPs IMHO. Below is a article to see if anyone uses mini-LED in a PC laptop for power efficiency, compared to going to OLED.
Mini LED laptops - the complete list (and best gaming/work options)
In this article, we're discussing the laptops available in stores with mini LED displays.
www.ultrabookreview.com
Pros and Cons – Why would you want a mini LED laptop?
As explained above, mini LED panels are highly versatile on laptops because:- they allow for richer blacks and better contrast than regular LED IPS panels;
- can get very bright in both SDR and HDR mode, with pretty much all options going over 1000 nits in HDR;
- the most advanced options still offer fast refresh rates (up to 240 Hz) and response times (down to 3 ms, with Overdrive), making them well suited for gaming;
- these panels do not suffer from the burn-in, black crush, or the other inconveniences of OLEDs;
- can be implemented on either matte or glossy displays, unlike OLEDs, which are all glossy.
Pros and Cons – The quirks of the mini LED technology
At the same time, there are also some particularities and quirks that you should be aware of when choosing a mini LED display on your laptop:- mini LEDs suffer from vignetting around the edges, due to the fact that the zones at the edge of the panel are each lit by only two LEDs, and not by four as all the others. This is especially noticeable on white content at higher brightness levels;
- mini LEDs can suffer from blooming when white content is displayed over black content (such as with movie subtitles) or the other way around. This is less pronounced on options with a denser array of LEDs;
- because the process of local dimming is controlled through software, certain mini LED panels might experience ghosting (motion trailing) when switching between dark and white content. This is especially noticeable in the mini LED panels with slower refresh and response times;
- uniformity can be problematic on certain mini LED panels, especially when set up at lower brightness levels; this is mostly visible on the options with fewer mini LED sources (those with less than 1000 dimming zones);
- finally, mini LED panels are expensive, and tend to be only bundled with the highest-tier configurations of most laptops. Thus, they might not be within rich for most buyers.
Yeah, but I don’t see why the 15-inch Air would get mini-LED anyway. They seem to be using it as a differentiator for the Pro.
Either way: at similar brightness, mini-LED will draw less power, because it can dim more zones.
Is it? I know that Mini LED is LCD. I haven't been able to find resources indicating that MicroLED is also LCD.
I suppose it depends on whether you define it as “each pixel gets its own backlight zone” (my assumption; a natural progression of mini-LED) or “each pixel is actually an RGBLED; there is no more backlight and no panel in front of it” (much more like OLED).
Personally I highly doubt a new 13” is coming by the summer… that would mean M3 launching right around the time an M2 Mac Pro launches seems a bit off… plus it hasn’t even been 12 months since the latest Air came out…
Personally I think we will get a 15” Air in the next few weeks as a site refresh/mini event with M2… then M3 will launch later this year probably in October/November in the iMac and Mac mini and possibly the 13” MacBook Pro if they decide to keep it lingering around or give it a design refresh…. Then they will bring M3 to the Airs next Spring… with the higher end M3 chips coming mid-late 2024.
Personally I think we will get a 15” Air in the next few weeks as a site refresh/mini event with M2… then M3 will launch later this year probably in October/November in the iMac and Mac mini and possibly the 13” MacBook Pro if they decide to keep it lingering around or give it a design refresh…. Then they will bring M3 to the Airs next Spring… with the higher end M3 chips coming mid-late 2024.