Kuo: 15-Inch MacBook Air to Offer Two M2 Chip Options, No M2 Pro Configuration

[orbital~debris]

Not that the M3 likely wouldn't further optimise battery life versus performance, but this new portable Mac with a M2 silicon heart surely is going to offer considerably good battery life given that the increased physical footprint should allow for a larger cell.

 

[tweaknmod]

I really wish those magic beans I bought from that nice man in the woods would sprout that money tree already... it's been weeks, and I have gadgets to buy!

 

[AJB1971]

Based on the price differences between the Pro 14" and 16", my guess is that these will be $200/£200 more than the equivalent 13" models. That would see them starting at $1,399/£1,449.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

It wouldn't be able to be fanless if it offered a Pro chip. This is the 13" Air with a bigger screen. That's it. Like the difference between the two sizes of iPhones and MBPs: screen size and battery life.

 

[tmac3life]

I think this makes a lot of sense from a business perspective. When the M1 was first announced, I think it was wise to release the M1 in the lowest end models to work out the kinks before moving to expensive models. With M2, it seemed kinda strange that the Air got it first while the pros still had M1 models for several months (I know it was a more powerful M1 chip but still confusing to the average consumer). At this stage, I think it makes way more business sense to release M3 in the powerful models and then trickle them down to the cheaper models 6-12 months later (like Apple does with iPhone now).

 

[Mr. Dee]

The fact that even MKBHD is still using his M1 Max, suggest that not many are rushing to upgrade from their first gen Apple Silicon devices. Do you think some one with a M1 MacBook Air or Pro is gonna be rushing to upgrade? I have been saying it for a while now, a new MacBook is not in my rearview mirror until around 2025 or 2026.

 

[tmac3life]

But will it support dual display?

Unfortunately, likely no. It seems wild that in 2023, a laptop that costs more than $1,000 does not have dual monitor support

 

[bice]

That is the whole point. Significantly more screen real-estate and (likely) more battery life. Exactly like they do for the MacBook Pro's

What specifically were you expecting?

A bigger box allows for better passive heat dissipation.
A bigger box allows a bigger battery which allows a more power hungry CPU without affecting operation time.
A bigger box allows for more ports.

So I guess some people is expecting the bigger box to be utilised in some way other than just to fit a bigger screen.
Like a SD card reader, more TB ports and a CPU option that is not offered in the small screen laptop.

 

[ninethirty]

The fact that even MKBHD is still using his M1 Max, suggest that not many are rushing to upgrade from their first gen Apple Silicon devices. Do you think some one with a M1 MacBook Air or Pro is gonna be rushing to upgrade? I have been saying it for a while now, a new MacBook is not in my rearview mirror until around 2025 or 2026.

But people MUST have professional grade speeds on their casual MacBook Air. Don't you see?

 

[UMHurricanes34]

Apple NEEDS to kill the single monitor limitation on their notebook lineup. I want to buy Airs for our employees, but this is a serious drawback.

 

[emulajavi]

They criticized Intel when they released Macs with with a one-year-old Intel processors and now they do the same with a one-year-old M2 processor?!

 

[cdsapplefan]

They will announce at WWDC and then release right before “Back to School” time frame just like last year with the redesigned 13 inch MacBook Air 💻

 

[fourthtunz]

To be succeeded in short order by the M3.

yep got to clear out all those M2 chips first!

 

[CWallace]

most people will still wait for the M3 Apple

I expect the 15" M2 MBA to quickly become the second-most-popular Mac model (after the 13" M2 MBA).

Not saying its not a smart move, the problem is the M3 is a few months away from the 15 M2 MBA, which will make people either mad that they got an "outdated" device or will make them wait, so those M2 chips will still not sell
instead, they could just decrease the prices for the 8gb or make 16GB standard for the base price, that would be a better way of increasing sales for the M2

I don't think we will see M3 before next year. Even with Apple reported taking 100% of TSMC's 3nm production, that will likely be soaked up by the A17 for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.

My expectation is we will see a Mac event in Spring 2024 which will announce the M3 13" MacBook Air and 24" iMac and then the M3 Pro/Max/Ultra arriving in the MacBook Pro and refreshed Mac Studio around WWDC or the Fall.

(Mac Pro will be announced either at WWDC or via a Press Release / Media Event by the end of the year).



And to those who believe Apple has a massive stockpile of M2 SoCs lying around, Apple doesn't work that way. They are all about Just-in-Time inventory and that is why they are rumored to have temporarily halted production - so they would NOT have a huge stockpile of unsold SoCs lying around.

 

[fourthtunz]

I don't know why everyone is complaining about this not being an M3 computer. Last I looked M2, was pretty amazing.

If you need performance, you need a MPB.

This is for people who want a think and light flexible notebook (with very good battery life), but who'd like a slightly bigger screen (maybe they're doing creative work...

...Or maybe they're just getting old with worsening eyesight << me, sadly 😭.

According to some of the reviews on the M2, it overheats, so may be better to wait for the M3, which is faster and is cooler. But I wonder if Apple is going to give us a deal with this M2 and raise the price on the M3?

 

[ThisBougieLife]

The fact that even MKBHD is still using his M1 Max, suggest that not many are rushing to upgrade from their first gen Apple Silicon devices. Do you think some one with a M1 MacBook Air or Pro is gonna be rushing to upgrade? I have been saying it for a while now, a new MacBook is not in my rearview mirror until around 2025 or 2026.

Upgrades are going to be a lot less frequent with Apple Silicon. Everyone needs to stop freaking out about "plummeting Mac sales".

 

[fourthtunz]

Yes I am also the latter, but another facet is price price price. Want a reasonably priced larger screen and not something locked behind unneeded specs and $2-$3k or worse pricing

So what’s the pricing? What do you think? 1399 for the base model 256/8?

 

[jonjames505]

But will it support dual display?

This is what I'm holding out for. I'm still rocking my 2018 MBA with dual core i5. Because it pushes two external monitors in the home office. Blows my mind that feature is still missing from these new devices.

 

[iJon]

That means no dual monitors, so that's a bummer.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Apple halted the M2 chip production due to poor sales , so instead of using the M3 chip here they are using the left overs and try to profit from them
most people will still wait for the M3 Apple

Most people will see that Apple has a new more affordable big laptop for back to school 2023, and won’t give the slightest care what processor it’s using or what fabrication process it happens to be created on.
Hasn’t hurt the Apple Watch, hasn’t hurt the iPad, hasn’t hurt the iPhone, won’t hurt the Mac.

 

[fourthtunz]

The fact that even MKBHD is still using his M1 Max, suggest that not many are rushing to upgrade from their first gen Apple Silicon devices. Do you think some one with a M1 MacBook Air or Pro is gonna be rushing to upgrade? I have been saying it for a while now, a new MacBook is not in my rearview mirror until around 2025 or 2026.

Truth! The only reason I’d upgrade is for more screen, space more ram and a larger SSD
It’s certainly not because the M1 isn’t powerful enough.

 

[kzly]

pro chips are for macbook pros. We all knew that 15" would never fall under pro category, yet some people expected pro chips on 15"... They can hope for anything but hope they don't get seriously upset because they shouldn't..

 

[RedTheReader]

Dead on arrival for me. I really wanted something with a 15" screen that would be as performant (or slightly more) than the 14" MBP base I got in 2021 that already wasn't as powerful for it's size as some people liked to pretend it was.¹ The biggest advantage was always battery life, but it would be nice to have a more capable system in a similar weight class with a larger screen. That's something that's really difficult to find on the Windows side.

I suppose the extra ram would be a good reason to buy this, but that's just such a shallow upgrade for what this machine could hold.


¹Razer Blade 14, Asus G14, Alienware x14

 

[CWallace]

Upgrades are going to be a lot less frequent with Apple Silicon. Everyone needs to stop freaking out about "plummeting Mac sales".

I believe what we will see if a more controlled cadence of refreshes reflecting the general market popularity and sales volume of each family/model.

The 13" MacBook Air is the most-popular Mac by a fair margin and adding a 15" will give the family the majority of Mac sales (if the 13" already doesn't hold that position). So the 13" and 15" will be the models updated the most-often because they will always have a strong sales and replacement cycle so it makes sense to refresh them at least annually with the latest M series SoC when it becomes available.

The MacBook Pro family is the #2 seller, driven strongly by corporate and prosumer sales and therefore will likely move to a generally annual SoC upgrade cycle, as well.

The iMac, Mac mini and Mac Studio will likely be on an "every other generation" upgrade cycle due to their lower sales volumes. And the Mac Pro could very well go a two-generation upgrade cycle if it gets a dedicated "Extreme" series of SoC or the "every other" if it only comes with the Ultra.

 

[AF_APPLETALK]

That product is not for me, but it is going to be one hot seller.