Production of 15-Inch MacBook Air Components Underway, WWDC Launch Looking Likely

[derek1984]

13" MBA is 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg)
14" MBP (M2 Pro) is 3.5 pounds (1.60 kg)
16" MBP (M2 Pro) is 4.7 pounds 2.15 kg)

A 15" MBA will weigh just as much as a 14" MBP (M2 Pro), or slightly more. And dimensions will be bigger.

Knowing Apple, I bet the 15 inch MBA will be $150 less than a 14 inch MBP, which comes standard with 16gb ram. The Air will not.

All the hype for this 15 inch Air will be for a Midnight color and it's called "Air". Otherwise, just buy a 14 inch Pro for a better deal for your money.

 

[Realityck]

Doesn't make sense for Apple announcing the new MacBook Air + Apple AR/VR headset at the same event.

Yeah they could announce it via store, and let it sell. It’s just a larger M2 MBA. WWDC makes sense for new products that need full exposure because it’s new hardware.

 

[Wokis]

No way Apple releasing M2 Air again. I think it will either be M2s or M3 MacBook Air. I find it hard to believe Apple releasing the same Mac with the same chip.

Why is it so hard to believe? When has the X-SoCs (remember the base M is what used to be the A#X ipad-chips in terms of size and power/thermal budget, "M" is just a marketing change) ever been on a one year schedule? When has ever a new complicated lithography process been first used with the X-chip before the regular A-chip for iphone?

It'd be a major exception to previous trends if we get the M3 now. But while arguing against it, I really still can't rule it out. Maybe the Reality Pro headset just wouldn't work well-enough with the M2 and thus the M3 got fast-tracked.

 

[derek1984]

14 inch M1 MBP Refurbished >15 inch MBA

Unless you just want the midnight color.

 

[bradman83]

I don't see Apple releasing the M2/M3 Pro in a fanless chassis design, even a larger one that a 15" enclosure would offer. The Pro variants simply produce too much heat to not have active cooling under moderate load (to be clear they produce considerably less heat than their Intel counterparts, but they still produce some heat).

 

[Mr. Dee]

I'm glad that Apple is moving away from "large = Pro". With larger phones much more popular than smaller ones, it's clear that some people want more screen real estate but don't need all the higher-end internals.

Common sense finally kicked in, but we all know it was the MBA's behind it all along trying to get the upsell.

 

[sorgo †]

Can't wait for M3

 

[ignatius345]

"A 15" MBA will weigh just as much as a 14" MBP (M2 Pro)"

Same weight, more screen area. Perhaps less expense. I need/want a notebook I can usefully have several spreadsheets open on at the same time. That requires a larger screen, not faster internals. I would bet 95%+ of all Mac users do not need a MacBook Pro's internals (that might increase if there were a gaming use case for Mac).

I do a lot of graphic design work in Illustrator and InDesign -- and even an M1 Air with 8GB of RAM is handling my work quite nicely. So, yeah, I'd think an M2 Air with a bigger screen might be just the ticket.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Doesn't make sense for Apple announcing the new MacBook Air + Apple AR/VR headset at the same event.

Maybe not, but at WWDC 2017 we got a new 12 inch MacBook, MacBook Air bump, new 13-15 inch MacBook Pros, new 21 and 27 inch iMac, iMac Pro, iPad Pro 10.5 and 12.9 plus the unveiling of the HomePod all on top of new OS’s in under two and a half hours, so I wouldn’t count it out.
If all of the operating systems are relatively minor updates this year, we could easily see them breeze through those in the first 45 minutes, give the Mac lineup 25 minutes to go through all the updates to the MacBook Air and MacPro, then dedicate the remaining hour to 90 minutes all to the headset.

 

[David1964]

Ready to order a brand new MacBook Air 15" in Midnight! Let's go!!!

I was hoping MacBook Air 15" would be released in April but WWDC 2023 is less than two months away. Hopefully, Apple releases it on the same day when WWDC 2023 is held.

Enjoy the fingerprint smudges 🙂

 

[lazyrighteye]

The 13" M2 MBA is hands down my fav Apple laptop to date. A stunning culmination of so much Apple R&D over the years. A 15" MBA will be an instant buy for so many that are wanting the price point and performance/features of a "non-Pro" Apple laptop without sacrificing screen size (and while we're here, @Apple - "Pros" aren't the only ones that would like dual monitor support).

Betting a 15" MBA will [eventually] prove Appel's best-selling laptop to date.

 

[anson42]

Betting a 15" MBA will [eventually] prove Appel's best-selling laptop to date.

After accidentally end of lifing my Intel MBP a 15" MBA is #1 on my shopping list. I actually don't care if it is M2 or M3. Coming from an older machine it's all gravy.

 

[nattK]

Ready to order a brand new MacBook Air 15" in Midnight! Let's go!!!

I was hoping MacBook Air 15" would be released in April but WWDC 2023 is less than two months away. Hopefully, Apple releases it on the same day when WWDC 2023 is held.

They could still release it in April if they wanted to. It's not too late to send out invites for an event on the week of April 17th or April 24th.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Enjoy the fingerprint smudges 🙂

A Couraging Solution:

 

[75Batt]

I can really see Apple releasing this with an M2 because they know there is hype for the form factor regardless of the processor. Meaning they can cash in on that demand then generate more again for the same model in 6-8 months time when they upgrade both airs to M3.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

This vs. 16" MBP are the only 2 Macs that I have to make a decision between. Cannot wait to see what this machine is.

Edit: Bonus points for M3!

 

[patent10021]

No way Apple releasing M2 Air again. I think it will either be M2s or M3 MacBook Air. I find it hard to believe Apple releasing the same Mac with the same chip.

M2s is still M2. Lipstick on a pig💄 🐷 Here's hoping for M3.

 

[Daum]

Am I the only one who wants smaller laptops? We have the 15in pro already, give is a 12in Air!!!!

 

[ultrafiel80]

Will be interesting to see the price/specs on this. I just bought a recent Costco deal which had the base 16-inch MBP M1 for $1799. I contemplated holding out for the 15-inch Air, but figured it would be similar in price with possibly less specs (except for processor?).

Specs on the computer I purchase was:

• M1 Pro
• 16GB RAM
• 512 GB SSD

Just can't see an Air with similar specs in the same price range which is too bad. Configuring the current 13-inch Air to those specs (with an M2) bring the price to $1,699.00. Upgrading to a 15-inch will be more than $100 for sure. The only unknown is the possibility of maybe an M3 and how that would compare to the older processor generations—but it's still probably too early for that generation in the Air?

Time will tell.

 

[surfzen21]

Enjoy the fingerprint smudges 🙂

Just stop wiping away the finger print smudges.

Eventually it becomes a mosaic type of evolving art
🎨

 

[amaze1499]

Vintage in 5 years time.

 

[JamesMay82]

Am I the only one who wants smaller laptops? We have the 15in pro already, give is a 12in Air!!!!

I struggle to understand anyone who wants a 12 inch machine. I'd assume its just for personal use.. web browsing, music and basic spreadsheets?

I think I'd struggle looking at big spread sheets on such a small screen - more so when comparing documents together or a web browser and excel document etc.

 

[karen999]

Feels like we got another 14Plus situation here, pricing will be the deciding factor to the success of the 15 Air.

 

[DHagan4755]

Does anyone honestly believe Apple will release a 15" MacBook with M2 almost a year after the M2 was launched?

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Does anyone honestly believe Apple will release a 15" MacBook with M2 almost a year after the M2 was launched?

I personally don't think it will be last year's M2. It might be the tweaked version of M2 or M3. Why would Apple release a new MacBook Air with last year's chip in 2023?