Upcoming 15-inch MacBook Air Again Rumored to Feature M2 Chip

[daanodinot]

Meh. No M3. No iMac Pro. I’ll wait.

 

[Eggtastic]

Screen will probably be "compromised" with no 4k / mini-led. That alone is worth the jump to the pro.

 

[russell_314]

Sure not everyone needs that much, but you shouldn't have to BTO to get more than 8GB of RAM anymore. At this point they should offer a 16GB pre-built configuration that retailers can carry.

I totally agree that they should offer upgraded models in store. I know they used to with the MacBook Pro. It doesn’t make sense that they don’t with the Air

 

[russell_314]

Screen will probably be "compromised" with no 4k / mini-led. That alone is worth the jump to the pro.

I guess it depends on what you want. The weight of the Pro is “compromised“ but I’m not sure if that’s going to be a big factor with a larger laptop. I don’t think the average user is going to pay an extra $500 for a mini LED screen. I think this is targeted that college students who want a little larger laptop. Right now we don’t know the price so I think that’s going to be the biggest factor.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Hopefully this will make it cheaper than expected? 🤷🏻

Just one kidney this time.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

They won’t release M3 chips until March Apple 2024 Spring Event. They missed the spring event this year but not next year with new OLED iPad’s and M3 MacBook Air’s. Apple Silicon Chips go on a 18-month cycle except for the iPhone 📱 which comes every 12 months to the T.

This is not clear at this point.

 

[throAU]

They should just wait for the M3 at this point

Why? There's a market for a 15" Air, and the M2 is plenty fast enough for the target market. Apple has a surplus of these chips to sell.

Currently, if you want a larger screen than a 13" Air (possibly simply due to vision requirements - nothing to do with compute requirements) there's a HUGE jump in cost to get to a 14" Pro.

 

[tomscott1988]

If apple doubled the base configs then they might sell more. Penny pinching at its best. With one had they give and the other takes away.

 

[michaelsviews]

8GB of ram would probably be just fine for 95% of the people. And the M2 is just fine. Gotta have the speed but just like memory how many users actually come close to using what the processor can do?
The display should be equal to the Pro line.

 

[roncron]

I don't like it, but it makes sense for Apple. The new form factor will generate enough excitement and sales to make the 15" MBA a success upon launch. They'll save the M3 version for the one-year spec bump.

Meantime, where does that leave the 13" MBA? I've been waiting to trade in my 2021 14" base model MBP for the 13" MBA when it gets the 3nm M3 chip. I'd hoped that would happen this summer. I'm worried now that I'll be waiting until next year when both MBA sizes get the M3 chip, or that the 13" MBA will get a watered down 5nm M3 chip.

 

[t0rqx]

They have a sload of M2 laying on the shelves they need to get rid off before introducing the M3. We all know the M2 sales were in a slump.

 

[crsh1976]

Who would have thought... After months of rumours going in all directions, the most obvious option that was practically never put on the table is to have a 15-inch version of the current MBA with M2 chip and nothing more.

 

[crsh1976]

They have a sload of M2 laying on the shelves they need to get rid off before introducing the M3. We all know the M2 sales were in a slump.

Possibly, but then why not at least slap those M2s in the iMac to offload stocks instead of coming up with a new SKU in an already cluttered line-up of notebooks?

 

[Bodhitree]

I don’t think it makes much difference if it’s M2 or M3, most people are unlikely to be able to tell the difference. The bigger screen will sell the laptop by itself.

But I do find it interesting that Apple is supporting so many different models again. Back when Steve Jobs took over, almost the first thing he did was reduce Apple’s product lineup to just the smallest number of possible models.

Steve had vision, he had a pretty good idea of what the consumer wanted, and he used that to guide the product lineup. Current Apple leadership seems to be caught trying to maximise profit by including all these different models, they don’t lead from vision but are stuck with trial and error.

 

[tomscott1988]

You’re paying for whatever it is that’s included. At some point MacBooks had 2 GB of RAM and of course that was upgraded just like your iPhone had 16 GB of storage. At the time your 16 GB iPhone came out I’m sure could have included 32 GB. If Apple decided to do that you would’ve paid more for your iPhone.

Tech nerds wants a MacBook Air under that magical $1000 price but want 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. It’s just not possible. You have to remember people that are buying basic Windows laptops at big box stores are often getting them with 4 GB RAM. This is the competition Apple is up against when it comes to selling a basic laptop. People are already looking at $1000 price tag like it’s insane. If they did that upgrade like most tech nerds want it’s going to be at least $250 more expensive.

Apple computers are already significantly more expensive than their Windows counterparts so Apple has to do everything they can not make that problem worse. Part of that solution is to keep the base model as basic as possible so they can keep that price down.

Apple looks at their basic user and sees what they do with the computer because obviously they can tell with people sharing stats and they see many or not needing more than 8 GB of RAM. I could’ve gotten my mom at 16 GB MacBook Air, but it would’ve been a complete waste of money. I would’ve paid $200 for nothing. The same with the storage upgrade.

Part of the issue is the fact it’s £200 for 8gbs. In the MacBook Pro if you need 32gbs for example you have to pay £400 for an extra 16gb.

It’s day light robbery. If you are a pro like myself I max 128gb in my iMac regularly to go from 16 to 96gb it’s £1200 that’s the same price of the entire MacBook Air. When 128gbs is less than half that price.

Regardless if it’s more efficient ram is ram. If you ok with the base then fine but there’s a large audience that aren’t and apple are really screwing all tiers above 8gbs. Same with the storage.

 

[foobarbaz]

You’re paying for whatever it is that’s included.

Sure, but you pay way less if it's part of the default config. The margins on options are especially high, just like in the car industry.

Once it gets priced into the default config, more SSD and RAM becomes so cheap that it would be a no-brainer for nearly every consumer. The idea that it drives up the base price is true, but it would become a so much better deal (and future-proofed purchase) that it's hard to argue against it as a consumer.

 

[throAU]

8GB of ram would probably be just fine for 95% of the people. And the M2 is just fine. Gotta have the speed but just like memory how many users actually come close to using what the processor can do?
The display should be equal to the Pro line.

The m2 is more than fine, its faster than probably 90% of PC laptops actually sold today.

edit:
For those who disagree, go look up the models of PC laptop specs that actually account for 90% of sales. It isn't i9s and it doesn't have a discrete GPU in it.

 

[rappr]

I don’t think it makes much difference if it’s M2 or M3, most people are unlikely to be able to tell the difference. The bigger screen will sell the laptop by itself.

But I do find it interesting that Apple is supporting so many different models again. Back when Steve Jobs took over, almost the first thing he did was reduce Apple’s product lineup to just the smallest number of possible models.

Steve had vision, he had a pretty good idea of what the consumer wanted, and he used that to guide the product lineup. Current Apple leadership seems to be caught trying to maximise profit by including all these different models, they don’t lead from vision but are stuck with trial and error.

One of my favorite things about the Tim Cook era is the recognition that one size does not fit all. Having more options is nice.

 

[kiranmk2]

They should just wait for the M3 at this point

Of course it’s going to come with M2 if it comes out this year. M3 is likely going to be late 2024.

Most people buying this are not going to care. I don’t think anyone here could tell the difference between M1 and M2 without some type of benchmark method. It’s not something that’s going to make a difference to people using a MacBook Air.

Perhaps tech nerds won’t have bragging rights to tell their friends they have M3 in their laptop but maybe they can wait till it comes out 🤷‍♂️

They won’t release M3 chips until March Apple 2024 Spring Event. They missed the spring event this year but not next year with new OLED iPad’s and M3 MacBook Air’s. Apple Silicon Chips go on a 18-month cycle except for the iPhone 📱 which comes every 12 months to the T.

Definitely release the 15" MBA with M2 and 8/256 base this Spring and then update the whole MBA line to M3 either later 2023 or early 2024 (if release is delayed like the M2 MBP range was). Got to use up those M2 chips somehow (and then sell quite a few Apple Fanbois a second laptop later in the same year!)

 

[Ceecephous]

Wanna boost sales, Apple? Use the M3 proc, not the old m2..

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

So excited about ordering the MacBook Air in 15”. I’m ready to see some new colors.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Wanna boost sales, Apple? Use the M3 proc, not the old m2..

I don't think it will matter whether it's an M2 or M3 chip for regular consumers. If Apple wants to boost sales. They could drop the existing price. That alone will just do it.

 

[MuppetGate]

Might as well wait for the M4 at this point

 

[satchmo]

You’re paying for whatever it is that’s included. At some point MacBooks had 2 GB of RAM and of course that was upgraded just like your iPhone had 16 GB of storage. At the time your 16 GB iPhone came out I’m sure could have included 32 GB. If Apple decided to do that you would’ve paid more for your iPhone.

Tech nerds wants a MacBook Air under that magical $1000 price but want 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. It’s just not possible. You have to remember people that are buying basic Windows laptops at big box stores are often getting them with 4 GB RAM. This is the competition Apple is up against when it comes to selling a basic laptop. People are already looking at $1000 price tag like it’s insane. If they did that upgrade like most tech nerds want it’s going to be at least $250 more expensive.

Apple computers are already significantly more expensive than their Windows counterparts so Apple has to do everything they can not make that problem worse. Part of that solution is to keep the base model as basic as possible so they can keep that price down.

Apple looks at their basic user and sees what they do with the computer because obviously they can tell with people sharing stats and they see many or not needing more than 8 GB of RAM. I could’ve gotten my mom at 16 GB MacBook Air, but it would’ve been a complete waste of money. I would’ve paid $200 for nothing. The same with the storage upgrade.

It is entirely possible. It’s just not profitable enough for Tim.

Yes, there needs to be product differentiation to serve different audiences. And having a lower RAM, lower cost base unit is necessary. But this whole discussion would be moot, if Apple just had fair prices for their RAM upgrades.

 

[Steve121178]

Massively disappointing if true. But it's noy beyond Apple to do something so stupid, especially as they must have a stockpile of M2 chips sitting around as people have stopped buying Macs.