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

People have been asking for more differentiation between Apple's Pro and Non-Pro products, and here it finally is. However, since Apple decided to make the change this year, they feel they're getting downgraded. Obviously, it is easy to feel like prices are increasing and products are getting worse with inflation.

However, in recent years, Apple's chips have been so far ahead of the competition that they don't need to put the newest ones into the non-pro models of their products. For example, my iPhone 11 with an A13 still has a higher geekbench score than the recent Google Pixel 7 Pro, yet people complain about the iPhone 14 not getting the same chip as the 14 Pro. How much processing power do you need for Instagram and TikTok anyway?

Furthermore, my M1 Macbook Air still runs circles around any recent PC releases while maintaining better battery and producing next to no heat. I use it 8-10 hours a day for remote work with no slowdowns, just the occasional graphical glitch too commonplace in Macos. So, they could slap a Base M1 in the device and it would still be a good option. Now, the only missing variable in the value equation is the price...
 
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egga94 said:
People have been asking for more differentiation between Apple's Pro and Non-Pro products, and here it finally is. However, since Apple decided to make the change this year, they feel they're getting downgraded. Obviously, it is easy to feel like prices are increasing and products are getting worse with inflation.

However, in recent years, Apple's chips have been so far ahead of the competition that they don't need to put the newest ones into the non-pro models of their products. For example, my iPhone 11 with an A13 still has a higher geekbench score than the recent Google Pixel 7 Pro, yet people complain about the iPhone 14 not getting the same chip as the 14 Pro. How much processing power do you need for Instagram and TikTok anyway?

Furthermore, my M1 Macbook Air still runs circles around any recent PC releases while maintaining better battery and producing next to no heat. I use it 8-10 hours a day for remote work with no slowdowns, just the occasional graphical glitch too commonplace in Macos. So, they could slap a Base M1 in the device and it would still be a good option. Now, the only missing variable in the value equation is the price...
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Yes I would gladly take the biggest screen Air with M1 if that would lower the price.
 
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ksec said:
I think they will likely release the 15" MBA at $1299 and lower the current M2 MBA to $1099. While lowering the M1 MBA to $899.

With an Education Store 128GB M1 MBA that cost $699.
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That would be awesome
 
kiranmk2 said:
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!)
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Yes this is a possibility. 3nm technology will first come on the iPhone 15 Pro’s and then maybe 🤔 on the MacBook Air 13 inch in a October event. But why would they give the Macbook Air, M3 3nm technology before the MacBook Pro’s?
 
Weird, I would have expected it to launch by now if they're not waiting on WWDC to introduce the M3, they've been producing components for 2.5 months now, so full production must be well underway!
 
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Realityck said:
18 months would be Dec 2023. I guess that qualifies as late Fall.
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Apple usually don’t release anything that late, that’s why I say March 2024 with the new OLED iPad Pro’s and I don’t know if they would give the Air’s 3nm technology before the pro’s. They just released the M2 pro’s back in January of this year
 
Personally, I’m ok with the M2. The larger screen is what I’m after. A while back, my 2014 MBPro 16-inch bit the dust, but my budget nor my workflow need the Pro anymore. I’m out of the photo editing business now, so my needs are primarily Office and email/web time.

My replacement, a stopgap actually, was a used 2014 MBPro 13-inch I picked up cheap. Works ok, the i5 was a step down from my old i7, but the smaller screen and especially the speakers are not good enough.

Taking a phone call, or doing a FaceTime video on that Pro, it sounds like a cheap transistor radio from the 1960’s. I’m hoping that the new 15-inch Air has good speakers.
 
richard13 said:
I totally agree, but they technically already do, albeit with 1TB of SSD (M2 MBA 16GB 1TB).
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That is considered a BTO configuration. Regular retailers like BestBuy, Costco, Amazon (non 3rd Party) do not carry that configuration. Another reason why that is important, other than easier availability to begin with, is that those retailers typically discount the standard configurations. That is why you always see great deals at those places which are always followed by - "why do the the higher RAM versions never have those discounts" comments/complaints.
 
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Bodhitree said:
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.
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That's why it is going downhill.
 
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contacos said:
I also didn’t need more than 16 GB of space on my iPhone at some point but it’s still nice to have the option of 128 GB without paying extra just in case
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Why would you save money if Apple increased the default to 16Gb?

Apple could increase the starting price even more than upgrading from 8 to 16 Gb.
 
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foobarbaz said:
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.
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So why aren't you saying you want Macs to be cheaper since that's what you want instead of arguing it indirectly?
 
Steve121178 said:
And releasing a brand new machine with a 12 month old chip is daft, however you want to look at it.
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And yet it comes with a 150 year old keyboard design and 60 year old 3.5mm plug which is just a mini version of a another 150 year old design.
 
Steve121178 said:
Releasing a brand new machine with a 12 month old chip is daft, however you want to look at it. Performance in the M2 MBA was criticised for being barely a bump over the 2020 M1 chip it replaced & suffered from heavy throttling thanks to no fans to aid cooling. So those looking forward to a rumoured 15" MacBook will be a little bemused if Apple goes with the M2.
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And those people who dared to complain that the M2 was not a big enough leap over the M1 are also very entitled. So your only argument is the passing of time, as if technological progress is guaranteed. Apple is not only the first but the only company who will produce 3nm chips this year. But watch out if they release another M2 computer in the meantime, the internet will be outraged!
 
crsh1976 said:
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.
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Kind of disappointing, if that is the case.
 
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I really wish they'd go to 16GB RAM as the baseline and move back to socketed SSD

The amount of base model M1/M2 MacBooks I see just languishing and devaluing, with no buyers in sight, out on the preowned marketplace's is so depressing. It doesn't need to be this way Apple.
 
turbineseaplane said:
I really wish they'd go to 16GB RAM as the baseline and move back to socketed SSD

The amount of base model M1/M2 MacBooks I see just languishing and devaluing, with no buyers in sight, out on the preowned marketplace's is so depressing. It doesn't need to be this way Apple.
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Part of that is too many buy cheap then want something better later. Its like the iPhone 14 pro example, don't buy the 128GBb model if you intend to sell it at all, everyone wants 256GB on up for the improved cameras. So you end up with lots of 128 GB iPhone 14 pro that are not getting any takers,
 
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Very, very poor timing IMO.

This is the iPad 3 all over again. We’ll have a new product and in 3-4 months it’ll be outdated. They’d be better off just waiting until September or October.
 
cdsapplefan said:
Yes this is a possibility. 3nm technology will first come on the iPhone 15 Pro’s and then maybe 🤔 on the MacBook Air 13 inch in a October event. But why would they give the Macbook Air, M3 3nm technology before the MacBook Pro’s?
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Both the M1 and M2 arrived before the Pro and Max versions
 
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