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What features/specs do you want to see in the 15-inch MacBook Air?

S

SW3029

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 22, 2019
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Wondering what additional features/specs people would like to see in the 15" MacBook Air?

For me, I'm fine with two USB-C ports like the 13" has now. I'm also fine with the same internal specs/configurations.

One design change that would be nice is to ditch the notch for an iPhone 14 Pro-style pill camera cutout, but if the new M2 Pro MacBook Pros don't have a pill camera cutout, it's unlikely Apple would debut that on the 15" MBA.
 
SW3029 said:
Wondering what additional features/specs people would like to see in the 15" MacBook Air?

For me, I'm fine with two USB-C ports like the 13" has now. I'm also fine with the same internal specs/configurations.

One design change that would be nice is to ditch the notch for an iPhone 14 Pro-style pill camera cutout, but if the new M2 Pro MacBook Pros don't have a pill camera cutout, it's unlikely Apple would debut that on the 15" MBA.
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If I was shopping for a 15” Air. The only thing that comes to mind would be Face ID.

The Swiss cheese hole camera is just terrible in my opinion. The notch works great for the Mac because it’s only taking up part of the menu bar.
 
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I know this sounds ridiculous, but I would want a small fan - similar to the one on the 13-inch MBP. I dont care about the touch bar, etc. - I just want a MBA with a fan.
 
They've clearly decided that one of the differentiators between a Pro and an Air is that the Air doesn't have a fan.
 
Just a larger display. Doesn’t need anything else. Same M2 SoC and computer design at 15.6” or whatever it needs to be with the design-language notch.
 
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XDR panel from the 14 and 16" Pro models.
just like the 12.9 iPad Pro has the better screen over the 11" one

oh and the largest battery they can possibly fit in
 
- 21 hour battery life
- 15.6 inch display
- 2 NAND modules
- Face ID (it will come at some point with that big notch. The question is when. Maybe it is with this model?)
- 3nm M3 chip with minimal throttling (like how it was with the M1 MBA).
 
jav6454 said:
None, it won't be an Air.
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”Air” means a couple different things to Apple and its customers.

Air can mean thin and light.
Air can also mean inexpensive. (In relative Apple terms)

If you just scaled a 13” MBA to 15” it would still be lighter than the 14” MBP and would still be light for a medium sized laptop. Apple charges $200 to go from the 14” MBP to the 16” MBP so you could see a 15” Air-like laptop starting around $1400.

Apple could see a 15” light and inexpensive laptop as an “Air” or they might call it just ”MacBook”. We’ll have to wait and see.
 
Tagbert said:
This is not a poll
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Indeed. But I don't think you can make a 15" laptop and call it an Air.

Edit: To clarify, I have seen the rumours, I just don't think the device envisaged will be called an Air. Scaling up the M2 MBA to 15" will cost you all the weight, space and volume savings - for what? If the device is real it'll be called something else.

And if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. So it goes.
 
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Droid13 said:
Indeed. But I don't think you can make a 15" laptop and call it an Air.
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Why not? In Apple terms an Air is low in weight compared to equivalent devices and low in price within Apple terms. If they did a 15” by scaling up a 13” MBA, the weight would still be less than the 14” MBP. The price would likely be about $200 more than the 13” (based on 14” MBP to 16”). So it would be a cheap and light laptop. That sounds like an Air.

Would they use “Air” for that? I don’t know but it would still make sense. They could use that as a change to just call it a “MacBook”. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
 
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Tagbert said:
Why not? In Apple terms and Air is low in weight compared to equivalent devices and low in price within Apple terms. If they did a 15” by scaling up a 13” MBA, the weight would still be less than the 14” MBP. The price would likely be about $200 more than the 13” (based on 14” MBP to 16”). So it would be a cheap and light laptop. That sounds like an Air.

Would they use “Air” for that? I don’t know but it would still make sense. They could use that as a change to just call it a “MacBook”. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
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I was updating my post when you quoted but it looks like you have gone for the "scaled up". Where we disagree is that Air means "cheap and light". I have taken it to mean "thin, light and portable" which 15" isn't. If the device is real I think it will be called something else.

As you say, we'll have to wait and see - and if I am wrong, I am wrong.
 
Droid13 said:
I was updating my post when you quoted but it looks like you have gone for the "scaled up". Where we disagree is that Air means "cheap and light". I have taken it to mean "thin, light and portable" which 15" isn't. If the device is real I think it will be called something else.

As you say, we'll have to wait and see - and if I am wrong, I am wrong.
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"15 inches" does not describe the weight of the machine.... nor its thinness.
As a matter of fact, a 15" screen could probably be crammed inside the original 13" Air chassis (the pre-Retina one).
There are even 15" laptops ligher than the current Air in the market.
 
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There exists a 13", 14" and 16" MBP. So there can also exist a 13" and a 15" MBA.

Heck, maybe even add a 12" MBA too in the MBA lineup (as the MBP has 3 different sizes also).
 
Pretty much just a scaled up 13.6", the only real change I'd make would be using the extra space beside the keyboard to restore upward firing speakers!
 
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Lighter, smaller, worse webcam (less details of the face and obscure background) and censoring of bass sounds from music like rap.
 
neo_cs193p said:
USB-C on both sides.
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I think everybody wants this...but I am convinced that Apple sees real ports on both sides as a pro feature.

This is aggravating, but honestly—it does make a good dividing line, just like only letting an Air run one display.
 
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