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Who's buying the 15" MacBook?
- Thread starter DHagan4755
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I suspect a lot of the No’s are just people who are not in the market for what a 15” MBA would provide. I’ve got an M1 13 MBA and will be happy with it for another couple of years. I still think a 15” MBA is a good idea if you want a larger screen.
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i would expect it to start at $1399 for 8/256 based on a $200 premium over the smaller screened version.
Yeah, and I'd expect that pricing even it's an M3, in which case the M2 would get a price drop.
Interestingly, the 9to5Mac article that said the next Airs would be M3's also predicted they'd be keeping the 13" MBP and adding an M3 to it as well. If so, either it's selling really well to consumers, or there are some large enterprise clients that like it...
"9to5Mac has learned that, just like last year, Apple also plans to refresh the 13-inch MacBook Pro with its latest Apple Silicon chip. Codenamed J504, the new entry-level MacBook Pro will also get the same 8-core M3 chip as the new MacBook Air."
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What if Apple is able to leverage the M3's low power requirements (as compared with the M2 Pro/Max on the 14") to make the 15" Air not only significantly thinner than the 14", but significantly lighter as well (say 3.1 lbs. vs 3.5)?
Plus the MR userbase is going to skew way more heavily towards people who actually need a 16" Pro (or at least want it enough to get it anyway). Thinking broadly, you see 14/16 inch MacBook Pros talked about across the forum way more than MacBook Airs, despite the MacBook Air being the highest selling MacBook by some way, and the 13" Pro the second best selling model.
If all the 15” Air is is a scaled up 13” Air, it will still be lighter than the 14” MBP. the MBPs are trucks, and the Airs are sedans.
What I found is that a scaled 15" Air would weight 3.5 lbs, same as the 14" MBP. So they'd need to do something additional to get it lighter:
Exactly $$$ will the only thing that will influence me.
Ooh I want that Envy. How much for a 17"? Might get it when my current dies if there still isn't a reasonably priced large screen Macbook.
That's important though the pricing is going to be a higher priority in my opinion. As has been written, the entry 15" model can't be close to the 14" MacBook Pro.
People were also saying that about the M2 Pro Mini: That, equivalently spec'd, its pricing would be too close to the base Studio's. But they did release an M2 Pro Mini, and here's what Bob Borchers (Apple VP Worldwide Product Marketing) said about the close pricing afterwards. [Quoting from the interview with the India Times.]:
"Borchers says that instead of looking at the specific chipsets, the company tends to look at the product, the whole package. As an example, he talks of Mac mini and Mac Studio, both of which come in at similar price points at the high-end. Yet, because the two offer different functionality, Apple believes that they serve different customers. One offers consumers a great form factor, whereas the other one brings in the flexibility of more I/O and connectivity options."
Apple VP Bob Borchers says Apple Silicon changed tech industry by pushing for energy efficiency
In an exclusive chat with the India Today Tech, Apple’s Vice President Worldwide Product Marketing Bob Borchers talks about everything that Apple Silicon is enabling and how the company is committed to ensure that all its products, including Mac Pro, are powered by cutting-edge Apple Silicon...
That's a good point, however, the Mac mini with base M2 Pro starts at $1,299 vs. the base Mac Studio starting at $1,999. And that's the point. If you spec up the 15" MacBook Air to its equivalent 14" MacBook Pro that's on you. By & large most people are going to buy the base model.
Agreed. If you compare current base-to-base, I don't think it will even be a question. I'd expect the 15" M2 Air would be $200 more than the 13", same as the delta between the 14" & 16" MBP's, equivalently spec'd. That would give $1200 + $200 = $1400, which is $600 less than the base 14" M2 Pro—plenty of price difference.
However, they may bump up the base 15" to the next-level config (8-core CPU/10-core GPU/8 GB/512 GB), just as the base on the 16" MBP is higher-spec'd than the base on the 14". If they do that, you're at $1500 + $200 = $1700, just $300 less than the base 14" MBP. But even in that case I think the added screen size, slimmer form factor, possibly lighter weight, and fanless design, would be enough for those who simply don't need the power and connectivity of the MBP. I.e., that is where Borcher's quote would apply.
Even power users might be attracted to the Air over the MBP, if they already have a powerful desktop and just need a device for moderate mobile use (giving lectures, going to conferences, etc.).
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At that point you're most of the way to a MacBook Pro 14 or 16 with far better speakers, screen, keyboard, IO, etc.
If you order any of the configurations larger than smallest SSD you will get 2 SSD chips and have the faster interface. The M2 caps out at a lower transfer rate than the M2 Por and Ultra but still pretty fast.
I think the 15inch needs to be thinner and lighter than the 14" and I also think the 3nm chips will significantly help the 15 in terms of no fan cooling (if that happens).
The M3 15" will be the one to get. If it comes with M3 and is thinner and lighter than the 14" then it's game on.
The M3 15" will be the one to get. If it comes with M3 and is thinner and lighter than the 14" then it's game on.
I am a print broker. Professionally I mainly use Adobe Illustrator to fix some files for printing, occasionally Photoshop, otherwise email and management software. Personally I dabble with some music creation and CAD. So lots of power is not important, but screen real-estate is. I also travel every couple of months.
I have been using a 15" Macbook Pro since 2013. It's slow now and needs to be changed. The new 16" Macbook Pro is huge and heavy and more than I need. While the 13" M2 Air has too small of a screen. I was on the cusp of buying a used 16" M1 Pro when I learned that Apple was going to release a 15" Air. Which is perfect. So now I am holding on. I just hope they launch it with the M3 chip.
I can tell you with near-certainty that there are plenty of people that have always wanted a Mac with a screen larger than that of the current design generation of 14-inch MacBook Pro, but have not needed (or wanted to pay THAT much extra for) the might of a 16-inch MacBook Pro (whether with the Intel CPU/AMD GPU combination or with Apple Silicon Mx Pro series of SoCs). I'm honestly on the fence as to where I'd land personally (though it's not like I need much beyond what my M1 13-inch MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM can do that isn't already being done by another Windows PC in my arsenal that is better suited to those particular tasks anyway). I'm excited for such a thing to exist though. It's long overdue.
I voted maybe, but not because I've got to see it first. My wife is using a 2016 15" MacBook Pro, and while it's a fine machine that's been going without a hiccup for 7 solid years, it might be a time for an upgrade. It's stuck on Monterey (not supported by Ventura) and the battery obviously isn't what it used to be.
My wife is usually pretty resistant to upgrades since she says she doesn't need it. And while probably technically true, every time she uses mine (a 14" MBP M1 Pro), she comments at how much faster everything is.
So I'll likely (75% chance) buy it for her and surprise her with it.
My wife is usually pretty resistant to upgrades since she says she doesn't need it. And while probably technically true, every time she uses mine (a 14" MBP M1 Pro), she comments at how much faster everything is.
So I'll likely (75% chance) buy it for her and surprise her with it.
