Rumors have swirled again this week that the new 15-inch MacBook Air will be Apple’s next major Mac release. But whether it arrives before, during, or after WWDC, or at a fall Mac event, it’s just so: it’ll instantly become the perfect Apple laptop.
This may sound like a stretch, but hear me out. Assuming our rumors and assumptions are correct, the 15-inch MacBook Air will be the perfect laptop for just about every user with its combination of size, processing power, and value. The MacBook Air is already Apple’s most popular laptop, and the 15-inch model will be the jewel of the lineup. Here’s why.
The 15-inch MacBook Air: Just the right size
Apple offers MacBooks in four different sizes: 13.3-inch (13-inch MacBook Pro), 13.6-inch (M2 MacBook Air), 14.2-inch (MacBook Pro), and 16.2-inch (MacBook Pro). You’d think with such options it would be easy to find just the right size. But these sizes come with limitations and sacrifices that make the buying decision difficult.
If you want a big screen, the obvious choice is the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which has the largest screen in a MacBook. But the big screen means it’s heavy — it weighs in at about 5 pounds (more than 2 kilograms). It may not seem like much, but if you carry around your laptop for a full work day, the strain on your back and shoulders becomes noticeable over time.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro is too big and heavy for many people.
foundry
If you want the lightest MacBook available, your choice is the 13.6-inch M2 MacBook Air, which weighs just 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg). This makes it lightweight compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro, but the compromise is a much smaller screen. If you use professional apps or are like me and have a ton of different app windows open at the same time, those three inches make all the difference.
Apple also offers two other 13-inch laptops that are often overlooked: the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Air and the M2 MacBook Pro. Both are based on older designs with relatively giant black bezels that add to the overall size. The M1 MacBook Air, which has a smaller screen than the M2 MacBook Air, actually weighs a smidge more. Likewise, the 13-inch MacBook Pro actually packs more space than the 14-inch MacBook Pro despite being an inch smaller and weighing half a pound less.
The 15-inch MacBook Air instantly became the new sweetheart. The screen will be noticeably larger than most 13-inch laptops, and while it certainly won’t be as light as the current MacBook Air, it won’t be as heavy as the 16-inch MacBook Pro. When you put the 15-inch MacBook Air in your bag, it should fit perfectly, both literally and figuratively.
The 15-inch MacBook Air: The Right Performance
Bloomberg reported this week that the MacBook Air in testing has a processor “on par with” the M2 in the 13-inch MacBook Air. It’s a great chip with great performance, but there are also rumors that there could be an M2 Pro option as the Mac mini.
Compared to the M2 chip in the 13-inch MacBook Air, Apple’s M2 Pro chip is 20 percent faster in CPU and 30 percent faster in GPU performance. Early reports about the 15-inch MacBook Air said that Apple might offer an M2 Pro option, with a standard M2 configuration. If so, that’s a significant increase over the current Air.
The performance gains may not seem like much, and most people won’t feel a difference in daily use. But users whose work is data-intensive need every bit of processing power they can get, and boosting from the M2 Pro can save a lot of time.
The M2 Pro in MacBook Air will be the perfect combination of processing power and portability.
apple
However, could Apple use the new M3 chip instead of the M2 Pro? A recent report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said that Apple “wants to put its Mac-class processors on an annual upgrade cycle like the A-series chips in the iPhone,” but it may be too soon for the M3 to arrive. However, it is an interesting idea.
The M3 will be Apple’s first chip made using the 3nm die process, which allows for more transistors and better performance and power efficiency than the 5nm process used with the M1 and M2 chips. With 3nm, the performance improvement could be greater than the 20 percent we saw from M1 to M2.
So whether it has an M2 Pro now or an M3 Pro later, the 15-inch AIr will be a very attractive alternative to the 14-inch MacBook Pro. Even if it had the same cores, the chip likely wouldn’t be as fast as the 14-inch MacBook Pro due to the Air’s fanless design that throttles performance at high temperatures, and it wouldn’t have as many ports or max memory either. But it will absolutely hit the sweet spot when it comes to power and performance and, to many people, will be more attractive than the 14-inch Pro.
The 15-inch MacBook Air: The Right Price
Apple’s current MacBook lineup has a huge price gap. There’s the $999 M1 Air followed by the $1,199 M2 and then the $1,299 M2 MacBook Pro. Then you go up to $1,999 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro. Assuming the 15-inch MacBook Air M2 starts at $1,399 or $1,449, it’ll slip right into the space among Apple’s Pro laptops.
Consider BTO options. You can get the M2 Air with 16GB of memory and a 512GB SSD for $1,699, just $300 less than the base model 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 Pro, and the same memory and storage. A few hundred dollars will get you a heavier laptop with a slightly larger screen and slightly faster performance. It’s either price or performance—and there are obvious sacrifices no matter which machine you choose.
But the 15-inch MacBook Air with the M2 Pro can fit right into that gap at $1,849 — $150 more than the Air and $150 less than the Pro. Of course, the Pro still has a superior Liquid Retina XDR display and more ports, but the resolution is easier. If you want a bigger screen but don’t need ProMotion or HDMI, the 15-inch Air monitor is the obvious choice and clear winner.
“Typical beer trailblazer. Hipster-friendly web buff. Certified alcohol fanatic. Internetaholic. Infuriatingly humble zombie lover.”