Wesley Hilliard
At the 2023 WWDC, Apple revealed a 15-inch MacBook Air with an M2 processor, with speeds up to 12x the fastest Intel version, starting at $1299.
Apple announced the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air with a redesigned chassis during WWDC 2022, so it is only fitting the larger 15-inch model was revealed during WWDC 2023. It is nearly identical in every way, just bigger.
Jumping from a 13.6-inch display to a 15.3-inch display is significant enough to warrant a different model. The larger display and long battery life set it apart as a budget laptop.
Rumors suggested that Apple has had this MacBook Air ready to go for a while, perhaps since the summer of 2022. However, supply chain constraints and other issues seemingly pushed this product back an entire year.
Design and display
The 15-inch MacBook Air has an aluminum case that is 11.5mm thick. This generation of MacBook Air is the thinnest laptop Apple has sold yet — without the taper.
Apple didn't announce any new color options for this New MacBook Air. It is available in silver, space gray, midnight, and starlight.
A 15.3-inch displayThe classic oversized glass trackpad sits below a backlit keyboard with full-height function keys. It has a Touch ID button embedded in the top-right key.
The Liquid Retina display has 500 nits of brightness, a P3 color gamut, and True Tone. The display has a notch cutout that houses a 1080p webcam.
A six-speaker audio system enables Spatial Audio, while a three-mic array keeps audio calls sounding crisp. That's two more speakers than the 13-inch model.
The 15-inch MacBook Air has two Thunderbolt ports, a headphone jack, and a MagSafe port.
Apple quotes this MacBook as having an 18-hour battery. That's in line with Apple's usual all-day battery quote, but testing must be done.
Pricing and availability
The 15-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,299. It will be available to purchase on Monday once the Apple Store is live after the WWDC keynote.
Apple says the 13-inch MacBook Air now costs $1,099, and the older M1 model is available at $999.
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27 Comments
In the days before the announcement, I heard podcast pundits speculate that it might have been priced anywhere from $1500 to $1800. But at a starting price of just $1,299 (and with the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros at significantly higher price points), the 15-inch MacBook Air is going to be a huge seller for Apple.
Interesting to see Apple reducing the MBA 13 price by 8% in US (13.3% in EU / Euro). This indicates that demand was too soft and that currency rates are going to change.
iPad Air and other products are obvious candidates for similar adjustments.
As for MBA 15 - very nice, but it should have been delivered last year for back-to-school.
Here's more to think about: For the purposes of this discussion, forget that the 13-inch M1 MacBook Air is still presently on the market for $999. With the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air now at $1,099 and the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air at $1,299, does anyone think there is enough of a market for Apple to sell a newly-designed 11- or 12-inch MacBook Air for $899?
Although the low price for a traditional laptop would certainly be appealing to some, I tend to think that the time for 11- or 12-inch Mac laptop models has come and gone — we'll never see one of those again. If sufficient demand had existed the last time such models were available, presumably Apple would have introduced newer versions of those models rather than discontinuing those sizes altogether. (The last 11-inch MacBook Air was discontinued in October 2016 and the last 12-inch MacBook went away quietly in July 2019.)
Or, potential market demand aside, perhaps Apple wants to satisfy demand for smaller screens only by offering the various iPad models.