Apple unveiled a completely redesigned MacBook Air in 2022 with an all-new, strikingly thin design and, thanks to the M2 chip, even more performance, the new MacBook Air features a larger 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, four-speaker sound system, up to 18 hours of battery life, and MagSafe charging – available in four finishes: Silver, Space Gray, Midnight, and Starlight.
Hartley Charlton for MacRumors:
This year, rather than offering a further specification upgrade, reports indicate that Apple first plans to launch a new MacBook Air model with a 15.5-inch display.
This would be positioned above the current, 13.6-inch MacBook Air, which starts at $1,199, but below the 14.2-inch MacBook Pro, which starts at $1,999. A price in the region of $1,399 to $1,799 therefore seems likely.
The 15-inch MacBook Air will contain the M2 chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, making it identical to the 13-inch MacBook Air in terms of specifications. Due to its size, the larger model may still have some advantages in terms of battery capacity and speaker fidelity.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote earlier this month, “The perfect Mac for aging eyes and priced right, Apple had better have multiple millions of these battery-sipping 15-inch M2 MacBook Air babies stockpiled for a hugely successful launch!”
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According to Ming-Chi Kuo (via Hartley Charlton) “The 15-inch MacBook Air will contain the M2 chip … making it identical to the 13-inch MacBook Air in terms of specifications.”
How then, will it, other than being larger, constitute a “… MAJOR UPGRADE” (emphasis mine).
Screen size or display size does matter and one of the biggest differences between a 13.6-inch laptop and a 15.5-inch laptop is the size of their displays. A 15.5-inch MacBook Air would be a major upgrade option.
You’re right, it is hyperbole, marketing gimmick fake hype. An extra 2 inches on the screen is nice but hardly major (15-inch MBPs sun $2k used to be normal until Apple decided to make larger screens a ultra-premium feature).
We’ve entered the age of incremental gains spread out over years (compare a 2018 iPhone to a 2022 model in day to day use to see how little has changed). Since Apple can’t hope for the leaps and bounds it delivered over the first ~10 years of iPhone, for example, now we’re just back to micro-differentiating product lines by holding back once-standard or obvious-to-add features (center stage, face id, 120hz, 128gb standard, 16gb standard, magsafe, usb-c, raise-to-wake [still not on ipad!!], multi-user support, free-floating windows on ipad, no notches, touchscreen mac, etc.)
Aside from Apple Silicon, just about everything we have in the latest MBPs could have been included since 2016. Instead we got the butterfly/thinness-at-all-costs fiasco. Then they return with a reliable keyboard, magsafe and HDMI and act like they reinvented the wheel.
I agree Nick. I have an iPhone 12pro which still works just fine for me. Nothing really compelling in the subsequent releases to urge me to upgrade.
I think the 15 inch Air will be great for some, but I really hope they make a return to the 12 inch form factor. I still love my 12 inch Macbook, even with the keyboard which, other than the terrible reliability, I actually don’t mind typing on. But I do have the last version in the i7 and 16GB.
But an Apple silicon 12 inch perhaps with 2 Thunderbolt ports and Magsafe, take my money.
Obviously the screen-size-increase skunkworks division had a major leak. Lock down now in place.