Hands-On With the New 15-Inch MacBook Air
The new 15-inch MacBook Air is for the size queens and kings. But is it for everyone else?
Beyond the larger display, there’s a notable weight difference between the 13-inch model, introduced last year, and its 15-inch upgrade, announced at Apple’s WWDC last week — that said, the larger version is still nowhere near as heavy as the MacBook Pro. The larger the laptop screen, the thicker its construction typically is. This usually leads brands to construct the body out of plastic to keep it lightweight. But Apple never sacrifices the look of its products – the aluminum body of the 15-inch MacBook Air keeps it feeling premium while staying portable like its plastic competitors.
The sound quality of the 15-inch model is far better than that of the 13-inch – as it should be, given that the former boasts six speakers as opposed to the latter’s four. It would have been nice if Apple added a speaker grill to the frame to help with audio clarity and immersion, but how immersive can laptop speakers be? That’s what headphones are for.
The base model of the 15-inch MacBook Air comes with a 10-core GPU, hardware that’s available as an upgrade on the 13-inch version. With an enhanced default GPU and a larger screen, you'd think a fan would be necessary, but the new MacBook Air remains fanless with the same M2 chip Apple launched in 2022. According to Evan Buyze, Product Marketing Manager at Apple, the laptop’s fanless design was a nice added bonus. "The M2 chip is really an incredible chip that does it all and enables experiences that no other laptops can do - and it just happens to be fanless,” he told Highsnobiety.
The M2 chip provides outstanding performance for the average consumer, providing more than enough performance power to handle Photoshop and graphic design tasks. But if you're deep in the trenches with Davinci Resolve, Premiere, or 3D projects, you might want to opt for a MacBook Pro.
Staying true to its target demographic, the pricing of the new MacBook Air is relatively affordable (for Apple, at least). "It's not just about affordability, it's about creating value — being able to build a laptop that has incredible performance all in a thin and light fanless design, you get all of that without tradeoffs at an incredible price and value. And it's built to last," Buyze said.
Releasing on June 13, the new 15-inch M2 MacBook Air starts at $1,299, while the 13-inch M2 remains at $1,099. Meanwhile, Apple makes the MacBook Air line even more affordable, shaving $100 off the M1 version, which is now $999.
Thanks to its updated body and display, the new 15-inch MacBook Air is a nice leap from 2020's M1 MacBook Air. There isn't a huge technical gap when it comes to the 13 and 15-inch M2 MacBook Air, however. Because both models boast an M2 chip, the 15-inch doesn't provide a compelling reason to upgrade from the 13-inch model. But this latest release isn’t about convincing people to upgrade – it’s more about Apple widening its options for a larger consumer base. But if the company is really committed to making everyone happy, why not bring back the matte black MacBook colorway?
