Often-reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has taken to Twitter with the latest scoop on the elusive 15-inch MacBook Air.
First off, he says the laptop will arrive sometime in 2023.
[Prediction update and revision]
1. The new 15″ MacBook model should be named MacBook Air. 2. To reiterate, the upcoming 15″ MacBook Air will feature the M2 series and offer two processor spec options. However, two options are more likely to be M2 with different cores (similar… https://t.co/Co4YJhbXO3
This new model will serve as the latest addition to Apple’s extensive laptop portfolio. It will reportedly arrive with two M2 processor options — each with different configurations of cores, according to Kuo.
Previous reports indicated the 15-inch Air might arrive with either an M2 Pro or M3 chip, though this now appears less likely. Kuo says that the M3 series of chips are only just gearing up for mass production, starting in the second half of the year.
Shipment estimates for the new Air in 2023 are expected to be in the 5-6 million unit range, Kuo says.
This larger variant of the existing 13-inch Air has long been the subject of speculation. It remains unclear whether we’ll officially hear about the new product at WWDC this June, or if we’ll have to wait a bit longer.
Apple’s 2023 product catalogue might include a new 24-inch iMac, featuring a next-gen M3 chip. A refresh of the iMac is said to be in “a late stage” of development and will arrive sometime during the second half of 2023.
In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims Apple has begun manufacturing tests for the M3 iMac. Supposedly, volume production for the device won’t start until June at the earliest. Thus, a release is unlikely to land before the summer months.
As for what this year’s iMac will bring, Gurman states that it will utilize the next-gen M-series chipset. Much like the generational leap between the M1 to the M2, Apple’s M3 chip is likely to boast significant performance improvements. Plus, power efficiency will also likely follow. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is in charge of developing the M3 chip for the iMac. The company is reportedly using a 3nm chip development process. This can improve speeds by up to 15 percent and reduce power by 30 percent when compared to 5nm silicon.
Gurman also states that the 2023 iMac features redesigned internal components. The extent of which is still unknown. From an external standpoint, the device may offer a “different” manufacturing process for its stand. Plus, this year’s iMac is said to offer a variety of colour options, maintaining the aesthetic of the 2021 series.
On top of powering this year’s iMac, the M3 chip may be powering a new MacBook Air. However, Gurman isn’t confident about whether all models of the MacBook Air will launch with the M3. Perhaps it’ll be exclusive to the 13-inch option. 2022’s model was the first to offer the M2 chip prior to the M2 Pro and M2 Max options launching for the 2023 MacBook Pro.
According to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the company that makes Apple’s chips, 3nm chip development can improve speed by 15 percent and reduce power use by 30 percent when compared to 5nm chips.
Apple will reportedly bring OLED display technology to its 13-inch MacBook Air, 11-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro in 2024, according to often-reliable display industry consultant Ross Young and first reported by MacRumors.
In a recent tweet, Young said that he expects all three devices to feature OLED displays with support for ProMotion 120Hz refresh rate. Apple’s iPad Pro line has offered Pro Motion since 2017, but this would be the first time the increased refresh rate tech would make its way to the MacBook Air.
Apple’s MacBook Pro and its Liquid Retina XDR already support 120Hz despite not featuring OLED technology. It’s unclear if OLED will also make its way to Apple’s next MacBook Pro, which is expected to feature upgraded versions of its M2 chip.
It’s believed that OLED tech will offer the iPad and MacBook Air improved battery life and a greater contrast ratio. That said, the technology is prone to display burn-in, though the issue isn’t very common with Apple’s iPhone OLED displays.
Apple customers in the United States can now purchase parts and tools to repair their MacBook Air and MacBook Pro notebooks with M1 chips at home.
Users can access several parts in the Self Service Repair Store, including display, trackpad and top case with battery.
In a news release, Apple says each part it sells is genuine and receives testing to ensure quality, safety and reliability. The company says it will accept used parts to be refurbished and recycled, and in most cases, offer customer credits to be used towards their purchase.
Apple is also renting out tool kits for $49 for those who don’t want to purchase their own set of Apple tools. The company says the tools “help provide the best repairs.” The company will ship the kit out for one week.
Apple’s self-repair program initially launched in November 2021 and focused on the iPhone 12 and 13. Apple says it will add more Mac models to the program this year.
While the program isn’t available in Canada at this time, that will likely change down the road. Apple says it will expand the repair program to other countries, beginning in Europe. However, the company didn’t provide any timelines.
The MacBook Air is the perfect laptop for most people. The M2-powered MacBook Air (2022) is the perfect laptop for most people. The M2 MacBook Pro is the perfect laptop for most people.
Do you see the conundrum with Apple’s current laptop lineup yet?
I’m hard-pressed to call it an issue since every laptop Apple sells for under $2,000 is great. But, it still doesn’t make walking into an Apple Store and buying the right computer for you any more straightforward.
There are a few perks that make the refreshed M2 Air feel new, and realistically, a $200 price bump over last year’s M1 Air isn’t that much, but when it comes down to it, the new laptop doesn’t do very much to stand out from the crowd.
In 2020 when Apple introduced the M1 series of chips, it was an incredible achievement to see the tech giant’s ARM-based chipsets running laps around Intel-equipped Macs. This year, the M2 chip is just as impressive, but the context surrounding it has changed. No longer are we comparing it to Intel-based computers. Instead, now we get to compare it to the M1, and the improvements aren’t as exciting.
The world’s best-selling MacBook
This photo is staged to show off the blue hue. Under most lighting conditions it looks black.
The MacBook Air has been slowly taking over the wonderful world of MacBooks since Steve Jobs first pulled it out of that iconic manila envelope in 2008. What started as a premium alternative to the white plastic MacBook, has grown into a stellar entry-level MacBook and now even into a base-level MacBook Pro replacement.
The latest iteration is the most potent Air yet, and it can handle way more than a laptop of its size should be able to do. The M2 Chipset is ridiculously quick and the tiny computer’s battery life shocked me. I was easily able to get more than 12 hours out of it and opening apps was never a problem. It only slowed down once I started to edit a three-layered 4K unboxing video. I’ll mention here that my review unit only features 8GB of RAM, so it maxed out pretty quickly. If I was buying a new Air to edit videos, I’d step up to 24GB.
The new model also comes in two new colours – ‘Midnight,’ the same dark blue from the Apple Watch Series 6, and ‘Starlight’ which has become Apple’s latest gold hue. Of course, the classic ‘Silver’ and ‘Space Grey’ options return.
The screen in the new MacBook Air is also an improvement. It now supports 10-bits of colour, and it features a peak brightness of 500 nits, making it slightly brighter and more colourful than the older Air. On top of that, the display has been pushed out 0.3-inches and features a notch like the redesigned MacBook Pro (2021) The notch isn’t overly noticeable, and the larger screen feels like an improvement over its predecessor’s display. Overall the screen is a subtle upgrade, but there’s no denying it looks excellent and features great colour accuracy.
Other improvements include an impressive new 1080p webcam. Compared to the softness of the Studio Display’s webcam and the graininess of the MacBook Pro’s 1080p camera, it’s a nice step up and likely more than enough for most people’s video chatting needs. Apple says a new signal-to-noise processor in the M2 chip helps the camera look its best all the time. The three built-in microphones are also clear and work as expected.
To help hear your video calls, there’s a new four-speaker array that features Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio when you’re sitting right in front of the new Air. MacBooks have always offered impressive speakers and the M2 Air is no different. Its speakers aren’t as deep or as rich as the 14-inch MacBook Pro, but detailed, loud and clear without much tinny distortion like other laptops often fall victim to.
A compelling package but not without flaws
As much as I was excited about the new MacBook Air’s redesign, there’s a part of me that’s disappointed Apple didn’t push the aesthetic a little further. For instance, unlike the new MacBook Pro, the Air didn’t get its name etched into the bottom of the chassis. My best guess is that Apple did this to save space to add as much battery as possible, but it would have been nice to see these little details on the new laptop. The new design looks exactly like a thinner/smaller 14-inch Pro but with fewer ports. It’s actually one millimetre thinner than the previous MacBook Air, but without the iconic wedge shape. It still feels small and light, and the weight even feels a little more evenly distributed in the new model.
My main pain point is mostly to do with the port selection. The new Air only features four ports: one MagSafe charger, two USB-C ports and a single high impedance headphone jack. While this is enough, the two USB-C inputs are a little too close together for my liking, and an extra one on the right side of the laptop would have been helpful. Hopefully, Apple will remedy this in the future, but looking at its current sub-$2,000 laptop lineup, I wouldn’t hold my breath. This means that many people will still be living the dongle life if they opt for the new MacBook Air.
On top of that, the MacBook Air with M2 only supports a single external display. The new chip supports 6K screens, which is nice, but it would’ve been impressive to see Apple extend this to at least two1080p displays or even one 4K and one 1080p option, without requiring a workaround.
Looking past the above issues my gripes fall less with the new Air and more with how Apple has positioned it within its current laptop lineup. I assume that the company is throwing every MacBook at the wall to help account for supply chain delays, but maybe the tech giant is just trying to see if selling a wider range of products results in more sales. Either way, the new MacBook Air would fit much better in the product lineup at $1,299, with the older M1 Air being killed off and replaced with a more cost-effective device (perhaps the rumoured M-series chip equipped 12-inch MacBook successor?)
The benchmarks
As I mentioned above, the new Air is an M2 MacBook Pro killer since they both run the same chipset and the M-series of chips don’t need a fan unless you’re pushing it to the extreme. I’d argue that if you plan to push your computer that hard, you should jump up to the M1 Pro or Max chips for extra performance.
While I did see remarkably similar performance between the two machines in our tests, none of the benchmarks we run stress the machine for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. For tasks that would take a lot longer than that, like exporting a long video, the added fans of the M2 Pro might give it more of an edge over the M2 Air. The longest running test was Cinebench and the Air did appear to start slowing down significantly near the end.
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That said, from what we’ve seen, there doesn’t seem to be any significant reasons to justify the existence of the M2 Pro for most circumstances, and in day-to-day tasks, both computers likely perform the same.
When it comes to gaming, the Air can handle most indie games without too much of a hassle, but AAA games are still a little much for the tiny machine unless you’re playing on low settings. Not that there are many games to play on Mac, but if you’re a gamer, be warned. Having said that, I’m a casual gamer and I’m pretty impressed with the new Air’s capabilities.
My first MacBook was a 2014 MacBook Air, and it could barely run the indie game Kentucky Route Zero. With that in mind, the fact that I can run Hitman even if it has to be at low settings, the new Air is a pretty exciting jump forward for me. Combine that power with the Metal 3 framework that Apple talked about at WWDC, and perhaps we’ll finally start to see more games trickle over to macOS during the next few years.
Apple’s fancy new M2-powered MacBook Air will reportedly go on sale starting July 15th.
MacRumorsreports that a “retail source” confirmed the date. Apple first announced the new MacBook Air at its Word Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June, noting that the laptop would go on sale in July. However, the company didn’t confirm an exact date.
With the July 15th date in mind, it’s likely we’ll see pre-orders for the M2 MacBook Air go live on July 8th.
The new MacBook Air measures in at just 2.7lbs and is 11.3mm thin. It sports a 3.5mm headphone jack, two Thunderbolt ports, and Apple’s revamped MagSafe charger. The Air also features a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display and 1080p webcam housed in a notch.
Thanks to the M2 chip, Apple says the Air offers up to 18 hours of battery life. Moreover, the M2 chip includes an 8-core CPU, up to a 10-core GPU, and support for up to 24GB of RAM.
The MacBook Air comes in four colours, ‘Silver,’ ‘Space Grey,’ ‘Starlight,’ and ‘Midnight.’ In Canada, the Air will start at $1,499.
Those interested in the MacBook Air should check out MobileSyrup’s hands-on with the laptop here.
Apple’s new M2-powered MacBook Air was only revealed last week, but that hasn’t stopped rumours about its successor from swirling.
According to display analyst Ross Young, it’s likely the tech giant will release a MacBook Air and an iPad Pro with an OLED display at some point in 2024.
An excerpt from Young’s report can be found below (via 9to5Mac):
“It is looking increasingly likely that Apple will launch a 13.3″ OLED notebook in 2024 in addition to the 11″ OLED and 12.9″ iPad Pro’s. It is expected to be a MacBook Air, but could potentially become a MacBook, MacBook Pro or new category.”
Young goes on to say that the OLED iPad Pro and MacBook Air will feature “tandem stack” display technology that improves screen brightness, longevity and reduces power consumption by 30 percent. Other features include the same variable refresh rate technology found in several of Apple’s current displays, which should add additional power efficiency.
This would mark a shift from the current mini-LED technology Apple utilizes in its iPad Pro (2021) and MacBook Pro (2021) models. While mini-LED allows for higher overall brightness than OLED, its local dimming isn’t quite as good. On the other hand, OLED screens have the potential to suffer from screen burn-in and consume more power.
9to5Mac says that Apple is investing in new micro-LED technology that aims to combine mini-LED and OLED’s strengths into a new form of screen tech.
Apple is expected to release an iPad Pro refresh later this year.
A new 15-inch MacBook Air could release as soon 2023, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The often-reliable source of Apple leaks goes on to say that a 12-inch MacBook is also in the works for a late 2023 or early 2024 release.
Gurman says that the upcoming MacBook Air will be a “wider version” of the recently revealed 13.6-inch lightweight laptop. Beyond this, little else is known about the laptop, though given the release timeline, it will likely feature a more powerful version of Apple’s recently revealed M2 chip.
Display analyst Ross Young says that this new Air Model will feature a 15.2-inch display that doesn’t include ProMotion or Mini LED technology.
Along with this larger Air, a smaller 12-inch laptop will release in late 2023 or 2024, according to Apple. The Cupertino, California-baed company previously sold a 12-inch MacBook that was discontinued back in 2019. Known as just the “MacBook,’ Apple first released the laptop back in 2015.
It featured a fanless design, a single USB-C port and was the first Apple laptop to offer its beleaguered, low-key-travel ‘Butterfly’ keyboard. It’s possible the new version of the 12-inch laptop could be a more modern take on this design. It’s worth noting that at one point Apple also sold an 11-inch MacBook Air.
At WWDC 2022, Apple finally revealed its M2-powered MacBook Air. Along with the new chip, the laptop ditches its wedge-shaped design for a flatter, more MacBook Pro (2021)-like look, and features reduced display bezels.
