I like small phones, small cars, even small people.
And so when Apple announced their largest ever 15 inch MacBook Air at WWDC, I wasn't
confident it would connect with me. At first glance, this looks like a longer and wider version of the M2 model they launched
last year. And I mean, it basically is, so ho hum.
And yet, I think this is a really big deal, and I'm not talking about the size.
Alright, that's great.
Apple has never made a large consumer notebook like this before.
If you wanted to get more screen real estate on the go, you would have to pay up for a 16
inch MacBook Pro. At $2500, it's almost double what this costs.
I guess the closest analog to this from Apple's history would be the 14 inch iBook from 2002.
But you didn't really get much from that bigger screen because it had the exact same
resolution as the smaller 12 inch iBook.
So everything on screen just appeared bigger, there wasn't any room to roam.
This MacBook, however, has a higher resolution, and therefore much more real estate.
So you can fit more documents, webpages, premiere tracks, and more of the photos you're editing
on the screen at a time. If you're a big multitasker and you're on the go, this is great.
I should note one thing though, unlike the MacBook Pro's on the MacBook Air's, display
scaling is on by default. For the absolute clearest image, use this setting.
Many many years ago, back in high school, I used a 15 inch Acer laptop, and I remember
after graduating making another one of my size policies.
No laptop bigger than 14 inches, they were really big, thick, and ponderous back then.
This isn't, and so I might need to recalibrate my views.
This Air is very thin and light. At 3.3 pounds, it's only half a pound heavier than the smaller Air.
But crucially, it's a full pound and a half lighter than a 16 inch MacBook Pro.
It's even lighter than the 14 inch model, and that means that despite its size, it's
not clunky. I'm actually surprised at how portable it is.
Many backpacks and laptop bags are designed for laptops with this screen size.
So when I put my smaller MacBooks in, I'm always aware of them shifting about.
This fits much more nicely into those spaces. It's just right.
The 15 inch model is a sliver thicker than the smaller one.
That makes it sturdy. When you hold up a laptop this big from one corner like this, more force is being put
on the opposite corner. Cheap plastic Windows laptops flex and creak when I do this, but look, I don't feel bad
at all. But weirdly, despite its extra size, Apple has not specced more battery life.
Their claims for both models are still 18 hours of video playback.
But in my usage at the office, I was able to stretch the battery over 12 and a half hours
of screen on time. It's not up to Apple's claims, but it is very good.
Along with the bigger screen, you get a bigger trackpad with very good palm rejection.
But you also get more space for heat and sound.
Last year I complained about the decrease in performance of the M2 MacBook Air because
of its compromised cooling. They use a heat shield and an air gap, and it's used here too.
But because of the greater surface area, the impact is less.
In my DaVinci export test, the 15 inch model is much closer in performance to the fan cooled
Touch Bar M2 MacBook Pro than the smaller Air.
I still believe some thermal mass would go a long way for both the M2 Air's performance
over longer periods. The chip isn't hot enough to really push the cooling of the Pro model, but it is enough
to saturate the cooling of these two.
Now though, instead of worrying about a 10 plus minute workload, I'm happy to say that
this will last longer. Maybe just don't push it in multi hour gaming sessions.
The speakers take advantage of the increased space as well, sounding a lot fuller compared
to the tin cans on the other M2 models.
These are not as bassy as the speakers found in the expensive Pro models, but they are
very good. And it's nice that Apple took the opportunity to upgrade them as well.
My biggest criticism, however, is with IO.
With all this extra space on the body here, I think Apple could have added another Thunderbolt
port on the right side. Would be especially handy for people who rely on the studio display's criminally short
included cable. Better still, I think they should add an SD card reader, like the MacBook Air's used
to get back in the day. Because I think this specific laptop is perfect for photographers.
Photographers don't use the HDR offered by the XDR display, but they do want more screen
real estate. Photographers don't want to lug around heavy equipment, but they do want a laptop.
Photographers don't do sustained loads, but they do need more memory. Which at 24 gigs, this has.
Even if you are a photographer, this amount of RAM is very hard to justify.
You better be processing 100 megapixel RAWs. The price for this fully upgraded model with a terabyte of storage, for example, is $2,100.
You're going to need to shoot a lot of weddings to pay for it.
Everyone else should take note of the recalibration of MacBook Air pricing.
This smaller base M2 Air gets a $100 decrease to $1,100, and this starts at $200 more.
At $1,300, this is priced identically to the older style 13 inch MacBook Pro, with the
touch bar, which they still sell. If you're thinking, well why would I get the Air if it's the same price as the Pro,
be careful. This lacks the better screen, higher performance, and IO that the real MacBook Pros have.
And besides, the Air has the same 10 core GPU upgrade as this anyway.
There were reports that falling laptop sales forced Apple to suspend M2 chip production,
and clearly it was enough for Apple to push the prices down.
With the exception of the M1 model, which is still $1,000, the same price it was introduced
at almost three years ago. And to my fellow Canadians, our dollars doing pretty bad, so we only get a $50 price drop
on the small MacBook Air. Ouch.
This new pricing does change the calculus a bit when it comes to buying a MacBook.
If you have always wanted a large MacBook, or have been spending the last many years
paying up for a way too powerful Pro, this is a dream come true.
It'll be everything you hope for, and more.
As for how to spec it, well if you do very light tasks like web browsing and office stuff,
I'm still willing to recommend the base model, but just barely.
But my tests showed significant performance differences between the base and fully loaded
RAM configs. So that upgrade does contribute to a performance boost.
I like this, and I'm really surprised I do. It breaks down my 15 inch laptop policy.
Even like the starlight color, it's a hard laptop to fault.
But would I spend my own money on it?
Ugh. I think I'm still a small laptop person.
Even though this is big, it's still too big.
For me.
Thanks for expanding this Mac Address. If you're a big laptop fan, give this video a like.
And if you're a small laptop fan, you might as well subscribe. I am curious in the comments below what the most ideal laptop screen size is for you.
Comment below.