I’ve been making the case for Apple to introduce a bigger version of its most popular MacBook for over a decade. Now, it’s finally here. At Apple’s WWDC keynote, the company revealed a new 15-inch version of its MacBook Air laptop. The new 15-inch model joins the current 13-inch Air and Apple’s own M-series chips power both.
This would not be the first time a MacBook Air has been available in a different screen size. From 2010 to 2016, Apple offered an 11-inch MacBook Air. With the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops, Apple now offers laptops with 13-, 14-, 15- and 16-inch screens. Add in the iPad Pro lineup and you’ve got a laptop size for just about everyone.
Starting at $1,299, the new MacBook Air 15 is the world’s thinnest 15-inch laptop at 11.5 millimeters, and it weighs only 3.3 pounds. It features an Apple M2 chip (eight-core CPU, 10-core GPU), a 15.3-inch display with a max brightness of 500 nits, up to 24GB of memory and up to 2TB of storage. The 13-inch M2 MacBook Air stays in the lineup for $100 less at $1,099, and the M1 MacBook Air holds down the entry-level position at $999. The MacBook Air is available for preorder now and is expected to start shipping next week.
Watch this: Apple Introduces 15-Inch MacBook Air for $1,300
The M2 MacBook Air 15-inch also has a fanless design so it’ll stay quiet in class, meetings or when you’re on FaceTime or Zoom calls. A 1080p webcam and three-mic array will also boost the overall video call quality. The body also houses six speakers with force-canceling woofers for more immersive spatial audio.
In its announcement of the MacBook Air 15, Apple said the new Air is 12 times faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Air and it’s capable of up to 18 hours of battery life. This isn’t surprising given Apple’s MacBooks continue to have the longest battery lives of any laptops we’ve tested.
This is a developing story. See CNET’s full coverage of WWDC 2023.
