Introducing the highly anticipated 15-inch MacBook Air! During WWDC 2023, Apple finally unveiled this long-awaited laptop, which shares many similarities with its 13-inch counterpart, the MacBook Air M2, but boasts a larger 15-inch display. Taking design cues from the 2021 MacBook Pros, the MacBook Air 15-inch features MagSafe charging, slimmer bezels, and an overall sleek and flat design. Apple proudly touts it as the thinnest 15-inch laptop available and claims it outperforms Windows laptops equipped with Intel Core i7 CPUs by a factor of two. Additionally, users can choose from four stunning color options to personalize their MacBook Air 15-inch. With Apple’s promising claims and our hands-on experience, this laptop has the potential to become one of the most impressive MacBooks to date.
15-inch MacBook Air latest news (June 6)
- MacBook Air 15-inch starts at $1,299. Releases on June 13.
- The device is 11.5 mm thin, which is the thinnest 15-inch on the market.
- Weighs 3.3 pounds.
- The M2-powered 15-inch promises 18 hours of battery life.
- The new Air packs six speakers for immersive sound.
- There are four color options: Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and Space Gray
15-inch MacBook Air : Specs
| Price | $1,299 (starting) |
| Display | 15.3-inch Liquid Retina |
| Chipset | Apple M2 (8-core CPU/10-core GPU) |
| RAM | Up to 24GB |
| Webcam | 1080p |
| Battery | 18 hours (claimed) |
| Weight | 3.3 pounds |
15-inch MacBook Air : Release date and price
The eagerly anticipated MacBook Air 15-inch, priced at $1,299 and set to release on June 13, offers an upgrade over its 13-inch sibling. The base model’s price increase of $200 from the 13-inch MacBook Air M2, now priced at $1,099, brings larger display real estate. Users can select from four captivating colors: Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and Space Gray.
To secure your MacBook Air 15-inch on its release day, follow our pre-order guide. The entry-level variant is equipped with an Apple M2 chip, boasting 8 CPU and 10 GPU cores. It initially offers 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, but these specifications can be expanded to 2TB and 24GB, respectively, at an additional cost.
15-inch MacBook Air : Design
Apple’s announcement reveals that the MacBook Air 15-inch sets a new standard for thinness, measuring only 11.5mm and earning the title of the world’s thinnest 15-inch laptop. Despite weighing slightly more than the 13-inch MacBook Air M2, at 3.3 pounds, it remains remarkably lightweight. Apple proudly claims that the new MacBook Air is 40 percent thinner and half a pound lighter than comparable PC laptops.
Continuing the design language introduced last year, the MacBook Air 15-inch showcases a sleek, flat chassis with uniform edges. While the keyboard and trackpad maintain their size, there is now increased spacing between them and the device’s edges.
Similar to its smaller counterpart, the new MacBook Air features MagSafe charging, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Thunderbolt ports offer the flexibility to connect high-resolution external displays up to 6K.
The MacBook Air 15-inch is available in four stunning finishes: Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and Space Gray, allowing users to select a color that resonates with their personal style.
15-inch MacBook Air : Performance
During WWDC 2023, Apple introduced the powerful M2 chip in the MacBook Air 15-inch, previously seen in the MacBook Pro 13-inch and previous MacBook Air models. Apple claims the M2 chip provides up to 12 times the speed compared to the previous Intel-based MacBook Air. Additionally, Apple boasts that the new MacBook Air is twice as fast as a 15-inch PC laptop with an Intel Core i7 processor, while offering an impressive battery life of up to 18 hours.
The M2 chip in the MacBook Air 15-inch consists of an 8-core CPU, featuring 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, a 10-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. With a memory bandwidth of 100GB/s and support for up to 24GB of unified memory (RAM), the M2 chip delivers exceptional performance.
During a hands-on demo, the MacBook Air 15-inch showcased its multitasking capabilities, allowing users to work seamlessly with multiple app windows without overlap. The split-screen feature stood out as a notable improvement on this machine.
While comprehensive testing is required to fully assess the MacBook Air’s performance, initial impressions suggest that it will excel in delivering a high-performance computing experience.
15-inch MacBook Air : Display and sound
The new MacBook Air features a spacious 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display. Apple claims that this display can achieve a brightness of up to 500 nits and supports a wide range of 1 billion colors. Apple further asserts that the display offers twice the resolution and is 25 percent brighter than comparable PC laptops. However, these claims will need to be verified through thorough testing in our lab.
With the larger screen size, Apple has been able to incorporate a new 6-speaker sound system into the MacBook Air. This sound system is designed to deliver immersive audio with support for Dolby Atmos. While we had the opportunity to listen to a brief demo, it was challenging to fully assess the promised 2x stronger bass. We look forward to conducting more extensive testing to evaluate the audio performance in detail.
15-inch MacBook Air : Battery life
Apple claims that the MacBook Air 15-inch M2 offers an impressive battery life of up to 18 hours, matching the battery life of its 13-inch counterpart. This places it in line with the remarkable battery endurance of the MacBook Pro 13-inch, which lasted an impressive 18 hours and 20 minutes in our testing.
If the MacBook Air 15-inch M2 maintains the same battery performance as the 13-inch models, it has the potential to be one of the top laptops in terms of battery life. In our own Tom’s Guide battery test, which involves continuous web surfing at 150 nits of screen brightness, the 13-inch MacBook Air achieved an excellent average of 14 hours and 6 minutes.
All configurations of the MacBook Air 15-inch M2 come with Apple’s 35W Dual Port Adapter, allowing simultaneous charging of the MacBook and another device. It’s worth noting that this charger was previously available only for 13-inch MacBook Air models with higher specifications, providing an added convenience and versatility for users.
