Apple has formally introduced the 15-inch MacBook Air, powered by the Apple M2 processor. This new model brings the spirit of a lightweight MacBook to a larger screen, while keeping the benefits of Apple Silicon. The 15-inch MacBook Air comes in at just 11.5mm of thickness, and Apple claims it's the thinnest 15-inch laptop on the market. It also comes in at just over 3.3 pounds, which is very light for an aluminum-based 15-inch laptop. Apple says this is 40% thinner and half a pound lighter than the best-selling comparable laptop.
We're looking at a 15.3-inch display here, a fairly unusual size, and as per usual, it's a Liquid Retina panel, and it can reach 500 nits of brightness, for solid outdoor visibility. It also still has a notch for the webcam, just like the smaller 13-inch version. That webcam is a 1080p camera, and there are also three microphones for audio pickup. As for audio playback, you can count on six speakers, which should deliver a better audio experience than the vast majority of competing laptops.
Of course, on the inside, the MacBook Air is powered by the Apple M2 chip, the same one inside the 13-inch MacBook Air. That's paired with up to 24GB of unified memory and 2TB of storage. Apple touts up to 12 times more performance than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Air, though that hardly matters considering Apple hasn't used Intel processors since 2020. The company does say it's also twice as fast as the best-selling 15-inch Windows PC with an Intel Core i7 processor, though it's not clear which model that is. And with all that in mind, it still lasts up to 18 hours on a charge, over 50% longer than that same 15-inch Windows PC.
Perhaps most interesting of all this is how competitively Apple is pricing the 15-inch MacBook Air, which starts at $1,299, or $1,199 for education. The company is also lowering the price of the MacBook Air 13-inch to $1,099, making one of the best Macs even more appealing.
The 15-inch MacBook Air is available to pre-order today, and it will begin shipping next week.
MacBook Air (M2)
The MacBook Air now comes in a 15-inch model, which Apple calls the thinnest 15-inch laptop in the world. It still has the powerful M2 processor and a great display.