15-inch MacBook Air Review: Perfect for Nearly Everyone
Rumors of a 15-inch MacBook Air had been circulating for years, but Apple made those rumors a reality at WWDC 2023. The new 15-inch MacBook Air is the best of both worlds: a light, quiet, fan-less MacBook with the large bright screen that was previously only accessible on the larger MacBook Pro models. That is a pretty compelling package for the average consumer who is looking for a larger screen without breaking he bank. But is the 15-inch MacBook Air the perfect laptop for everybody?
The base model 15-inch Air comes with the full fat M2 chip with an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 8 GBs of RAM, and a 256 GB solid state drive. It also features a six-speaker sound system, upgraded from the 13-inch Air’s four speakers. The dual USB-C charger also comes standard (with an option for a 70-watt fast charger), whereas on the 13-inch it would have been a $20 upgrade. At the shockingly low price of $1299, or $1199 with an education discount, this is a little cheaper than perhaps many would have expected. That price point is only $200 more than the 13-inch M2 Air and, when comparably spec-ed with the charger and GPU upgrade, only $70 more. That $70 gives you a bigger screen, a bigger trackpad, and slightly better speakers — which to many people is worth it.
The base model specs of the 15-inch Air are a little lackluster in this day in age. The 8 GBs of RAM is a little low and has been the standard on Air’s since 2017. Even for a basic user utilizing numerous tabs in Safari or multiple applications at once, there may be some slowdown. The 256 GB SSD has been very low for quite some time, though external storage options exist. A student looking to keep this laptop for more than their four-year degree may run into storage issues, or the RAM may be insufficient as websites and applications become more robust. It would have been nice to see one of these specs upgraded in the base model instead of the GPU upgrade, which is largely insignificant. For 90% of people, the base model will be fine. But I would be remiss to say that everything will be perfectly fine.
For example, on my silver base model 15-inch Air, I tested the specs on a typical podcast I host. This roughly 90-minute process involved having several applications open and running (Zoom, Safari with multiple tabs, Mail) and projection to an external monitor through a dongle and HDMI port. After around 45 minutes I experienced some slowdown, tabs having to refresh, and the activity monitor showed some significant memory swapping (Memory swapping is when the CPU borrows memory from the SSD to complete tasks, a function of the “unified memory” system Apple uses). The chassis became warm to the touch and I offloaded some things to my iPad mini to relieve the pressure. This would likely be as hard as I push my system, and it is not terribly often, but it was still frustrating to see. If pushing your device every day with heavy video or photo editing is a normal occurrence, then the base model 15-inch Air will not be enough horsepower.
On the flip side, while writing and researching for an article on another outlet, I found the 15-inch Air to work great. Utilizing a word processor, Safari, Chrome (for a specific plug-in), and splicing video together in iMovie all worked great in short bursts. iMovie did not stutter at all, the computer was not warm to the touch, and the battery life was solid. If you plan on working in basic office applications for extended periods of time, this computer will be great and the base model will be adequate.
The design and functionality of the 15-inch Air is top notch (no pun intended). The screen looks great. It is big, vibrant, colorful, and the 1080p webcam is much better than any Intel Mac you can buy. The speaker system is loud, just a hair louder than the 13-inch, but nothing too dramatic. The real draw of this device is the screen coupled with the formfactor. Despite such a large display, the 15-inch Air is remarkably thin and portable. In my testing of carrying the Mac around, I found no dramatic weight difference to the point where I knew I was walking around with a 15-inch computer. It was still very easy to take to work, to a coffee shop, or carry while walking around. It is much lighter than the 14 or 16-inch MacBook Pros, which could be a key advantage to those who travel frequently.
The biggest flaw of this device is easy to spot: the base model specs are not that great for 2023. The problem is that upgrading the Air at all gets you dangerously close to a refurbished M1 Pro MacBook Pro, which has more ports, more power, and a better screen. Upgrading the RAM and storage to match the Pro is $400, bringing the price to $1699. That is actually the same price as a refurbished 14-inch M2 Pro MacBook Pro from Apple and more expensive than an M1 Pro from Amazon, both of which are better laptops pound for pound than the Air. I would not recommend upgrading the 15-inch Air at all and just stick with the base model, or simply move up to the refurbished M1 Pro MacBook Pro.
Overall, the 15-inch MacBook Air is going to sell absolute gangbusters for Apple. At $1299, or $1199 with the education discount, it is a surprisingly good deal. The screen is nice, the design is wonderfully thin and light, the M2 chip is powerful enough for 95% of tasks, and the battery life is superb. If your job or educational pursuits are demanding (multiple streams of 4k video editing, heavy photo editing), then I would look at new or refurbished Pro models instead. But for any standard user who needs a computer for hobbies, light video or photo editing, office work, or streaming content, the 15-inch MacBook Air would be a solid option.
