Forget the new MacBook Pro, Apple has something much better

Updated April 17: This article was originally published on April 15.

apples macbook range It’s always lacking in a larger consumer laptop. With older Intel machines, 15-inch and 17-inch screens were limited to the more powerful and more expensive MacBook Pro laptops. With the launch of Apple Silicon, consumer-focused MacBook Air laptops offered comparable performance levels to Intel-powered Pros, and the entry-level MacBook Air was one of the most powerful laptops at its price.

However, there was something missing, something that is abundant in Windows laptops; Consumer-focused 15-inch laptops. Apple has seriously avoided offering macOS fans this option. If you wanted a larger laptop screen, you had to spend a lot more money and go for the MacBook Pro laptops.

That is set to change this year. Those who need a larger screen can forget about the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops; Apple is finally getting ready with a 15-inch Airplane…but there’s something worrisome about the specs.

Update: Monday, April 17th: Writing to bloomberg In his Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman highlights Apple’s plans for three new MacBooks — updates to the 13-inch Air and 13-inch Pro, and the new 15-inch Air — but he also has two notes of caution about the laptop.

The first is that only some laptops will be launched at the Wordwide Developers Conference in June, and the second is that the models launched at WWDC will not come with the new M3 technology. Instead, you’ll be limited to “something in line with existing M2 processors”.

We may not see a complete upgrade of the M3 family, but the idea of ​​a chip halfway between the M2 and M3 is an interesting possibility, not least because it would create a larger gap between consumer and professional machines, but also because they could be seen as upgrades over last year’s laptops. Even if the same basic technique is used.

The obvious choice to power a larger MacBook Air would be Apple Silicon’s next-generation M3 chips; The new MacBook Air with a new chipset will deliver the latest technology and the longest possible life, and provide an attractive upgrade for existing Air users running older M1 or M2 chips.

Is this Apple’s intention for the larger laptop?

latest reports From various log files received by third-party macOS application developers, it shows that a new currently unavailable laptop with product ID “Mac 15,3” suggests a 15-inch MacBook Air. The records also show some specifications; The screen has a similar resolution to the 14-inch MacBook Pro, the 8GB of RAM follows current Air laptops, and the chipset has eight main and ten graphics cores.

It all adds up to the expected larger MacBook Air, but the core count is… curious. This 8/10 mix reflects the current M2 chipset used in current MacBook Air models, suggesting that Apple may delay the launch of the M3 chipset to allow the 15-inch MacBook Air to remain “current” or launch this new laptop with single-generation chipsets. once again.

Given the absurd levels of hype around the launch of Apple’s mixed reality effort at WWDC, there’s an argument that you don’t dilute any of the messages about this new product line with another new product line. Which is exactly what the 15-inch MacBook Air will be.

A few years ago, Apple was releasing all new iPhone and iPhone Pro models with the latest A-series chipsets. Recently, lower-tier iPhones are shipping with the previous generation, a choice that further separates the specs and price difference between the vanilla and vanilla phones. Pro. Apple also kept the M1 MacBook Air in its inventory, allowing the company to maintain the $999 entry price while offering the M2 MacBook Air at a higher price.

Tim Cook’s Apple has shown over the past few years that it will happily mix and match generations of devices to create a tiered portfolio with options at every price point. The larger MacBook Air with the M2 chipset fits this style quite well. The MacBook Air machines that have been on the MacBook Pro for a generation will fit this pattern, too.

Honestly, the M2 chipset already offers consumers quite a bit of performance, which will be more than enough for most tasks. Those who need extra power can look to the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.

Now that Apple will introduce the 15-inch MacBook Air, those who need a larger screen can finally ignore the overpriced and overpriced MacBook Pro models. Even with the M2 chipset, the larger MacBook Air would be a welcome, if sorely lagging, addition to the Mac lineup.

Now read the latest MacBook, iPhone and iPad headlines in Forbes’ weekly Apple episode column…

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