Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote early last year that Apple had “considered building” a larger version of the MacBook Air with a 15-inch display but chose to abandon the idea for the upcoming generation of devices. If these reports align, it would mean Apple is giving itself another year to iron out the kinks.
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Apple will release a new MacBook Air sometime this year before it debuts the larger version, should the predictions prove correct. Kuo had previously guessed that that next MacBook Air would go into mass production in late Q2 or Q3 of this year with a redesigned chassis, more color options, a standard LCD display, and the same M1 chip as before.
Why Apple might take this approach: right now, not much separates the MacBook Air from the MacBook Pro 13. These two machines run on the same processor, have 13-inch panels, and even share the same port selection. Equipping only the MacBook Pro with an M2 would reinstate its place as a legitimately “Pro” device.
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Looking past the most immediate changes, a 15-inch MacBook Air could be a popular machine for many users who want a large display but don’t need the additional performance of the much pricier MacBook Pro 14 and 16 options.