News

Mar 13, 2023

Forget The Stunning New MacBook, Apple Has Something Much Better

Updated May 30th: article originally posted May 27th. Ahead of Apple’s Worldwide

Updated May 30th: article originally posted May 27th.

Ahead of Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference for 2023, as the mania around another augmented reality headset crescendos, the quiet corner of MacBook fans expect Tim Cook and his team to launch the first consumer laptop with a screen larger than thirteen inches. But the long-hoped-for 15-inch MacBook Air will sit awkwardly in the portfolio.

Apple can do better. Apple has done better.

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 06: Apple CEO Tim Cook looks at a display of brand new redesigned ... [+] MacBook Air laptop during the WWDC22 at Apple Park on June 06, 2022 in Cupertino, California. Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off the annual WWDC22 developer conference. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Update: Monday May 29th: In a move stripped of subtlety, Apple will be opening up the trade-in part of the Apple Store to three Mac models on the opening day of WWDC. Owners of the Mac Studio, the 13-inch MacBook Air M2, and the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 can exchange these machines for credit in the Apple Store.

While you could use that credit to buy rather a lot of Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack adaptors, Apple will be launching the 15-inch MacBook Air M2 on the same day.

The specs for this MacBook Air suggest that it is little more than a point upgrade that adds a larger screen but retains all the same specs of the 13-inch MacBook Air M2. What temptation is there for an existing MacBook Air user to upgrade to a larger screen? Tim Cook's trade-in offer answers that question, and countless of Apple's faithful can call their purchase a trade-in rather than a brand new purchase.

Apple certainly hopes they will, given both the falling sales of MacBooks and the significant inventory of the 15-inch model it has built up.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 23: The Apple logo is displayed on the exterior of an Apple Store on ... [+] April 23, 2013 in San Francisco, California. Analysts believe that Apple Inc. will report their first quarterly loss in nearly a decade as the company prepares to report first quarter earnings today after the closing bell. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Update: Tuesday May 30th: Gaming remains Apple's weak spot. The majority of console games have an equivalent for Windows, while many titles are PC only. MacOS remains very much an afterthought for the gaming powerhouses. That does leave more space for independent developers, although Apple is not widely known for promoting gaming titles.

That's not always the case. Last year at WWDC, Hello Games demonstrated their space exploration and survival game 'No Man's Sky’ running iPadOS and macOS. The title has not yet been released for Apple hardware (although it has been a mainstay on PC and PlayStation since 2016).

Sean Murray, Managing Director and Founder of Hello Games, has posted a not-so-subtle tweet. It is nothing more than an Apple. Murray is famous for trailing updates to the game with an emoji-only message, which suggests that WWDC 2023 could be a big moment for his team.

No doubt, there will be speculation that this title will be a launch title for Apple's headset, but there's a far bigger addressable audience using macOS. Your new MacBook - whatever flavor - might get at least one top gaming title this summer.

A closer look at the widely-expected and leaked specs shows that the 15-inch MacBook Air to be launched at next month's Worldwide Developer Conference represents the Macbook vision of 2022. The same chipset, the same design, the same compromises. These specs will be a year out of date before one of the laptops is even sold.

The only difference is going to be that larger 15-inch display.

Until now, Apple was steadfast in its refusal to offer a larger screened laptop for consumers. Will a 15-inch model be enough of a draw for existing owners to upgrade or to bring in those new to the platform? I’m sure it will be, and Apple has been building up stock in anticipation of this happening. Yet this may not be the smartest choice for consumers I think Apple has some better options available for the savvy.

If performance is your chief requirement, you will always aim higher and pick up one of the MacBook Pro models. These come in both 14-inch and 16-inch models, so your larger screen will come with these laptops automatically.

These MacBook Pro models are not the cheapest of laptops, so you will be paying more, but Apple has you covered there as well. The current M2 Pro and M2 Max MacBook Pro models are showing up in Apple's refurbished section of the Apple Store, offering up to twenty percent off the list price while retaining a 12-month guarantee and the option to sign for Apple Care. These laptops are going to have a larger screen and offer more power and performance with the M2 Pro and M2 Max variants of the chipset compared to the older M2 chipset the 15-inch MacBook Air will ship with

Even when Apple launches the M3 chipset and presumably offers the vanilla M3 with the next-generation MacBook Air models, the M2 Pro and M2 Max are still expected to outperform the base M3 silicon.

There will be a price premium on the 15-inch MacBook Air over the 13-inch models, which could be substantive. Given the Apple Silicon powered MacBook Air laptops have been some of Apple's biggest sellers, many who would have considered moving up to a larger model when they invested in the new models, there's very little on offer here to tempt them into what is essentially a minor spec bump in one area.

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 30: Tim Cook, CEO of Apple unveils a new MacBook Air during a launch event at ... [+] the Brooklyn Academy of Music on October 30, 2018 in New York City. This is Apple's first full upgrade of the laptop in three years. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

Who does that leave as the target market? If it's all about the display size, then you’ve been able to find this on every sensible MacBook Pro for the last few years. Similarly, the power and performance-focused users will be on the Pro models. Value for money blanched with longevity suggests either a refurbished MacBook Pro or aiming slightly lower down the MacBook Air portfolio for a competent but cheaper laptop.

This will be ‘my first MacBook’ for many consumers. Still, Apple's extensive advertising of the new Apple Silicon machines will undoubtedly have converted the lion's share of this potential market into the macOS ecosystem. This means that the MacBook team is counting on existing MacBook users to be dazzled by the idea of looking at another two inches, throwing caution to the wind, and buying the upgraded laptop.

There's the target market. Is that large enough to make this new laptop a success when Apple has many more measurably better options?

Now read the latest Mac, iPhone, and iPad headlines in Forbes weekly Apple Loop news digest...