15-inch MacBook Air review roundup

15-inch MacBook Air

Apple introduced its 15-inch MacBook Air during the WWDC keynote, to much acclaim from observers. As a notebook, it offers all of the utility of the 13-inch MacBook Air, complete with the M2 chip, but with a much larger display.

One week later, and one day before the June 13 street date, opinions on the bigger brother of the 13-inch MacBook Air are flooding in. Here are the initial thoughts and reviews for the value-oriented and super-sized MacBook Air.

According to Monica Chin of The Verge, the new MacBook Air is “a good, functional product that people have been shouting, for years, that they want.”

Pointing out that you would previously have to pay a “$1,000 premium and get a thicker, much heavier computer” if you wanted a larger screen Mac, the extra cost is down by an order of magnitude.

The general feel is the same as the 13-inch counterpart, with the exception of the larger display that will thrill devotees of the big screen. However, the half-pound weight gain is “noticeable,” and while it is “a world lighter” than the 16-inch MacBook Pro, it is still “significantly chunkier” than the 13-inch Air.

The review concludes by insisting “We don’t need to be convinced that we want the Air 15. We’ve been waiting for it.”

For people who don’t need a MacBook Pro, the Air’s M2 processor “already exceeds the requirements of all but the most serious creative pros,” starts CNET’s Scott Stein.

While it doesn’t “push the envelope further” from the 13-inch in terms of performance, the better speakers and larger screen are welcomed as a package that’s “way, way less expensive than the MacBook Pro equivalents.”

There are complaints about Apple declining to add an extra port to take advantage of the extra space on the enclosure, as well as a wish for the notch to be not quite as large, but its video and audio are still “more than good enough” to use.

“MacBook Air 15 or 13? Take your pick, either’s fine. At this point in 2023, these MacBook Airs feel like the safest bet in Apple’s laptop lineup,” ends the review.

“Apple simply took the design and internals of the M2-powered Air it announced a year ago and stuck it in a bigger case with a bigger screen,” observes Nathan Ingraham for Engadget. “Done and done.”

Pointing out the lack of “niceties” from the mini LED displays of the MacBook Pros, the standard display is still deemed “very nice,” “bright, sharp, and entirely pleasant to look at for extended periods of time.”

The better six-speaker sound system with force-canceling woofers is another high point. “Apple has been making surprisingly excellent laptop speakers for a few years now, and these also sound very lively and full when playing back music or movies.”

“If you travel a lot, or value portability above all else, by all means get the 13-inch model,” reasons Ingraham. “But if I were in the market for a new laptop right now, I think the 15-inch Air would be at the top of my list.”