Apple floats 15-inch MacBook Air to consumer demand
Apple is continuing its bid to bring first-time users to its ecosystem, finally releasing a 15-inch version – the most bought laptop size – of its MacBook Air in Australia.
Apple appears to be doubling down on the devices which bring the most users to the US tech giant’s ecosystem, releasing the first 15-inch size MacBook Air to market.
The new size is part of a bid to go after buyers and users of the most in-demand sized laptop in Australia.
Apple’s well aware of this, combining that size with the laptop it knows first-time buyers opt for.
The move is similar to what the company did with its Mac mini, a computer which is arguably the most powerful and affordable in the market that costs under $1000.
The new 15-inch MacBook Air arrives with a starting price of $2199, which includes 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and a 35W dual USB charger. The price goes up to $3999 for 24GB of RAM, 2TB of storage and a 70W charger.
The 13-inch, which has also been made available with the new M2 chip, retails for a more affordable $1799.
The MacBook Air range has long been popular with university students and office workers who can do without the power of the MacBook Pro.
While the new 15-inch maintains the thin and light aesthetic of the MacBook Air range, the device doesn’t compromise on power largely thanks Apple’s relatively new M2 chip.
On battery life, it boasts of 18 hours, slightly less than the MacBook Pro which can get between 18 to 22 hours when used for streaming directly. We got on average just under two days’ of work done on the MacBook Air before needing a recharge.
One of the most impressive features is the six-speaker sound system. It’s not often a laptop sounds nice, but the new MacBook Air takes the cake for the best we’ve heard from a laptop.
That improvement is largely thanks to spatial sound, a feature of the Apple’s new HomePod smart speaker which doubles as a soundbar, in which the laptop measures sound reflections around a room via three microphones and chooses where to disperse music accordingly.
The MacBook Air arrives with an 8-core CPU (central processing unit) and a 10-core GPU (graphics processing unit).
The device comes with a 15.3-inch liquid retina display with true tone and has a 1080p HD FaceTime camera.
In terms of ports, there are two USB-C ports, one 3.5mm audio jack and Apple’s MagSafe 3 charging port. The device is 11.5mm thick and it weighs just 1.51kg. Apple says it’s the world’s thinnest 15-inch laptop.
Despite the light weight, the device doesn’t feel flimsy nor like it would be damaged in case of a small drop.
The verdict? While we’re not the biggest fan of 15-inch laptops in general (when going portable, why not go smaller?), the MacBook Air is impressive.
Working a split-screen on 13-inch laptops has never been much fun but on the 15-inch MacBook Air, that wasn’t a problem. The larger screen was a good to watch streaming services on and the impressive sound system made it all the better.
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