13-Inch M2 MacBook Air Now Starts From $999, 15-Inch M2 Model Discontinued

[VisionRex]

That's a bummer. the 15" Air was a great deal

 

[darngooddesign]

That's a bummer. the 15" Air was a great deal

So buy the 15” M3 Air which is the same price as the 15” M2 Air.

 

[PTVMan]

They do but it's just not always a good value. 'Up to $550' for a MacBook Air (even if you have a mini condition M2)

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Thanks for replying. Interestingly, Apple doesn't yet have the new M3 MacBook Air listed.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I miss the days when they used to lower the price of the product through the generations instead of just keeping the old one at a lower price.

Tim Cook Special

 

[profets]

I don’t understand the need to keep the M2 as an option. Just make the M3 $100 cheaper to fit that price point. Are you telling me Apple’s margins are that close that they need to have an older model that’s only $100 cheaper than their latest and greatest? Think about how much time Apple employees will have to spend everyday explaining to customers the difference between the 13 M2 Air and 13 M3 Air. To me that sounds like a bigger cost than just selling the newer device at the magical price of $999. But what do I know. I’m just a keyboard warrior and not the wealthiest company in the world.

I was thinking exactly the same. I get it - they want to have certain margin and also hit the 999 price point. But $100 delta from M2 to M3 in what otherwise will look (and really function) identically for the vast majority of people who purchase MacBook Air for.

 

[PTVMan]

Thanks for replying. Interestingly, Apple doesn't yet have the new M3 MacBook Air listed.

Never mind - I finally saw the Trade-In link on the order page.

 

[darngooddesign]

Tim Cook Special

You misspelled Steve Jobs.

 

[zkap]

I don't get people commenting about the short run of the 15 M2 Air. What difference does it make? It is replaced with a newer version and whoever has the 15 M2 Air can continue using it for a long long time. Discontinuing a product means they won't produce that hardware combination anymore, it doesn't mean the product loses support sooner.

 

[JordanCautious]

I'm on the 15" M2 MacBook Air right now writing this comment. I LOVE IT! Shame to see it discontinued less than 8 months after it came out though lol. It's a shame I'm planning to upgrade to the 16" M4 Max MacBook Pro whenever it comes out in the future but I love this laptop!

 

[turbineseaplane]

I don't get people commenting about the short run of the 15 M2 Air. What difference does it make? It is replaced with a newer version and whoever has the 15 M2 Air can continue using it for a long long time. Discontinuing a product means they won't produce that hardware combination anymore, it doesn't mean the product loses support sooner.

I think the frustration is that it was marketing move

The M3 could/should? have been in the 15" Air to start with, but they were likely holding it back for concerns about undercutting the Pro sales

If one goes and reads the threads back at 15" Air release, it was a little odd to have it release when it did and "still" have "only" the M2

 

[iStorm]

Haven’t really paid attention to product releases for a couple years now, is it common for the press release ones to stagger the announcements? Just curious if it’s silly to think the iPad pros are getting announced today too.

I don't think I've ever seen Apple stagger press releases throughout the day. They are usually done in the morning, so what we have now is most likely it.

They sometimes stagger them throughout the week though. Maybe they'll announce new iPads tomorrow or later this week.

 

[icemantx]

I totally agree that 8GB and 256GB is ridiculous in 2024 as a base model device and that an added $400 to upgrade to 16GB/512Gb is a blatant cash grab. Having said that, if Apple were to eliminate the 8GB/256GB base option and make the entry point 16GB/512GB, there is no way they would start the price at $999.

If anything, Apple would increase the price enough to keep their margins high and start it at $1399 which is too far beyond the magic $999 number.

Putting it in perspective to how far technology has come in the last 25 years, when looking back at the first consumer laptop Apple made, clamshell iBook G3 (not counting the eMate), that started at $1599 in 1999 which is ~$3000 today. That model came with a 32mb RAM and 3GB HDD.

I dislike the Apple tax as much as the next person, but Apple will be Apple when it comes to their entry level pricing/specs.

 

[Dopestdude2]

I don't think I've ever seen Apple stagger press releases throughout the day. They are usually done in the morning, so what we have now is most likely it.

They sometimes stagger them throughout the week though. Maybe they'll announce new iPads tomorrow or later this week.

Thank you. I figured it would be odd for them to stagger them in one day.

 

[thadoggfather]

It really is sometimes hit and miss whether you purchase optimally…. M2 Macbook Air 15 inch has had a very short run indeed… and now the countdown starts on its inevitable end of support… which will be far shorter than the M2 Macbook Air 13 inch which released over a year ahead of it.

I think the M2 Macbook Air 13 inch is going to have a long run indeed.. its going to be like the ipad Air 2…. And im really happy i bought it when i did… im going to get a really good run out of it… a great value proposition for those of us that bought it on release.

I don't really care tbh, my 15 Air has good build battery life and performance the screen is uniform and crisp and bright

Didn't hurt I got my base model for $843 open box excellent from Best Buy in the fall with one charge on it

If I just bought it yesterday for full retail and a super spec'd model I might be a little miffed, but then again these were rumored to come in spring and as late as summer. Spring is here. And then again I would be miffed then realize I still have a return policy and swap it out.

edit- just checked trade in and its $820, would only take a $23 loss and tax difference but I dont really see a compelling reason to trade up at the moment

--

Support will be the same as M2 13 inch Air IMO. Same everything, just bigger screen. Even newer model than the M2 13 by about a year so that wouldn't make much sense.

 

[zkap]

It really is sometimes hit and miss whether you purchase optimally…. M2 Macbook Air 15 inch has had a very short run indeed… and now the countdown starts on its inevitable end of support… which will be far shorter than the M2 Macbook Air 13 inch which released over a year ahead of it.

I think the M2 Macbook Air 13 inch is going to have a long run indeed.. its going to be like the ipad Air 2…. And im really happy i bought it when i did… im going to get a really good run out of it… a great value proposition for those of us that bought it on release.

No logic here connecting this announcement to the end of support for the 15 M2 Air. When end-of-support comes, it will be the same for the 13 and 15 since they have the same chip. If you bought a product sooner, you can use it for longer than someone who bought it later, as it can't be any other way. This announcement changes nothing for users of the 15 M2 Air as it was obvious from the start the 13 M2 Air would have a longer overall lifespan (software-support-wise) since it was released sooner.

 

[turbineseaplane]

if Apple were to eliminate the 8GB/256GB base option and make the entry point 16GB/512GB, there is no way they would start the price at $999.

If anything, Apple would increase the price enough to keep their margins high and start it at $1399 which is too far beyond the magic $999 number.

I'd still be ok with it, because there would be great deals at all the 3rd party resellers
That's the issue with the low base specs for me..

The market is flooded with deals for machines I have no interest in (due to low specs), and they can't be upgraded.

 

[strayts]

8GB of base RAM is insane in 2024.

 

[darngooddesign]

I think the frustration is that it was marketing move

The M3 could/should? have been in the 15" Air to start with, but they were likely holding it back for concerns about undercutting the Pro sales

If one goes and reads the threads back at 15" Air release, it was a little odd to have it release when it did and "still" have "only" the M2

Apple released the 13” M2 Air before the 14”/16” M2 Pros so I don’t think it was that because they are different enough to not be generally cross-shopped. I think they only had a few choices because the 15” Air was released well after the 13” M2 Air.

1. Release the 15” M2 Air when they released the 13” M2 Air, but it may not have been ready.
2. Release the 15” M2 Air when they did, and update it and the 13” M2 Air to M3 sooner, but that would have been bad for people who bought the M2.
3. Wait with the 15” Air until the 13” M3 was ready.

 

[hans1972]

I totally agree that 8GB and 256GB is ridiculous in 2024 as a base model device

I disagree especially with 256Gb SSD.

I have MacBook Air M2 256 SSD and I even rund Parallels with a Windows virtual machine. If I didn't, even a 128Gb SSD would be enough for me.

What would I even store on my Mac?

Music -> Apple Music / Spotify with a small subset locally
Podcast -> don't use, but would be the Podcast application with a small subset locally
Photos (& personal videos) -> iCloud Photo Library, with all photos stored locally in lower quality if not used
Movies (commercial) -> don't own any, use streaming services on Apple TV
Other personal files -> iCloud Drive / Google Drive / One Drive, a subset locally but even all my files, when I take out media and virtual machines, isn't several 100 gigabytes in size.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Apple released the 13” M2 Air before the 14”/16” M2 Pros so I don’t think it was that because they are different enough to not be generally cross-shopped. I think they only had a few choices because the 15” Air was released well after the 13” M2 Air.

1. Release the 15” M2 Air when they released the 13” M2 Air, but it may not have been ready.
2. Release the 15” M2 Air when they did, and update it and the 13” M2 Air to M3 sooner, but that would have been bad for people who bought the M2.
3. Wait with the 15” Air until the 13” M3 was ready.

Basically no good choices

If only Apple had control over all this with their planning!

(tongue in cheek... hopefully that comes across 👍)

 

[anshuvorty]

That's crazy that 15-inch M2 MacBook Air also got the axe and got discontinued. What was the reason for that? To keep the line-up more streamlined? The 15-inch M2 Macbook Air was only just realized, less than a 1 year ago, in 2023.

Seems like an odd decision.

Thoughts?

 

[bluecoast]

The M2 is an incredible deal if you just want a good modern Mac Laptop and you're just using it as a standard productivity laptop.

 

[turbineseaplane]

That's crazy that 15-inch M2 MacBook Air also got the axe and got discontinued. What was the reason for that? To keep the line-up more streamlined? The 15-inch M2 Macbook Air was only just realized, less than a 1 year ago, in 2023.

Seems like an odd decision.

Thoughts?

Pricing tiers

They would have had to price it to attractively and it would screw up the lineup
(financially screw it up for Apple I mean)

 

[Fuzzball84]

I don't really care tbh, my 15 Air has good build battery life and performance the screen is uniform and crisp and bright

Didn't hurt I got my base model for $843 open box excellent from Best Buy in the fall with one charge on it

If I just bought it yesterday for full retail and a super spec'd model I might be a little miffed, but then again these were rumored to come in spring and as late as summer. Spring is here. And then again I would be miffed then realize I still have a return policy and swap it out.

edit- just checked trade in and its $820, would only take a $23 loss and tax difference but I dont really see a compelling reason to trade up at the moment

--

Support will be the same as M2 13 inch Air IMO. Same everything, just bigger screen. Even newer model than the M2 13 by about a year so that wouldn't make much sense.

Support for hardware is 5 years from end of retail sale as per Apple site. So 13 inch M2 will indeed be supported longer in hardware than 15 inch.

But not a big deal… if you get a battery replacement before hardware support expires youwill be good for a very long time… if you plan to keep that long. 😀

 

[kjvmartin]

8GB of ram is barely adequate sometimes. There was a lot of fake news about how Apple's SoC handles lower memory better. I fell for that, and ended up living in constant yellow/red memory pressure using basic productivity and browsing. Close messages, open mail, close mail, open browser. Only way to keep my memory pressure green in MacOS. Terrible.

16GB of ram in the Air line is too expensive, so I got the 14" Pro on sale.

Wife's not wanting a brick in her bag. 16GB M1 Air she got on sale will hopefully last until Apple standardizes that amount of memory.

If we need new hardware before that time, it's time to exit the ecosystem. This has gone on too long.

Per Apple:

• In the Activity Monitor app on your Mac, click Memory (or use the Touch Bar).
  The Memory Pressure graph lets you know if your computer is using memory efficiently.
  • Green memory pressure: Your computer is using all of its RAM efficiently.
  • Yellow memory pressure: Your computer might eventually need more RAM.
  • Red memory pressure: Your computer needs more RAM.

3-4 native apps will cause an M1 Air to go into yellow. My Banktivity File (since 2008) caused my M1 Pro to go RED.