Apple Announces New MacBook Air With 15.3-inch Display and M2 Chip Starting at $1,299

[Cape Dave]

I’m not defending Apple, but it’s nice to be able to buy a cheap laptop so the eight gigs of memory and 256 gig hard drive is a nice entry point for people who don’t need more I just wish the upgrade prices are a little more reasonable

I could go for that

 

[kp98077]

Neither is the new air 15” looking at the weight of it.

im sure it is......

 

[fourthtunz]

I could go for that

I don’t need the new 15 inch but it certainly is nice when you’re viewing movies, I’m hoping the new speakers are even better than a 13 inch air! I’ll probably just get it as a refurbished🎸🎸🎸

 

[asiga]

I assume you're referring to the LG gram SuperSlim that starts at $1700?

Most Grams (if not all) are lighter than the MBA nowadays. When I bought my late 2010 MBA, it was the lightest laptop in the market. Now that was an achievement. Now, the LG Gram has even a 17inch which is 1.4kg, lighter than the 15inch MBA (which is 1.5kg). The 15inch LG Gram is 1.1kg only (even lighter than the 13inch MBA, which is 1.2kg). People say the Gram feels like plastic, but honestly, that sounds exactly the same as the nonsense anti-Mac criticism from PC fans when they lost the point.

The problem with the Gram is that it doesn't run a proper OS, which turns that weight achievement into something completely useless. But it makes it evident that Apple is not interested in innovating with the weight.

 

[Seanm87]

$1,099 for 13" MBA now... where it should have been in the beginning.

I don’t know why everyone so shocked at the 1199 price point. They did this in 2018 with the air redesign then dropped it to 1099 the next year and 999 the year after. It will be the same with this air.

 

[okkibs]

But it makes it evident that Apple is not interested in innovating with the weight.

Apple does shave off weight gradually. The 15" Air is significantly lighter than the 15" MBP from 2019 and comes with a slightly larger screen and much improved battery life. Macbooks are generally coming down in weight slowly over the years. Of course Apple could make a M2 clone of a lightweight LG Gram with the full MacOS experience. But that would not be up to Apple's aluminum unibody build quality.

Back in 2015 I bought a lightweight carbon business laptop from the most expensive business series and after 3 years the carbon housing got a big crack whilst sitting on my desk overnight, on the left side at the wrist rest area. Some of these laptops were also known to -at least in the past- fail due to the housing not being stiff enough, warping and damaging the mainboard.

Maybe Apple came to the conclusion that making the unibody housings more lightweight won't be possible without some other disadvantage, perhaps the manufacturing cost increase would be too much. Shaving off weight without impacting anything else generally comes with a significant cost increase, with anything, not just tech.

 

[Abazigal]

The problem with the Gram is that it doesn't run a proper OS, which turns that weight achievement into something completely useless. But it makes it evident that Apple is not interested in innovating with the weight.

It's probably more accurate to say that there are certain "sacred cows" Apple will not give up just for lighter weight. For example, the use of aluminium is synonymous with Apple products, in part because it helps convey the impression of a more premium offering, and lets them charge a premium.

The other area I can think of is the battery, but less battery also means shorter battery life, and likely will not make the product noticeably thinner or lighter. They have probably done the best they can with a 15" laptop form factor, taking into account all the other considerations.