Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Air is finally here, after what feels like years of Mac users clamoring for a large-screen laptop that was not a costlier, heavier MacBook Pro. With its larger screen, the Air 15 competes with larger screen rivals without giving up any of the benefits of the 13-inch Air – it has the same ultra-thin 11.5 mm aluminium body, the same fanless cooling system and the same power-efficient M2 chip.
With its uniformly thick chassis with flat edges, it even looks the same as the 13-inch Air, with only the larger display, the added 270 g and a slightly bigger footprint on the desk differentiating the newer model. It retains other design elements too, from the unchanged selection of ports (two Thunderbolt 4 ports for expansion and MagSafe for charging) to the exceptional keyboard and iPhone-style notch on the display. Build quality and sturdiness is as good as ever.
Yet, it’s all about the bigger screen, and the extra usable area the roomier 15.3-inch, 2,880x1,864-pixel, LED-backlit display affords. In day-to-day tasks, the bigger screen allows websites one to open websites within half the screen and documents in the other half, making split-screen multitasking a possibility over long durations.
You also get more working space within photo and video editing apps as compared to the smaller model. Movies in particular benefit from the bigger display, but what positively left most folks slack-jawed was the output of the six-speaker sound system which, despite being tucked away in the hinge, sounds far fuller, richer and more room-filling than anything one has heard on laptops this size. None of that tinny nonsense that has one running for (headphone) cover.
Bear in mind, the bigger yet equally colour-accurate screen retains the same sharp 224 ppi pixel density and the 500 nits brightness, but it also sees no bump up in refresh rate (60 Hz) and the notch still doesn’t use the built-in camera for Face ID authentication.
The M2 chip that powers the 15-inch Air is well known for eking out exceptional mobile performance, even while on battery. On the 15-inch base model, Apple ships with 10-core graphics as standard, a slight bump up from the 13-inch base variant, which offers 8-core graphics.
Expectedly, the laptop is meant for consumers who want to do everyday tasks like browsing, documents, streaming and the like, without having to drag the charging brick along everywhere – the 66.5 Wh battery lasts upwards of 15-16 hours for lightweight tasks and dips to a little over 13 hours even if you throw in some 4K video edits in iMovie and photo edits in Photomator.
Plays the odd games as well too, with more in the offing with the game porting toolkit announced at WWDC 2023. If your budget allows for it, pick up the upgraded model (INR 1,74,900) with 16 GB of memory and 512 GB of storage for future proofing.
The 15-inch Air is a much-needed addition to Apple’s laptop lineup, taking the best qualities of the Air and amping them up in the bigger form factor. Stick to the 13-inch though for portability, but if you’ve been holding out for a bigger screen Mac that doesn’t break the bank, this is it.
Rating: 9/10
Price: INR 1,34,900 onwards