The 15‑inch MacBook Air is spacious, powerful, and coming soon

• It comes in four finishes and has a starting price of US$1,343
• Apple also announced price drop for the M2 13-inch MackBook Air

Apple today introduced the 15-inch MacBook Air. As the name suggests, the laptop has a 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display. It also brings the performance of Apple’s M2 silicone and up to 18 hours of battery life.

The display brightness is rated at 500 nits, which means it is readable outdoors but not in direct sunlight. Being a Liquid Retina display, it supports 1 billion colours and is brilliant. 

In addition to being the world’s thinnest 15-in laptop at 11.5mm, the 15-inch Macbook Air can be silent, with its fanless design, and immersive with an all-new six-speaker sound system that is compatible with Spatial Audio and support for Dolby Atmos. The speaker system consists of two tweeters and two sets of force-cancelling woofers.

Even with these features, it weighs just 1.51kg.

Of course, there’s also a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, MagSafe charging, and macOS Ventura. Along with two Thunderbolt ports for attaching accessories and display and a 3.5mm headphone jack. A three-mic array with beamforming algorithms helps with audio clarity during video calls.

Because of the launch, the  earlier 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 gets a new starting price of US$1,127 (RM5,199), down from US$1,235 (RM5,699).

Confidence in performance

Apple is confident that the M2-powered 15-in Macbook Air is up to 12x faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Air, twice as fast as the best-selling 15-inch PC laptop with a Core i7 processor, and 50% more battery life than a PC.

The Intel-based MacBook Air used in the test has a 1.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with Intel Iris Plus Graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 2TB SSD. The computer used in the comparison had an Intel Core i7 processor with Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and the latest version of Windows 11. 

Currently, the M2 15-inch MacBook Air runs macOS Ventura that features Messages, Mail, Safari and passkeys. Continuity Camera brings video conferencing features to any Mac, including Desk View, Center Stage, and Studio Light. 

Stage Manager automatically organises apps and windows, iCloud Shared Photo Library lets families create and share separate photo libraries, and the Freeform app provides a flexible canvas.

Users can work effortlessly across Mac and iPhone with Continuity features like Handoff, AirDrop, Universal Clipboard, and Messages.

macOS Sonoma, which is coming later this year, will introduce new ways to personalise with widgets and screen savers, Game Mode, powerful video conferencing capabilities, an update to Safari, and more.

With environment in mind

The new MacBook Air uses 100% recycled gold plating and tin soldering in multiple printed circuit boards and 100% recycled rare earth elements in all magnets. MacBook Air also features 100% recycled cobalt in the MagSafe connector and 90% recycled steel in the battery tray. It is also free of mercury, PVC, and beryllium. Over 99% of the packaging is fibre-based, bringing Apple closer to its goal of completely removing plastic from its packaging by 2025.

Pricing and availability

In Malaysia the 15-inch MacBook Air with M2 is coming soon to apple.com/my/store and the Apple Store app. It will be available in available in midnight, starlight, silver, and space grey, with a starting price of  US$1,343 (RM6,199) and RM5,729 for education.

[RM1 = US$0.217]

The 13-inch MacBook Air with M2, available in midnight, starlight, silver, and space grey, now starts at RM5,199 and RM4,729 for education. While the 13-inch MacBook Air with M1, available in gold, silver, and space grey, remains in the lineup, starting at RM4,399 and RM3,959 for education.

In Singapore, the 15-inch MacBook Air with M2 is available to order starting 7 June on apple.com/sg/store and in the Apple Store app. It will be available in in midnight, starlight, silver, and space grey, with a starting price of at SG$1,899 and SG$1,749 for education. 

The 13-inch MacBook Air with M2, available in midnight, starlight, silver, and space grey, now starts at S$1,599 and S$1,449 for education while the 13-inch MacBook Air with M1, available in gold, silver, and space grey, remains in the lineup, starting at S$1,449 and S$1,299 for education.

Additional technical specifications and details on Apple accessories — including the new 70W USB-C Power Adapter for RM239 and SG$85.75— are available at apple.com/my/shop/buy-mac and apple.com/sg/shop/buy-mac.