Forget The New MacBook Pro, Apple Has Something Much Better

Updated March 21st: article originally posted March 18th

The MacBook Pro is the flagship laptop in Apple’s macOS range. Over the last few years, the 14-inch and 16-inch models have pushed the limits on what these laptops can do, but only a handful of professionals need that much power on tap when they nip out to the coffee shop. For everyone else, the MacBook Air has been delivering consistently.

Over the next few months, the MacBook Air is going to push the MacBook Pro further to the sidelines with consumer offerings that will meet the challenge of everyday life and still have performance left over to enjoy over your latte.

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 06: Apple CEO Tim Cook stands next to a display of newly redesigned ... [+] MacBook Air laptop during the WWDC22 at Apple Park on June 06, 2022 in Cupertino, California. Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off the annual WWDC22 developer conference. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Update: Monday March 20th: When will we see any new hardware? Stephen Warwick has a timely reminder that, although Apple did launch the M2-powered MacBook Air at WWDC 2022 (alongside the M2 chipset), hardwire launches at WWDC are not always a given:

"Last year, we got to see Apple's new M2 MacBook Air, one of the company's best MacBooks in recent memory. Hardware isn't a mainstay at WWDC, and Apple doesn't always unveil new products. However, there are some possible new Macs in the pipeline that could make an appearance if they aren't unveiled at Apple's expected Spring event."

You can take it as read that we’ll get the first developer previews of Apple’s various operating systems at WWDC, although there’s no guarantee that all of the changes iOS, macOS, iPadOS, and the rest, will be in the keynote. A passing reference to the new Axx and Mxx silicon? Likely, but perhaps not in great detail.

With Apple Silicon and the Mac’s transition away from Intel now comfortably established, there’s less of a need to hand them the oxygen of a keynote. Instead, the mood music is that Tim Cook and his team will lean heavily into its plans for AR and VR, with realityOS acting as the cornerstone.

Given the amount of setup this hardware and software will need, the launch of new Mac hardware, including the MacBook Air, could quickly become a footnote at the conference or be passed over to a press-release launch in the weeks after the show.

WWDC is a marker, but it’s not a guarantee of a launch date.

HONG KONG, CHINA - 2022/09/08: Shoppers are seen testing and using American multinational technology ... [+] company Apple MacBook Air and Macbook pro laptops products at a store in Hong Kong. (Photo by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Update: Tuesday March 21st: If you're looking for more signs that a new MacBook Air is coming, then it's always a good idea to keep an eye on inventories and retailers looking to shift stock ahead of a potential launch, which is why my eye has been drawn to a rising number of discounts on the original MacBook Air M1 with price cuts of twenty per cent not uncommon.

During previous MacBook launches, Apple has replaced the lowest tier of laptops, retaining the same price but increasing the specs of the entry-level machine. When the M2 MacBook Air was released, Apple made a different decision. The MacBook Air M2 was priced at $1199, and the MacBook Air M1 remained at $999.

With Tim Cook widely expected to launch a new MacBook Air powered by the M3 chipset, the move to clear stocks of the M1 model suggests that it has reached the end of its commercial life... in which case the M2 MacBook Air may move down to the $999 price point, leaving a higher price for the newest MacBook Air at $1199.

Which also makes the M2 MacBook Air a tempting choice if you are happy to wait for the discount hammer to drop.

Detail of an Apple MacBook Air M2 (2022) laptop computer, taken on August 3, 2022. (Photo by Olly ... [+] Curtis/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Tim Cook’s decision to finally release a MacBook Air with a 15-inch display - the first to do so in the fifteen-year history of the MacBook Air - will capture the headlines. The larger screen has been something many Air fans have been impatiently waiting for, but it may not be the only upgrade to go large. Apple will also push forward and offer the new design with the latest Apple Silicon technology.

The third generation chipset should debut at this year’s WWDC with the presumptively named M3, the 15-inch MacBook Air will likely debut with this brand new chipset. At the consumer level, Apple Silicon offers more power and flexibility than the Intel MacBook laptops ever achieved. The M1 laptops reset expectations, and the M2 added another twenty percent in performance.

It’s likely that the M3 chipsets will offer another step up, at which point the potential for consumers to outgrow the power of even the entry-level M3 is vastly diminished. While professionals will appreciate the M2 Pro and M2 Max specs (and eagerly await the benchmarks the M3 Pro and M3 Max could offer), even the ‘prosumer’ MacBook user will struggle to push the envelope of an M3 MacBook Air.

Once you step outside of the need of a workstation-class macOS laptop, Apple’s upcoming MacBook Air laptops should deliver everything you need, and then a little bit more. The only thing missing from that package is an Air with a larger display.

Tim Cook and his team are going to offer just that in the next few months.

Skip the MacBook Pro, because the MacBook Air will meet the challenges of your own life head on.

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