Apple MacBook Air 15-inch preview: Transportable energy

In addition to a slew of Macs, new Silicon and a compelling new Imaginative and prescient Professional headset, Apple additionally launched a 15-inch MacBook Air at its Worldwide Developer Convention (WWDC) at the moment. The bigger MacBook Air not solely affords an even bigger show than its 13-inch counterpart, however it additionally comes with a extra refined sound system and battery life that is rated for hours longer. I used to be in a position to decide one as much as see the way it feels right here at Apple Park at the moment, although I wasn’t allowed to do a lot else with it. 

I do like how skinny and light-weight the brand new MacBook Air is — at 11.5mm (0.45inches) skinny and three.3 kilos (1.49 kgs), it beats the Dell XPS 15, which is each heavier and thicker. Apple’s machine has a barely smaller 15.3-inch Liquid Retina Show, although, whereas Dell’s is available in at 15.6 inches.

The 15-inch MacBook Air’s display can rise up to 500 nits of brightness, and although I by no means bought an opportunity to view it outside, the pictures and interfaces I did see have been pretty and crisp. Colours have been vibrant and wealthy, and when an Apple rep confirmed me pictures of long-haired canines and a lady in a purple costume in entrance of some cliffs, the small print have been tack sharp.

I additionally bought to see how the laptop computer handles duties like photo-editing and gaming, which due to its M2 chip occurred impressively rapidly. An Apple rep used Photonator to erase a number of kayaks from a topdown photograph of canoes on a river, and in addition modified the colours of sure elements of the picture. Every little thing occurred immediately and precisely. Additionally they confirmed me a part of a recreation known as Stray so I might see how the laptop computer dealt with the graphics rendering of issues like mild reflecting off a puddle. These have been very managed demos, so whereas all of them did carry out effectively and with out lag, I might fairly consider the MacBook Air based mostly on our personal realworld testing.

I did get to take a look at the brand new six-speaker sound system with spatial audio when a rep performed some songs for me, together with Beyonce’s Cuff It. Sadly, as a result of the demo house we have been in was pretty noisy, it was arduous to gauge how effectively the audio sounded. I caught my ear proper subsequent to the machine and was solely barely in a position to hear the music. That is one other function we’ll have to attend for a evaluation unit to check for ourselves.

I wasn’t in a position to do a lot else with the brand new laptop computer, actually, however here is a fast recap of a few of its options. It has the identical notch design from the 13-inch MacBook Air that homes its 1080p webcam, however not like the smaller mannequin, this yr’s machine comes with a 10-core GPU throughout the board as a substitute of 8 cores. It additionally ships with the dual-port 35W charger by default and has a bigger trackpad. 

In the event you’re intrigued, you’ll be able to order the 15-inch MacBook Air at the moment, beginning at $1,299, and it will be stocked in shops on June thirteenth. 

Comply with the entire information from Apple’s WWDC 2023 proper right here.