Review: Apple MacBook Air (15-Inch, 2023)

Apple’s macbook lineup has existed in extremes for some time. If you’re someone who needs a powerful machine, you can choose between the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros—two large screen-size options for whatever graphically demanding project you want to throw at them. “Normies,” like me, who use our laptops for answering emails, web browsing, and the like have been forced to settle for a relatively cramped 13-inch display on the MacBook Air. Yes, we can shell out for the larger Pro models, but they start at $2,000.

That’s all changing now with the 15-inch MacBook Air—an all-new size option that single-handedly restores order to the MacBook range. Apple brought all the standout features it introduced in last year’s 13-inch model, like the redesigned chassis, Magsafe charging, and 1080p webcam, but threw in a wonderfully large 15.3-inch screen while still keeping the whole package thin and light.

The base 15-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,299, and Apple has reduced the price of the 13-inch version to $1,099 (the original M1-powered MacBook Air from 2020 is still available for $999). You can max out this model for a whopping $2,499, but that’s if you want the extra RAM and massive amounts of built-in storage, so it’s not necessary for most. At the base price, this 15-inch screen is worth every penny.

Photograph: Apple

The new MacBook Air has the same boxy frame as its smaller counterpart, which matches the sleek look of the high-end MacBook Pro models for a cohesive design throughout the lineup. Open it up and it looks almost identical to the 16-inch MacBook Pro, with a large trackpad and space on both sides of the keyboard.

Rather than adding speakers in this space, Apple integrated them between the keyboard and display, as it did with last year’s MacBook Air. But since this laptop is larger, it comes equipped with a heftier six-speaker system, instead of a quad-speaker setup, with two tweeters and two sets of force-canceling woofers. Apple claims they deliver “twice the bass depth for fuller sound.” You get the same three-microphone array as before.

The difference in sound quality is noticeable. Last year, I said that the 13-inch Air sounded muffled at times. I cranked it up to full volume whenever I watched a movie. This new MacBook delivers better sound clarity and gets loud enough that I can keep it under the max level (though it still doesn’t get that loud). I would’ve preferred to have the speakers on the sides for a quasi-surround-sound effect. It would at least fill the awkward dead space on the sides of the keyboard.

Photograph: Apple

Unfortunately, Apple included the same ports (or lack thereof) on the new Air. You get two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, a dedicated MagSafe port for charging, and a 3.5-mm headphone jack. It’s fine for my workflow, but hey, this is a larger laptop! There’s clearly extra space to squeeze in an SD card slot or HDMI port, but you’ll have to get a MacBook Pro for that luxury.

The highlight is the 15.3-inch screen, which includes a notch at the top to house the 1080p webcam. It’s an LCD panel that’s stuck at 60 Hz, but it’s plenty bright and vivid, and it’s large enough that I don’t get tired of staring at it all day. In fact, I’ve been working strictly off this one screen for the past few days, with no need to connect it to a secondary display. That’s nearly impossible for me on the 13-inch MacBook. But speaking of external monitors, you’re still only able to connect one external display to this MacBook. Want to connect more screens? You know the answer. Pony up for a Pro.

It’s worth keeping the size difference in mind if you’re coming from a 13-inch laptop. In addition to the larger display, the new MacBook Air weighs 3.3 pounds. That’s a little over a half-pound heavier than the 13-inch model and slightly lighter than the 14-inch MacBook Pro. Unlike the Pro, which has beefier internals across the board, it’s not as densely packed, and the weight seems to be more evenly distributed; it feels more manageable in my hands. I’ve also carried it around in a tote bag without feeling weighed down.

Photograph: Apple

Powering this MacBook Air is the same M2 chip as in last year’s Air, with an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU (the base model now comes with a 10-core GPU instead of the 8-core). You can upgrade the unified memory and storage all the way up to 24 GB and 2 TB, respectively. It’s plenty powerful for day-to-day tasks, but I recommend upgrading to at least 16 GB of unified memory if that’s within your budget.

Over the past year, I’ve used the M2-powered 13-inch MacBook Air with 8 GB of memory and noticed its constraints. Even on less busy days, when I’d have several tabs and windows open I’d often see the spinning rainbow wheel, forcing me to wait for the machine to catch up. It made me think about how much I did with the Air so I didn’t tax it too much. This time around, Apple sent me the 15-inch MacBook Air with 16 gigabytes of memory and it was easy to notice the difference. I had about 40 tabs open across three separate Chrome windows while also running apps like Slack, Spotify, Messages, Notes, and Reminders, and it never buckled under the pressure. It’s a far less frustrating experience and worth the money for your sanity alone.

As for battery life, Apple claims up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing, which is the same as the smaller MacBook Air. But I’ve been seeing better results than on the 13-inch model. Last year’s Air would get depleted toward the end of the workday, but the 15-incher consistently had about 40 percent left after seven or eight hours of use—leaving me with enough battery to squeeze in a couple of episodes of Never Have I Ever before plugging in. On a busier day, it hit 18 percent after about 10 hours of use—perfectly reasonable. I should note that I use Google Chrome as my web browser, which eats up a little more battery than Safari.

The 15-inch MacBook Air is the best of both worlds—a larger display in a light and thin chassis. If the majority of your days are spent working on a laptop, even if it’s as routine as sending emails, organizing spreadsheets, and typing words into documents, the 15-inch model promises to save you from the migraines that come with squinting at a cramped screen all day.