By 
THERE IS a very particular pleasure that comes with opening a new Apple product. It’s that distinct freshly-sealed smell, the perfectly administered wrapping (recyclable, of course), and the idea that this product will set you up for success. And indeed, when opening the new MacBook Air 15″ for the very first time, that magic was present. But so was another question: Could be the one MacBook laptop to rule them all?
“Impressively big; impossibly thin” is the new slogan for the 15″ Air that hasn’t really changed a whole bunch since the release of the M2 chip in last year’s 13″ MacBook Air release. So why the hype? Mostly because this is the perfect all-rounder laptop.
On hand to break down all the new features of the Apple MacBook Air 15″, we spoke to Evan Buyze, Product Marketing Manager at Mac, straight from Cupertino, California.
The best MacBook ever?
Pretty much. From the outside, it might just look like another MacBook laptop. But if you delve a little further into the making of the new MacBook Air 15″, you’ll realise this is one of the most impressive new releases from Apple in quite some time.
“I like to think of the MacBook Air 13″ and the new MacBook Air 15″ as a family; this is our best laptop lineup ever,” says Buyze. “This is a product we’ve been wanting to make for a very long time, but it only became possible with Apple Silicon — an incredibly capable processor that really changed what you could do on a MacBook Air.”
And the proof is in the pudding, so to speak.
Firstly, it honours all the hallmarks of the classic MacBook Air, such as its lightness (it only weighs 1.5kgs) and thinness (it’s the world’s thinnest 15″ laptop at just 11.5mm thin) — a truely ultraportable feat. But the addition of the new 15″ Liquid Retina display really is the cherry on top of an already impressive spec-filled MacBook. A welcomed addition long overdue, the newly sized screen really is the update that many Apple (or PC) users have been waiting for.
“Simply put, this is the world’s best 15″ laptop,” boasts Buyze. “But it wasn’t as simple as just expanding the dimensions. We [Apple] wanted to make it solid and durable and give it that expansive display and performance and battery life all in this astonishingly thin and light design that makes it the world’s thinnest 15″ laptop.”
“It really embodies everything that the MacBook Air name stands for.”
The features we’re loving (and you will too)
The aforementioned new 15″ screen size, weight and thinness will win over some users from the get go, but there’s much more on offer than meets the eye.
“The MacBook Air 15″ has an expansive Liquid Retina display, high resolution display, there’s a new six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers and spatial audio that sounds amazing, you get up to 18 hours of battery life and you get the incredible performance of the M2 chip,” says Buyze.
“We just think it’s an amazing device to do everything you do from everyday tasks to creative flows and even gaming — it’s incredibly capable and powerful.”
If you’re wondering whether the MacBook Pro is still an unrivalled laptop, well, maybe it was… but that was before the MacBook Air 15″ was released. Apple make it distinctively clear that the Air and Pro still serve two respective users, but don’t be surprised to find more and more Pro users — and even PC users, for that matter — jumping ship to the lighter, thinner and just as capable ultraportable laptop that is the MacBook Air 15″.
“Air and Pro… they both have a great customer base and we love being able to offer both as an option,” says Buyze. “But the 15” Air is great for those that are looking for a larger display but don’t necessarily need that Pro performance for professional workflows that you will find with the MacBook Pro.
“And if you’re coming from PC, you get all of that in one laptop and won’t have to make any tradeoffs.”
The Apple MacBook Air 15″ is now available, starting from $2,199.
Related: Why is no one talking about the Australian cricket team?
