Apple MacBook Air 15 2023 M2 review: The everyday MacBook now in 15 inches

Apple has finally introduced the large MacBook Air, thus filling a large gap in its product portfolio, because anyone who previously wanted a large MacBook had to go for the MacBook Pro 16. This offers a lot of performance, but many users do not need it at all and, above all, the MBP 16 is comparatively bulky and expensive. With the new MacBook Air 15, Apple is now offering a larger MacBook for everyday use, which technically is an almost perfect copy of the smaller MacBook Air 13.

This essentially means that you have to do without a new processor and get the familiar M2 SoC from last year, which is again passively cooled. The display is of course larger at 15. 3 inches, but the specs remain the same, i.

e. there is no HDR support or ProMotion (120 Hz). The starting price is US$1299.

00 and, in contrast to the smaller 13-inch model, the Air 15 is only available with the faster M2 SoC that offers 10 GPU cores. The remaining specs are sobering, however, as there is only 8 GB of RAM and a small 256 GB SSD. The second basic model offers 512 GB SSD storage, but costs a whopping US$200 more at $1499.

00. Today’s test device houses a 1 TB SSD and 16 GB RAM for a grand total of EUR 2289 (~US$2500). In the next few days we’ll also take a closer look at the base model with 8 GB and the 256 GB SSD.

Apple has kept the design of the small MacBook Air 13 unchanged for its 15-inch model; only the footprint is slightly larger. Then again, the overall height is practically identical at 11. 5 mm, and due to the larger case, the new MBA 15 appears even thinner than its smaller sibling.

Stability is very good and neither the base unit nor the display lid can be warped in any way. The maximum opening angle is, as usual, around 130 degrees. The display edges are relatively narrow, although there are Windows devices with even thinner edges.

Of course, the recess for the webcam in the upper area is still noticeable, which does not have any drawbacks, at least not functionally. However, we still think it doesn’t look particularly good, but this is naturally a matter of taste. The front edge of the base unit is quite sharp, but since the base itself is so thin, this does not cut into the wrists.

Qualitatively, the MacBook Air leaves no room for criticism. The workmanship is perfect and the metal case simply feels very high-end. Three of the four available colors ( Silver, Space Gray & Starlight ) are very resistant to dirt and fingerprints overall.

The Midnight color variant (dark blue), on the other hand, looks good upon unpacking, but constantly needs to be cleaned afterwards. The regular MacBook Air 13 itself is no lightweight, and the metal body of the larger Air 15 takes its toll here as well. Weighing a little over 1.

5 kg, it feels surprisingly heavy when held for the first time. The LG Gram 15 (~1. 1 kg) is a real lightweight in comparison, and the Surface Laptop 5 is both a little lighter and a little thicker.

The dual USB-C power supply with 35 watts is very compact and weighs 186 grams, including the MagSafe cable. With two USB-C ports (Thunderbolt 3, USB 4. 0) as well as MagSafe on the left side and a 3.

5 mm jack, the port distribution is the same as that of the smaller model. So, Apple didn’t put in any additional work here, leaving the additional space on the case unused. Another USB-C port on the right side and perhaps an SD card reader (like in the Pro models) would have been nice.

Also, only one external display can be connected to the larger MacBook Air (max. 6K @60 Hz). The Wi-Fi module is also the same as in the small MacBook Air M2 and not the Pro models.

Wi-Fi 6 is only supported at 80 MHz, which limits the transfer rates to around 900 Mbps. With our reference router from Asus, the transfer rates are on the expected level and there are no restrictions in everyday use, but it is still not quite up to date for a premium notebook. The MacBook Air also supports Bluetooth 5.

3. Face ID is still not available on the MacBooks, but the 1080p webcam offers good quality and is also good for video calls. The same is also true of the microphones.

The bottom cover is secured with a few pentalobe screws, but there are still some retaining clips in the middle. Here you have to use some force (and preferably a suction cup) to loosen the clamps, after which the cover can be pulled forward. The internals (which are dominated by the battery) also appear good, but there is nothing the user can do here.

In an emergency, components can be replaced, such as the battery (which is held in place with screws and several pull tabs). The input devices have also been copied over unchanged. The black keyboard is on a good level and the normal scissor keys are also pleasant to type on, but there are undoubtedly even better keyboards, especially in the business sector.

The additional width has neither been utilized for a numpad nor speaker covers – just more case surface. The Touch ID fingerprint scanner still works flawlessly. Apple has been the leader in white keyboard lighting for years, since the intensity is very finely tuned and automatically adjusted to the ambient light.

In some Windows laptops, the keyboard is also activated via sensor, but there are usually only two or maximum three levels with hard transitions. The large TrackPad still sets the bar in the mobile sector and the integration into macOS is excellent. Thanks to Force Touch, the clicks are uniform and not too loud, and gestures are implemented perfectly.

As usual, the MacBook Air does not offer a touchscreen. The MacBook Air 15 uses a 15. 3-inch, 60 Hz IPS panel.

The resolution is a somewhat crooked 2880 x 1864, which is caused by the camera notch in the upper display frame. The actual 16:10 panel has a resolution of 2880 x 1800 and the 64 additional vertical pixels were simply added on top. The notch does not take any space away from the 16:10 display.

Apart from the higher resolution, nothing has changed in technical specifications compared to the 13-inch model and we can confirm the advertised brightness of 500 cd/m² (it is actually 501 cd/m² on average). The illumination of 93% is also very homogeneous. The SDR brightness is thus on par with the MacBook Pro models, but the lack of HDR support means the Air will not be able to display HDR content in all of its glory.

The black value of the IPS panel is on the higher side at 0. 39 cd/m², which is why the contrast ratio is “only” ~1300:1. Slight halos can be seen at the bottom edge on a dark background, but they appear enhanced in our photos (due to the camera).

The response times are perfectly fine for an everyday device, and we didn’t notice any PWM flickering on the IPS panel either. Both the brightness and the color temperature are controlled automatically, which no Windows laptop can do satisfactorily. However, the Air has to do without the 120 Hz ProMotion technology.

The MacBook Air is already very well calibrated out of the box. We measured the panel using professional CalMAN software (X-Rite i1 Pro 2). Both the deviations of the grayscale and the colors compared to the P3 reference color space are already below 3, so the human eye cannot distinguish any differences to the reference colors.

However, there is a minimal blue cast in conjunction with a color temperature that is a little too cool. We were able to eliminate these minor flaws and improve the display a little more overall with our own calibration (profile is available for free download above). The sRGB and P3 color spaces are completely covered.

The display of the MacBook Air is glossy, but not as glossy as many other Windows laptops. Of course, reflections can still occur outdoors, but with the good brightness, you can always find a suitable position. The viewing angle stability is very good.

The MacBook Air 15 is exclusively available with the faster M2 chip, which is equipped with 10 GPU cores. The device can be configured with up to 24 GB of RAM and a 2 TB PCIe SSD, although the surcharges are huge as usual and the most expensive version costs EUR 2979 (~US$3250). As mentioned at the beginning, only the stronger M2 SoC with 10 GPU cores is used in the larger MacBook Air.

The processor offers 8 cores, divided into two clusters with 4 cores each. The four performance cores reach a maximum of ~3. 5 GHz and the four efficiency cores a maximum of 2.

4 GHz. The M2 can consume up to 20 watts for short periods of time, but only 9 watts under sustained load. So the processor is already a year old, which is why there are no surprises in terms of performance here.

The only question is whether the passive cooling benefits from the larger case and whether the performance remains stable for longer. The answer here is no, although the currently very summery temperatures (up to 30°C/80°F) may have a minor influence here. Overall, both the results in short benchmarks and long-term load are on par with the smaller MacBook Air M2 .

The Surface Laptop 5 with its Core i7-1255U is only marginally faster in native benchmarks, such as Cinebench R23, but the Core i5-1240P in LG’s Gram 15 is slower. CPU performance does not drop in battery mode. More benchmarks are available in our tech section .

The subjective performance impression is excellent, especially in native applications. Even extensive apps such as Adobe Photoshop or Premiere Pro pose no issue for the passively cooled Air. Thanks to Rosetta 2, the Air can emulate programs made for x64 Macs, which works well in practice.

However, the performance can be noticeably worse than with native apps, especially with complex apps (like Photoshop). The SSD is the AP1024Z, which we already know from the smaller model. It is a PCIe 3.

0 SSD with a storage capacity of 1 TB, of which 968 GB is available upon starting up for the first time. The transfer rates are on the expected level and, even if the PCIe 4. 0 SSDs of the Pro models are faster, there are no limitations in everyday use.

More SSD benchmarks are available here. The graphics adapter of the Apple M2 SoC offers 10 cores that work at a maximum of 1. 4 GHz.

The performance of the iGPU is still very good and well ahead of the current iGPUs from Intel and AMD. In everyday life, the iGPU easily copes with all tasks, including the playback of high-resolution videos. However, as with the small MacBook Air M2 , performance does not remain constant, but drops by around 25 percent after a few minutes under sustained load.

But there is no further performance reduction in battery mode. More GPU benchmarks are listed here . After last week’s WWDC, the gaming landscape on MacBooks may soon change massively.

In addition to native titles such as No Man’s Sky or Death Stranding , which should be available in the future, Apple has presented the “Game Porting Toolkit”, which allows developers to port DirectX 12 games to macOS relatively easily. Demos for titles such as Cyberpoint 2077 already run relatively well on Apple hardware. The technology is based on CrossOver’s source code, which we also use to run Windows titles such as Witcher 3 on the current MacBooks.

The gaming performance here is on par with the small MacBook Air M2. Since the MacBook Air 15 does not have a fan, it is absolutely silent at all times. No electronic noises, such as coil whine, were detected in our test device.

Apple has the surface temperatures of the MacBook Air 15 well under control and there are no restrictions in everyday use or during less demanding tasks. The hotspot is in the upper-middle area of the base unit, where the processor is located. We measured up to 45 °C during high load and gaming, which is of course noticeable with the fingers, but not problematic.

The underside stays a little cooler at a maximum of 42 °C. The Air 15 can be placed on the thighs at any time. In the stress test, the behavior of the SoC is again comparable to that of the smaller MacBook Air.

During the runs of Cinebench R23 and the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme stress test (which is of course an extreme scenario for the Air), the consumption of the M2 chip settles at around 8. 5-9 watts after a short time. The larger Air 15 has a slight advantage, but you cannot really perceive this in practice.

For the sound system, Apple has increased the number of modules from 4 to 6, which is also noticeable in our audio analysis and there is a slight advantage over the smaller MacBook Air M2 . The sound system of the larger MacBook Pro 16 packs a little more punch, but this is hairsplitting. Overall, the performance of the speakers is very good and often you won’t need external speakers or headphones.

The MacBook Air 15 is very efficient, but the consumption is significantly influenced by the screen brightness, with the difference between very low brightness and maximum brightness being around 7-8 watts. In our stress test, the 35 watt power supply limits the power consumption: for example, we measured up to 57 watts with a 65 watt power supply and 38 watts for some time afterwards. In the course of the stress test, consumption levels off at 26 watts.

The 35-watt power supply is thus too weak, but since the SoC throttles quite quickly when the CPU and GPU are stressed at the same time, the effect in everyday use is rather small. The larger case was mainly used for a larger battery; instead of 52. 6 Wh in the 13-inch model, the Air 15 has 66.

5 Wh. In both the video and WLAN tests at a brightness of 150 cd/m² (the brightness was reduced by 7 large & 2 small levels), the Air 15 achieves extremely long battery runtimes of around 16. 5 hours.

This puts it at least an hour ahead of the small MBA 13 and is only just beaten by the larger MacBook Pro 16, which is equipped with a significantly larger battery (99. 6 Wh). In the WLAN test at full brightness, we measured a solid runtime of just over 7 hours; under load (and at maximum brightness), the battery goes flat in 3:15 hours.

Apple’s 70-watt power supply was not available to us during our review. A complete recharge with the included 35-watt supply takes around 2:50 hours when the device is turned on, and this is reduced to around 2 hours with a normal 65-watt power supply (USB-C). The new MacBook Air 15 is a very good, but also boring device, because apart from the larger screen and the higher price, there are no differences compared to the smaller MacBook Air M2 from last year.

No new processor, no additional ports, just the usual basic hardware – but the overall package is extremely good and it simply works. Above all, the lack of fans is an aspect that should not be underestimated in everyday use. In our opinion, the Air could be a lot better, but Apple goes easy on itself here.

The case looks even flatter in the 15-inch model, but the Air 15 is by no means a lightweight at more than 1. 5 kg. The display is very good and the quality is also comparable to the smaller Air.

Of course, there are some disadvantages compared to the MacBook Pro, but there is no PWM, which is certainly an important factor for some users. The speakers have two additional modules and are a little better overall, but still not quite as powerful as the MacBook Pro 16 . On the other hand, Apple has also been able to improve the battery life compared to the smaller sibling.

Apple gives customers exactly what they want: a larger MacBook Air. Although one year later, the new MacBook Air 15 differs from its smaller sibling only in the display size. All other pros and cons have been simply copied over.

No innovation here, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is also a very good laptop overall. We suspect that Apple originally planned to launch the big MacBook Air 15 with the new M3 SoC, but it simply isn’t ready yet. Honestly, this isn’t really a problem because the passively cooled M2 SoC still offers more than enough performance for most users.

Even the old 2020 MacBook Air with the M1 chip can still be recommended without hesitation. However, Apple is attempting to maximize profits, especially with the RAM, which can also be seen in the two basic models (256 or 512 GB SSD) that are only equipped with 8 GB RAM. These basic models are often reduced in price (even the new Air 15 is already available for much less), but those who want more RAM usually have to pay the high surcharge.

And EUR 230 (US$200) for 8 GB RAM is outrageous, to put it bluntly. You should also keep in mind aspects such as the non-existent maintenance and upgrade options. If these play an important role in the purchase decision, the big Air 15 disqualifies itself from the start.

The biggest competitor from the Windows camp is probably Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 5 , but this lags behind in practically every respect and is also somewhat neglected by Microsoft. The LG Gram 15 is considerably lighter at just over 1. 1 kg, but performs worse than the Air 15 in most other categories.

With a view to the price-performance ratio, the 14-inch MacBook Pro is naturally the much better option, because the street price is now around EUR 2050 (US$1999. 99), which is pretty much on par with the new MacBook Air 15 with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD storage. In addition, the Pro comes with a mini-LED panel and significantly more performance.

But the truth is that the two devices do not compete with each other and Apple is addressing a different target group with the Air 15, who simply want a bigger MacBook Air. And if you consider macOS with the extensive preinstalled software (complete office suite, video editing etc. ), the MacBook Air M2 (regardless of whether 13- or 15 inches) is simply an extremely good overall package with a long battery life.

In the US, the two configurations of the new MacBook Air 15 are currently sold out on Amazon , but are available for $1299. 00 (256 GB) or $1499. 00 (512 GB) in all four colors at Best Buy: Prices and availability are as of 19.

06. 2023 and are subject to change. .