Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants, just sent out a tweet to his subscribers that suggests we could see a new 15-inch MacBook Air in just a couple of months. As an industry analyst who focuses on displays, Young’s track record with rumors of this type is usually quite solid.
According to Young, the display panel for this new MacBook Air has just recently entered production. Given the time frame for panel production on past MacBooks, this points to a release in early April, which could align with an Apple spring event. Also rumored for that event are a new Apple silicon-based Mac Pro and the long-awaited debut of the Apple AR headset.
Outside of the display, which is alternately 15.2 inches or 15.5 inches depending on which rumors you’re following, we don’t really know what other specs to expect. It will obviously have an M2 processor, but some suggest that an M2 Pro option might be available as well. This would narrow the gap with the MacBook Pro, which starts at $1,999, though a 15-inch MacBook Air would still lack many of the Pro-level features, including HDR ProMotion displays, additional ports, an SDXC card slot, and an M2 Max processor option.
Some have speculated that the M3 chip would make its debut in this product, but if it arrives in April, that seems very unlikely—most rumors don’t expect that chip until the second half of 2023 or early 2024.
We expect the larger model to start at a price that places it between the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air ($1,199/£1,249) and the 14-inch M2 Pro MacBook Pro ($1,999/£2,149). Given the other advantages of the MacBook Pro, a starting price of $1,499/£1549 seems reasonable.
