Apple's New 15-inch MacBook Air is the 'World's Thinnest' (theverge.com) 103
Apple has unveiled a new 15-inch MacBook Air at its 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference. The new model is 11.5mm thick, which Apple says makes it the world's thinnest 15-inch laptop. From a report: It has two USB-C Thunderbolt ports, a MagSafe charging connector, and a headphone jack. Its 15.3-inch screen has 500 nits of brightness, a 1080p webcam, and gets a quoted 18 hours of battery life. It'll come with Apple's M2 chip.
The new model starts at $1,299 and will be available next week. Meanwhile, Apple is updating the price on its smaller model. The 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 now starts at $1,099. The new laptop represents a midrange release for Apple, which previously had a fairly large price gap between its 13-inch MacBook offerings and larger premium-priced models. The 15-inch Air will likely serve an audience that wants a large screen but doesn't need the extra computing power (and cost) of 14-inch and 16-inch Pro models.
The new model starts at $1,299 and will be available next week. Meanwhile, Apple is updating the price on its smaller model. The 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 now starts at $1,099. The new laptop represents a midrange release for Apple, which previously had a fairly large price gap between its 13-inch MacBook offerings and larger premium-priced models. The 15-inch Air will likely serve an audience that wants a large screen but doesn't need the extra computing power (and cost) of 14-inch and 16-inch Pro models.
I don't like 'em too skinny (Score:3)
I like a little meat on their bones.
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Can never be too rich or too thin said Lady Cassandra.
I like 'em with enough steel reinforcement (Score:2, Insightful)
My ultrabook makes me nervous if I try to pick it up without using both hands. This sounds worse.
Useful (Score:1)
If you need something hip to slice yourself with.
I don't particularly care about thinness, though. The amazingly thin for its time thinkpad 570 was plenty thin and had a very nice keyboard. And a trackpoint. And a non-glossy screen. Haven't really seen anything that good since. Laptop tech marches on, but it does tend to stick us with whatever's barely enough for indiscriminate suits. A laptop to get serious work done? It's been a long, long time.
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Apple fanbois have asked for an Apple branded shaving kit for years, now. Finally, they seem to be closer to getting one.
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Apple fanbois have asked for an Apple branded shaving kit for years, now. Finally, they seem to be closer to getting one.
Wow, you could probably shave your chest with it.
The notch (Score:4, Informative)
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The alternative to a notch, is a bezel where the space to the sizes of the camera is just solid material instead of part of the screen.
The notch gives you extra screen space either side of the notch. Given that MacOS generally has a menubar at the top of the screen and most of the useful parts of the menubar are at either side, putting the camera in the middle of the menubar is actually a good idea, otherwise the menubar would be underneath the camera and take up a bit more of your vertical space.
Re:The notch (Score:5, Insightful)
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Without the notch, you'd have a thick black bar running right across the top of the screen (see the older macbooks).
Don't think of it as a notch that's taken away the center of the screen, think of it that they've given you extra screen space either side of the camera. If you compare to the previous generation macbook, the height of the screen to the bottom of the notch is still greater than the total height of the previous version.
Re: The notch (Score:2)
Re:The notch (Score:4, Informative)
dunno, my Samsung phone just put a circle where the camera is, I loose the real estate of a icon without notches or bars, its really not that hard
Re: The notch (Score:2)
Or more correctly 74 pixels not added. The MacBook screens are 16:10 with 74 pixels extra height.
Re: The notch (Score:2)
Re: The notch (Score:2)
Re: The notch (Score:2)
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You think the notch provide increased screen real estate? I think it takes it away. And it is visually annoying.
I bought a 14" M1 MBP when they first came out (and still use it). I noticed the notch for all of 30 min, then simply didn't notice it any more. Same on my iPhones; the Dynamic Island of the iPhone 14 Pro was annoying for all of 5 minutes, then you don't see it.
It's a non-issue.
Re: The notch (Score:2)
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It literally does take it away. A long-standing UI design principle is that any elements on the edge of the screen have an effectively larger profile since it's easier to select them with a pointing device. Similar principles apply to visual profiles. Visually, the notch always appears bigger than it really is, increasing its distraction value.
The irony is that Jef Raskin, the original designer of the Macintosh, popularized these principles. Apple seems to have forgotten all of his work.
But, hey, "distr
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Thew new Mac screens are slightly taller aspect ratio than the old screens- and they use that space for the camera and the status bar.
If you don't like the notch, you can disable that part of the screen and you will have a screen with the same aspect ratio as the old one and there won't be a visible notch. You literally have a choice. If you want no notch at all, the bezel would have to be bigger.
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Objectively speaking, it increased screen real estate. The resolution and aspect ratio of the screen below the notch is 100% identical to the resolution and aspect ratio of the entire pre-notch screen. Thus, the space to the left and right of the notch is new screen space that wasn’t previously available. It’s a small difference, but every bit helps.
Having had both types of devices and being unconvinced of the notch before using it, I found that it basically disappeared after a few hours of use
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"I think it takes it away."
The 13" screen without the notch is 2560x1600. The 13" screen with the notch is 2560x1664.
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I think the OP was implying Apple could've just made the lid itself slightly taller to accommodate the camera. Even with phones I think it's pretty stupid that manufacturers go with the aesthetic of compromising the display experience with notches and punch holes instead of having a slightly larger top bezel.
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While I'd have agreed with you on notched phones a priori, having used *both* kinds of phones now I've found it to be a non-issue. In practical terms one doesn't actually *function* better than the other. What polarizes people is how they feel about bezels vs how they feel about notches.
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The notch is particularly irksome with video and gaming content where the app developer doesn't take into account that some people don't want the notch getting in the way. But that's mostly down to Apple's refusal to add some sort of system-wide user option to limit an app to only the visible area of the display on iOS.
I haven't used any Android phones with notches/hole punches yet, so I'm not sure if they do provide an option to limit the display area.
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I used to think that way too.
reading this article, I realized have no idea whether my Samsung S22 Ultra has a notch or a hole. I had to unlock it to figure that out.
It has a hole.
And so, I realized the very thing that I had complained about years ago was part of my life for 5 months, and I was completely oblivious to it.
Suffice to say, it's not really an issue. That comes from someone who had a dead pixel on a monitor and had to change it, because it was really annoying.
Re: The notch (Score:2)
then the others would complain (Score:2)
and if they made it that much taller to not have the notch, the *other* folks would be complaining about the wasted real estate that could have put screen on either side of it . . .
hawk
Re: The notch (Score:2)
Re: The notch (Score:2)
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I don't really understand the hate for the notch. If you don't like it, you can just configure your laptop/phone to put a black bar on top, this will also square the corners if you dislike the rounded corners.
Putting the camera on top means you can't put the screen there, i.e. larger top bezel. And in typical, undocked use, by nature, laptop screens are too low, so you want the screen to be as high as possible, so the top bezel should be as thin as possible.
As for the front facing camera, it should be as cl
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When it comes to laptop cameras, the things I care about are having a privacy shutter, and the microphones being really good so people can hear me.
I'm surprised Apple didn't make it a dongle. That's one dongle I'd actually quite like to see. Give it a magnet to clip onto the back of the screen. Because it's Apple it would have a non-replicable battery, or it could easily be powered through wireless charging or some pins.
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The menu bar of my 16" MBP is frequently completely filled. Applications with a lot of main menu items will fill more than half of the screen. I've got a bunch of icons stacking up from the right. "Usually" doesn't cut it.
The camera forms a barrier for the menu bar. Unless they've really thought this through, you can't move your mouse cursor through the camera area, so instead of moving in a straight line from one end of the menu bar to the other, you have to go through a chicane.
I don't want the screen to
Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Whats the big deal about how thin it is?
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Whats the big deal about how thin it is?
Coming from someone that has to carry three (3) laptops everywhere (personal, work, client's) I'm beginning to embrace thinness.
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If one works in a larger corporation, that makes sense.
One laptop is the locked down Windows machine used for email. The user doesn't have admin rights, and the laptop is jam-packed with adminware, be it Prey, Absolute, Crowdstrike, 1-2 EDR/XDR/MDR programs, Chrome add-ons to log what is going on in web browsers, "take a break" programs which, when they detect you doing work, demand you take a break from the computer, and so on.
One laptop is used for actual development stuff, where Git and such actually ar
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It's just stupid.
It makes it harder to have useful ports, like Ethernet and USB-A.
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Last year I went to buy a new laptop and noticed it had no headphone jack. What the hell is wrong with these laptop manufacturers?
Well you are in luck (Score:1)
Last year I went to buy a new laptop and noticed it had no headphone jack. What the hell is wrong with these laptop manufacturers?
Humorously, for whatever odd reason the new 15" Air actually DOES come with a headphone jack!
Re: Why? (Score:1)
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I know times have changed a quality is quite a bit different these days, but I remember when buying my first laptop, my boss at the time (Gateway's laptop service manager) told me "if it's advertised as the thinnest laptop, you don't want to go anywhere near it." That advice has always stuck with me, right or wrong.
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Here's what I think matters about having an *unusually* thin device these days: it makes it easy to sell as a premium product.
That's really the only sensible justification. There's diminishing benefits thinness, and I suspect there are few people that gain any *practical* benefit by making a device less than 20mm thick or so. And there are all kinds of practical and engineering challenges in making such a device, which is why you will only see devices sold at premium prices venturing into this territory.
B
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I learned on a mechanical typewriter, are students naturally just light typists now since it's all touch pads and chicklet keys?
It does (Score:1)
It's cool until you realize the keyboard probably has no key travel to absorb typing impact
From what I can tell it has the same keyboard as all of the other newer Macbook Pros, which are excellent and have good travel. It's not THAT thin.
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I'd like to know what's the big deal in making the desktop computers thin. It's not like you need to lug them around.
Also, giving desktop computers skinny, chiclet-style laptop keyboards. If I'm going to use a desktop system, I don't want the worst part of a laptop.
Weight, pure and simple (Score:2)
Whats the big deal about how thin it is?
Mackbook Pro 16" : 4.7 lbs.
MacBook Air 15": ~3.1 lbs
That is very nearly 2 lbs difference. I personally think the new Air is the perfect travel laptop compromise - nice large screen, not super powerful but still plenty powerful enough to work on for a week or two at a time.
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So you can shave with it, duh.
8GB RAM and 256GB SSD (Score:5, Insightful)
Did they have to go to a retro manufacturer to get this stuff? 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD? A good quality 1TB NVME SSD is $50 retail and 16GB SODIM DDR5 RAM from the nr1 manufacturer also goes for 50 at retail. I get they want to get some margins but can they for the love of god just make the base model $100 more expensive and include some stuff that will last a couple years?
Re: 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD (Score:4, Interesting)
I get they want to get some margins
You answered your own question. Apple makes the base models horribly under-spec'd so anybody who knows better has to spend more initially, and anybody who doesn't has to upgrade (by buying an entirely new machine) sooner.
It is a practice that has entirely put me off their platform, since I generally cheap out by buying laptops with the lowest RAM and storage specs and upgrade them myself. In fact, I recently snagged an open box Yoga 6 Ryzen 5 (only Zen 2, though) from Best Buy for $350ish. RAM is unfortunately soldered, but the laptop has a standard M.2 socket and I upgraded it to 1TB of storage.
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Or, regular users who aren't technically proficient at computer hardware buy them and then don't understand why they're so slow and always running out of space. Then they have to buy another, more capable laptop, and $PROFIT$.
Or, they put the Mac on a shelf and buy a Lenovo. But we don't speak of that.
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I get they want to get some margins
You answered your own question. Apple makes the base models horribly under-spec'd so anybody who knows better has to spend more initially, and anybody who doesn't has to upgrade (by buying an entirely new machine) sooner.
I'm more willing to bet the market for selling fashionable tech is far larger than the market is selling functional tech. Anybody who doesn't care what's inside, cares far more about the social benefit of carrying around fruitware.
Also known as why Apple is a trillion-dollar company.
Great (Score:2)
What other spec is there?
And also (Score:3)
But it's still 3.3 *pounds* (Score:2)
What a clunker compared to my old 15" LG Gram that weighs in at 2.2 pounds.
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What a clunker compared to my old 15" LG Gram that weighs in at 2.2 pounds.
The newest 15" LG Gram is only 2.18 pounds [lg.com]. There is a noticeable practical difference between 2.18 and 3.3 pounds. There is no noticeable difference between 11.5mm and 12.4mm that is discernable to a human eye. Even if there were a discernable difference, there is no practical utility from the 0.9mm difference.
Re: But it's still 3.3 *pounds* (Score:2)
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Found the fanboi
Doesn't realy lool that thin (Score:1)
Oh yay! (Score:2, Insightful)
Finally! A laptop that can be folded on two axes! Never mind that crackling sound you hear when the thing folds perpendicular to the 'official' hinges...
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I still use my old 11 inch Air when travelling. Having something that small and light that you don’t notice it and fits in a daypack really changes things when you travel. I can carry it all day and not notice it.
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I still use my old 11 inch Air
That's a cool bit of kit and all, but what OS does it run -- OS X Dinosaur? OS 9?
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Ok, "OS X Dinosaur" made me laugh. Good job.
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Is it really that much effort to carry around a Lenovo or a Dell?
Lenovo and Dell have computer users as customers.
Apple has fashion divas as customers.
Considering those facts, you tell me how hard it is.
I care this much: || (Score:3)
Give me a nice, sturdy, thick laptop. One that can take a hit without the body or the screen smashing, and is repairable outside a clean room.
But that would cost the manufacturers in repeat sales, and the sheep don't care. They actually believe they need thin.
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Thin has made phones dangerously fragile. Let's hope you don't press your skinny laptop too hard...
Rest assured those selling overpriced shitty hardware are breaking out the violin quartet to compose something for you...in memory of this planned disaster and massive profits.
...They actually believe they need thin.
Or in this case, they actually believe they need OSX. From proprietary ports to removing inputs, it's quite amazing what you can do with a captured audience.
Still no USB Type-A? (Score:2)
Few asked for a thinner notebook but many have asked for USB A.
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The ones that don't need thinner can pay double the price for the "Pro" model.
"World's Thinnest" (Score:2)
And most difficult to repair. No thanks.
First thing to do with a thin laptop/tablet... (Score:2)
Is buy a cover so it doesn't break. Not the crap apple sells, but something from Supcase, or their competitors.
Thin = breakable and easily pushed.
Getting the stupid thin stuff is like getting those moronic wireless earbuds where on instantly get lost/seperated because their is no wire connecting them.
Elegant and pretty does not equal functional and worthwhile.
Bendgate is now Thiccgate (Score:2)
"The new model is 11.5mm thick, which Apple says makes it the world's thinnest 15-inch laptop."
First off, there's Bendgate. Which apparently no one at Apple remembers. Not even the engineers.
But more importantly in a world full of body positivity, why the hell is society giving Apple a pass for this horrific attack against thicc electronics? I'd love to know.
Re: Bendgate is now Thiccgate (Score:2)
Still only two ports---Boo! (Score:1)
Who still wants the thinnest thing? (Score:1)
Thin = no room for a fan (Score:2)
My partner recently bought and returned a current gen 12.9" iPad Pro because the damn thing kept throttling the display brightness because it was overheating while running a simple 2D game. That's what too thin for proper thermal management gets you, and Apple seems totally okay with it. It would be like if a car manufacturer sold a vehicle that overheated at highway speeds, and everybody just somehow considered that to be perfectly normal.
I bet this laptop would be absolutely lovely for running long Hand
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"It would be like if a car manufacturer sold a vehicle that overheated at highway speeds, and everybody just somehow considered that to be perfectly normal."
That would be the 2005 Ford Thunderbird. :-)
Thinner != Better. (Score:1)
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Apple Engineers (Score:1)
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O, right. You mean the Lenovo laptop shipped from the factory with spyware and a bogus root certificate?
My mistake, you mean the Lenovo laptop that has to be plugged into the wall in the conference room because its battery won't last an hour.
You will not find a faster platform for compiling anything with Clang than a recent Mac. The cheapest MacBook Air will compile the Linux kernel faster than the fastet and fattest Lenovo laptop. The bottleneck is SSD speed, and Apple's built-in SSDs are 2x faster than a
Innovation has really slowed down (Score:2)
I'm surprised at the number of comments this Apple yawnfest has garnered. It's no wonder the laptop market has fallen off so badly in 2023.
Tiny tweak: HURRAY!
1080p camera: GREAT!
Port count: ALMIGHTY!
Again with the "thin is the thing"???? (Score:1)
Once again, a company has chosen one of the least-useful metrics to "improve" their product. Was anybody griping about how thick the last product was? No, they weren't. What they were asking for is more ports (or fewer dongles) and better battery life. Is there any significant body of consumers that wouldn't prefer an extra 50% (or more) of battery life for a laptop that is 1mm thicker and a few grams heavier? No, there is not.
One can only hope this madness one day stops. We reached the usefulness of
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I use a macbook for work and I'm so SO tired of dongles. I'd gladly put up with some thickness so they could add some ports.
Re: Again with the "thin is the thing"???? (Score:2)
They want something Nikki Minaj can twerk in front of so the gadget fashionistas will get excited and shell out $$$ to Apple.
It's not marketed to boring, stuffy old practical users, it's marketed to trust fund kids who will only use it for logging into antisocial media to talk shit about the "little people".
Still missing a new 11 inch Air (Score:2)
I’m still using my old 11 inch MacBook Air as my travel machine. At 1kg (2.2 freedom units) and small enough to fit on a tray in cattle class it is the perfect machine when you move about a lot.
I guess no one in Apple’s design team ever sits at the back of the plane.
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I think "freedom units" and "cattle class" are my new favorite phrases for this week.
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They fly in the back of the plane a lot. But the rear seats in a G4 are usually just as nice as the front...
Thinness is still a thing? (Score:2)
I thought we'd gotten past thinness as a metric. Yeah, ok, it's thin. And models from five years ago still fit in my backpack just fine.
I'm reminded of the Dilbert strip where they're making their products thin and slippery, because it markets well, and when they slip out of the users' hands and need repair or replacement, the company can blame it on the users.
A laptop AND a hot plate! (Score:2)
Toast those cheese sandwiches while doing compiles!
They should call it the MacBook Air Pro (Score:2)
And rename the current MacBook Pro "MacBook Pro Pro."
Be careful (Score:2)
Because it will shatter if you do as much as look at it funny.
Unless they came up with some super strong and rigid nanomaterial they compromised structural integrity for small size.
Thinness No Longer a Figure of Merit in Laptops (Score:2)
Obligatory Asterisk. (Score:2)
Some of my coworkers with newer apple devices carry around and entire bag of various dongles to connect to anything. HDMI dongle, USB A dongle, Displayport dongle, Additional USB C port dongle....