Report: Apple is Working on 15-inch MacBook Air and New 12-inch Laptop

Apple is reportedly working on a 15-inch version of the new M2 MacBook Air the company unveiled earlier this week. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, this new 15-inch MacBook Air could be released in Spring 2023 at the earliest.

Ross Young, the CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants confirmed the report from Bloomberg and added that the new 15” MacBook Air will have a 15.2-inch screen. However, the analyst doesn’t expect it to support Apple’s Promotion technology for adaptive refresh rates, which is available on the 14” and 16” M1 MacBook Pros released in fall 2021.

And as we previously indicated, the 15" MacBook Air is 15.2". It won't have ProMotion or MiniLEDs.

— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) June 9, 2022

Apple’s new 15” MacBook Air could fill a gap in the company’s consumer laptop line. A 13-inch screen may be the sweet spot for most consumers, but 15-inch laptops are still popular and we’ve seen Microsoft launch a 15-inch version of its Surface Laptop in recent years.

The Bloomberg report also mentions that Apple is working on a new 12-inch laptop that could launch in late 2023 or early 2024. Apple previously released a 12-inch MacBook with a single Thunderbolt port in 2015, but this model was discontinued back in 2019.

“It’s unclear if the new 12-inch laptop would be a low-end device or a higher-end machine that’s part of the MacBook Pro line, which currently comes in 13.3-inch, 14.2-inch and 16.2-inch sizes,” Gurman wrote. The reporter also didn’t say if this new 12-inch laptop would use the same “Air” branding Apple currently uses for its consumer laptops.

Last but not least, Gurman also reported that new 14” and 16” MacBook Pros with more powerful M2 Pro and M2 Max chips could be released in late 2022 or be delayed to early 2023. There was an almost two years gap between the M1 MacBook Air and the redesigned M2 version, but it seems like Apple may want to iterate faster on its new MacBook Pro line.