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.

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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.

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Conversation 20 comments

  • rob_segal

    Premium Member
    10 June, 2022 - 11:26 am

    <p>A 15 inch MacBook Air would be awesome. I’ve been waiting for that. I would buy one immediately. </p>

    • shameer_mulji

      Premium Member
      10 June, 2022 - 12:07 pm

      <p>You and me both</p>

      • rob_segal

        Premium Member
        10 June, 2022 - 12:10 pm

        <p>I want something bigger than my M1 MacBook Air. Apple Silicon is so good, I don’t need a 14 or 16 inch MacBook Pro. A 15 inch MacBook Air is what I’m looking for. </p>

    • j5

      Premium Member
      14 June, 2022 - 12:14 am

      <p>Yeah I think I might have to get that too lol.</p>

  • yaddamaster

    10 June, 2022 - 12:09 pm

    <p>pretty certain I would pull the trigger on a 15" Air</p>

  • bluvg

    10 June, 2022 - 12:22 pm

    <p>Looks like Apple has their own speculative execution issues with their CPUs: https: //www.tomshardware.com/news/mit-finds-vulnerability-in-arm-chips-demos-pacman-attack-on-apple-m1</p><p><br></p><p>Not sure if it’s specific to the M1 (seems likely to affect others as well), and it does rely on a memory corruption vuln, but it can allow full control and "<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">does not&nbsp;require physical access to the machine, so it can be exploited remotely. The M1’s hardware vulnerabilities can’t be patched with software and the MIT team believes the hardware vulnerability could impact future Arm mobile devices, and likely even future Arm desktop PCs, if it isn’t mitigated in future architectures." (They have not yet proven this issue "to be present in other Arm chips.")</span></p>

    • ebraiter

      10 June, 2022 - 3:07 pm

      <p>You think Apple will do something regarding the issue? Nah….</p>

    • johnnych

      10 June, 2022 - 8:15 pm

      <p>Damn, I didn’t know about this issue and just read about it now. Welp, I guess this M1-Max MBP had a good run, time to hang it up on the wall as art and save up for the next one, it was fun while it lasted!</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      11 June, 2022 - 1:33 pm

      <p>It is a bit like Spectre and Meltdown, you already have to be able to run code on the device in order to use it. Not good, but not a catastrophe either.</p><p><br></p><p>it looks like it could affect “all” ARM chips that use the pointer protection technology, just the M1 is the first desktop chip to use it. The question is, do their mobile chips use it? What is with mobile chips from Qualcomm and Samsung? Or the server chips?</p>

      • wright_is

        Premium Member
        13 June, 2022 - 12:53 am

        <p>The other thing is, the ARMs (and other types of CPU) that don’t have this protection are already vulnerable to such attacks (the point of this technology is to protect the pointers from manipulations), so this attack just brings the extra protection that ARM chips with pointer protection back to a level playing field with "normal" chips.</p><p><br></p><p>With a "normal" CPU chip, you can manipulate the pointers directly. With these ARM chips with pointer protection, you have to additionally crack the encryption of the pointer protection in order to manipulate it. This means it is harder to get started and it takes more time than a traditional CPU without pointer protection, but once you have spent time breaking the encryption, you can manipulate the pointers, just like any other CPU.</p>

        • bkkcanuck

          13 June, 2022 - 8:00 am

          <p>Don’t these Spectre type vulnerabilities rely on data left in cache from another hyperthreads… which the M1 does not use. When I built my last Intel based DIY box, I went with Intel 9700K because it was devoid of hyperthreading… so the fixes that would constantly slow down the computer for Spectre etc – was not at issue… </p>

          • wright_is

            Premium Member
            13 June, 2022 - 8:59 am

            <p>You are correct on the hyperthreading, but that wasn’t my point. Both Spectre/Meltdown and Pacman are hardware based side-channel attacks – you get the information you need by monitoring how other things interact with each other in a way that isn’t expected. It also means you have to already be in a position to execute code on the device, which already means it is game over, these are more about bragging rights than anything else.</p>

    • bkkcanuck

      13 June, 2022 - 7:56 am

      <p>On the other side of the equation — Apple’s M1 architecture DOES NOT use hyperthreading… as such a whole class of problematic vulnerabilities will not be an issue. </p>

  • ScottieT

    10 June, 2022 - 1:30 pm

    <p>A 15" MacBook Air is a good idea and does plug a big hole in Apple’s line-up. Many folks just want more screen space but have absolutely no need for the extra cost/power that a 14" or 16" MacBook Pro offers. A 15" MacBook Air should be in the $1,399 region to make sense?</p><p><br></p><p>As for the 12", for some reason I see this being a MacBook Pro level device for ultimate portability for creators. Fast chips, multiple display capable, etc. I wouldn’t see a reason that normal consumers would ever pick this over the standard 13" at $999 or $1,199.</p>

    • Pierre Masse

      10 June, 2022 - 2:59 pm

      <p>A MacBook SE would be nice. Here in Canada the lowest MacBook Air M1 starts at 1299$ CA. </p>

      • rob_segal

        Premium Member
        10 June, 2022 - 7:14 pm

        <p>A 12 inch MacBook that is $200 less than the current M1 MacBook Air could be a huge hit.</p>

  • dennisblondelldecker

    11 June, 2022 - 11:10 am

    <p>A MacBook with 12 inches of screen sounds interesting. I thought that the genre of mini-laptops died out with the arrival of iPad? But then the 12 inches MacBook was from 2015-2019.</p><p><br></p><p>This is curious. I remember the famous Asus Eee PC with around 10 inches of screen, 1 GB RAM, a small SSD, and a Linux system to make it run, from around the year 2007 and forward. It was very popular with the ladies, who could fit it in a small lady bag, and the technicians liked to use it for remote work. I remember working for a company that used them to collect data, and they needed the keyboard for that. The price was low enough to make it affordable.</p><p><br></p>

    • arjay

      11 June, 2022 - 1:10 pm

      <p>I had an eeePC, and it was a handy device at the time; all my laptops were large and heavy back then. So I’d grab it for meeting note taking or other minor chores.</p>

    • F4IL

      11 June, 2022 - 2:23 pm

      <p>I was frequently using an ASUS Eee PC type <em>netbook</em> (running Ubuntu Linux) given to me for free due to a contract renewal from an ISP. It was a smart move by companies to sell more contracts by handing out free computers.</p>

  • rob_segal

    Premium Member
    11 June, 2022 - 6:24 pm

    <p>Microsoft and their OEM partners need to be prepared for a cheaper MacBook. A 12-inch MacBook is a perfect entry-level model for their lineup. With Apple’s excellent hardware and software quality and their robust ecosystem, an $800 MacBook would shake up the laptop market. If it starts at $700, that would rock the industry.</p>

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