Why You Should Wait For Apple’s New MacBook Air

Updated December 3: article originally posted December 2.

The holidays are coming, laptops are starting to creak, and the temptation is there to grab an upgrade for Christmas. But if you’re looking for a consumer laptop, you might want to hold off a few months for Apple’s next MacBook Air.

Update: Sunday December 3. Roman Loyola addresses one of the key questions in the MacBook Air update debate, and that is when the new MacBook Air laptops could launch.

It’s understood that Apple could have launched the M3 MacBook Air laptops alongside October’s MacBook Pro laptops, but the M3 chipset requires 3nm silicon, the same silicon stock used for the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. Apple has prioritised the iPhone over a consumer MacBook Air, with the less in-demand MacBook Pro laptops carrying the flag.

One factor will be the impact on iPhone sales, so expect the launch to be later rather than sooner. While Apple does not always launch upgrades to its portfolio at key events, preferring press releases and online promotional videos to do the work, other cases demand a more significant event. That was the case with the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air, which was given a prime slot at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in 2023.

With an expected launch in the first half of 2024, the need for visibility with consumers, and the ever-popular WWDC 2024 due in June, those looking for the M3 MacBook Air should mark ‘early June’ in their calendar.

Thanks to the performance and efficiency of Apple Silicon, professionals have a tremendous amount of performance on tap from the new M3 Pro and M3 Max MacBook Pro laptops. Even the previous generations M2 Pro and M2 Max variants delivered on the promise of a professionally focused macOS laptop. That promise has also delivered a MacBook Air family that can satisfy Apple consumers with its excess power.

Next year’s MacBook Air should come with the M3 chipset, adding more performance to a laptop that, for all intents and purposes, has a little bit more than needed with the M2 chipset. Apple has laptops to sell, and more performance is an easy sell, but for many, the M2 performance levels hit the sweet spot… the M3 is an extra slice of chocolate cake you think you need.

One of the key differences with the MacBook Air is the physicality of the laptop. It is lighter and thinner than the professionally focused MacBook Pro laptops. Unlike in 2008, when the thin nature of the Air was utterly jaw-dropping, the current differences are measured in a millimetre or two and a handful of grams. It’s enough to feel the difference when carrying the hardware for long periods. There is still a place for the original mission goal of the Air.

The MacBook Air also has a unique value proposition… a version with a 15-inch screen. More screen real estate offers more multi-tasking and better workflow. While the M2 version was launched a year after the 13-inch M2 debuts, the 2024 MacBook Air launch should see both the 13-inch and 15-inch M3 variants released. It’s a size popular within the Windows laptop community, and it sits nicely between the oversized 16-inch and the relatively portable 14-inch MacBook Pro models.

Power is not everything. The MacBook Air looks to balance the power of Apple Silicon with more user-friendly features. A lighter and thinner machine, a screen that many are already comfortable with, and a machine that does not demand too much from your wallet for something that should be “more than enough” for personal computing.

If you must buy a new MacBook right now, an M2 MacBook Air is a good answer. But if you need something just a little lighter, faster and more accessible, then hold off until next year. The M3 MacBook Air will be Apple’s standard bearer in the consumer laptop market.

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