Is the 15 inch MacBook Air worth it? Or should I wait for the M3?
We ask the question - is the 15 inch MacBook Air worth buying or should you wait until next year?
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The latest MacBook Air has just been released, but like all Apple products It’s certainly an expensive device, so you obviously want to be sure before you buy. There hasn’t been a whole host of changes between this 15″ model and the preceding 13″ version (besides the size of course) and it still comes with an M2 chipset, rather than the M3 that many thought it might do, so is the 15 inch MacBook Air worth it? Well we’re going to help you find out.
Read below for all the main things you need to consider before purchasing the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch, then once you’re satisfied, head to our Where to Buy 15 inch MacBook Air page for all the best retailers to purchase the new device at.
Is the 15 inch MacBook Air good value?
Apple aren’t exactly known for their value for money, with the brand name bringing a significant price mark-up over other laptops with similar components. Nevertheless, you are ensured a very high quality product in terms of aesthetics and build quality, with a high-resolution liquid retina display (2880 x 1864 with 224 pixels per inch) perfect for watching movies, good quality keyboard, trackpad, a solid webcam, battery life and good quality speakers (even if they’re not as good as those in the MacBook Pro, which remain the best in any laptop by some margin).
How does the 15 inch MacBook Air compare with the 13 inch MacBook Air?
When comparing the 15-inch Air vs the 13-inch model, the 15 inch MacBook Air starts at $1,299.00, which is only $100 more. This is a reasonable mark-up for a slightly larger screen, though you should be aware that there are no differences in any other area of the specs – the two laptops are the same in terms of power and function. This also extends to the cooling system – it was hoped by some that the larger chassis would allow for a cooling fan, however the MacBook Air 15 inch still comes with the standard heatsinks and cooling pipes only, and as The Verge points out in their hands-on review – it gets quite warm much like the 13-inch.
In short – you probably shouldn’t upgrade to a 15 inch MacBook Air if you already own a 13 inch one. If you don’t own either then which one you pick depends solely on whether you prefer a bigger screen size or more portability, with the comparative weight and dimensions being listed below:
- 13-inch MacBook Air 2023 – weight: 2.7lbs, dimensions: 0.44″ x 11.97″ x 8.46″
- 15-inch MacBook Air 2023 – weight: 3.3lbs, dimensions: 0.45″ x 13.40″ x 9.35″
Read our 15 inch MacBook Air vs 13 inch MacBook Air guide for a more in-depth comparison.
15 inch MacBook Air RAM & storage
The main downside to be aware of in our opinion is that for $1,299 you only get 8GB of unified memory and 256GB of SSD storage, with upgrading each to 16GB/512GB respectively costing an additional $200 for each upgrade! (so you’d end up paying $1,699 in total).
We’d probably recommend supplementing your storage with a cheaper external SSD, though there’s no real way around the RAM limitation, as you can’t really upgrade the memory of a MacBook Air after you buy it. 8GB will be fine for most people, though if you’re prone to opening a lot of tabs in your browser or are going to be running some memory-heavy software then you may want to upgrade.
If this puts you off, have a read of our best MacBook Pro alternatives page for some Windows options (we don’t have a MacBook Air alternatives page yet, but one is coming).
Should I wait for the M3 15 inch MacBook Air?
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has stated in his Mac newsletter (according to MacRumors) his belief that the M3 MacBook Air models (including both the M3 15-inch MacBook Air and M3 13-inch MacBook Air) will be coming out in 2024, which may put some people off wanting to pick up a 15 inch MacBook Air right now. As ever, the improved Apple silicon
In our opinion though, waiting another year for a more powerful chip in the MacBook Air probably isn’t worth it if you need a laptop right now. Additionally, given the laptop is geared towards more general use / light productivity tasks, a more powerful CPU isn’t as big a priority. If you were after a more heavy productivity/creative machine like the 16-inch MacBook Pro then the strength of the processor could be a more pressing issue.
In short: we don’t think you should wait for the M3 15 inch MacBook Air.
