The MacBook Pro is the flagship laptop in Apple’s macOS range. Over the last few years, the 14-inch and 16-inch models have pushed the limits on what these laptops can do, but only a handful of professionals need that much power on tap when they nip out to the coffee shop. For everyone else, the MacBook Air has been delivering consistently.
Over the next few months, the MacBook Air is going to push the MacBook Pro further to the sidelines with consumer offerings that will meet the challenge of everyday life and still have performance left over to enjoy over your latte.
Tim Cook’s decision to finally release a MacBook Air with a 15-inch display – the first to do so in the fifteen-year history of the MacBook Air – will capture the headlines. The larger screen has been something many Air fans have been impatiently waiting for, but it may not be the only upgrade to go large. Apple will also push forward and offer the new design with the latest Apple Silicon technology.
The third generation chipset should debut at this year’s WWDC with the presumptively named M3, the 15-inch MacBook Air will likely debut with this brand new chipset. At the consumer level, Apple Silicon offers more power and flexibility than the Intel MacBook laptops ever achieved. The M1 laptops reset expectations, and the M2 added another twenty percent in performance.
It’s likely that the M3 chipsets will offer another step up, at which point the potential for consumers to outgrow the power of even the entry-level M3 is vastly diminished. While professionals will appreciate the M2 Pro and M2 Max specs (and eagerly await the benchmarks the M3 Pro and M3 Max could offer), even the ‘prosumer’ MacBook user will struggle to push the envelope of an M3 MacBook Air.
Once you step outside of the need of a workstation-class macOS laptop, Apple’s upcoming MacBook Air laptops should deliver everything you need, and then a little bit more. The only thing missing from that package is an Air with a larger display.
Tim Cook and his team are going to offer just that in the next few months.
Skip the MacBook Pro, because the MacBook Air will meet the challenges of your own life head on.
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