MacBook Air 15-inch vs. MacBook Air 13-inch: Which One Should You Buy?

There were several rumors about Apple releasing a larger version of MacBook Air and they’ve finally come true. Apple announced the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air alongside the M2 Ultra SoC and the latest macOS Sonos at WWDC 2023. However, in this article, let’s find out how the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air stacks up against the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air. Read along to discover the differences between the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air compared to the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air. 

What’s new in the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air 

The most obvious and prominent change to the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air is its display and overall footprint. But let’s dive deeper and take a look at other changes on the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air. 

Larger Display 

As mentioned earlier, the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air has a larger display. Yes, the name itself specifies this. When compared side by side, the latest M2 MacBook Air has a 15.3-inch display, while the older (2022) M2 MacBook Air features a 13.3-inch display. With an increase in size, there’s also a bump in resolution. The 15-inch MacBook Air has a 2880 x 1864 display while the 13-inch MacBook Air has a 2560 x 1664 display.

The dimensions of the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air are 34.0 x 23.8 x 1.15 cm and the dimensions of the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air measures at 30.4 x 21.5 x 1.13 cm. The larger MacBook is heavier and weighs 3.3 pounds (1.51 kg), while the smaller is lighter at 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg). On a related note, the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air is the world thinnest 15-inch laptop.

Better Speakers 

The 15-inch M2 MacBook Air features a six-speaker sound system. These consist of two tweeters and two pairs of force-canceling woofers. They’re designed and tuned to deliver twice the bass depth which provides a fuller sound output. 

On the other hand, the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air features a four-speaker sound system. While it supports Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos just like its larger counterpart, the audio output will likely fall short as opposed to the new MacBook Air.

Extra GPU Cores and Higher Starting Price

The 13-inch M2 MacBook Air features an 8-Core CPU and 8-Core GPU paired with 8GB RAM and 256GB Storage. It starts at USD 1,099. It received a $100 price cut with the launch of its larger variant. 

The 15-inch M2 MacBook Air now features an 8-Core CPU and 10-Core GPU paired with 8GB RAM and 256GB Storage. It starts at $ 1,299. However, you do get a couple of extra GPU cores. So, the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air is priced at a really sweet spot and is an excellent value for many users. 

Everything Else Remains the Same

Apart from the above-mentioned changes, everything else on the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air is the same as the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air. Many expected the 15-inch variant to feature a ProMotion display with a higher refresh rate, extra ports, etc. Apple knows to play safe and won’t sabotage its lineup of MacBook Pros that can be had for a bit more. So, even though we expected the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air to have extra features, it does not. Both of the M2 MacBook Air as so similar that you do not even get the larger model in a different color variant.

Should I get the 15-inch MacBook Air or the 13-inch MacBook Air?

There aren’t many differences between the 15-inch MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Air. The former has a larger display and louder speakers. These upgrades make the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air a perfect buy for users who don’t need the extra performance offered by MacBook Pro’s but want a larger display for editing, media consumption, etc.

Several users resort to buying MacBook Pro’s just for the larger screen. Their workflow doesn’t need M2 Pro or M2 Max SoC’s raw processing power. Now, with the introduction of the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air, these users can get large display alongside compact formfactor. So, if you fall in this boat and want a laptop with decent performance, extremely good battery life and excellent display and speakers, the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air is the best bet.

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