For quite some time, there’s been rumors of a larger MacBook Air on the way. Specifically a 15-inch MacBook Air. And it looks like, we could be just a few months away from it debuting.
According to display analyst Ross Young, who has been extremely accurate when it comes to leaks, has state that production is underway for a 15-inch MacBook Air. Young does not know the precise timing for a launch, but assumes that it could be “late April/early May”.
It would make sense for Apple to keep the 15-inch MacBook Air under wraps until WWDC happens on June 5. Apple does, from time to time, announce new hardware at WWDC. It doesn’t always happen, but it does happen more than it doesn’t. And with Apple not having a single event before WWDC this year – everything has been announced via press release – it would make the most sense.
It’ll look similar to the existing MacBook Air
With this 15-inch MacBook Air, we aren’t expecting a big redesign. In fact, we got that last year with the MacBook Air. So it would be crazy to expect another one so soon. Basically, it is expected to look the same as the 13.6-inch MacBook Air that is currently on sale. But with a larger display. It’s rumored to be a 15.5-inch display here.
So why a larger MacBook Air? Well, to kind of define the lines between the Air and Pro MacBooks. The MacBook Pro is available in a 14- and 16-inch model, with better chipsets in the pro and max chipsets. While the Air is only available in one size. But some people will want a larger size. And in order to get a 16-inch laptop, customers would need to pay at least $2,499 for the 16-inch MacBook Pro. With a 15.5-inch MacBook Air, that price could be significantly less. While we don’t know pricing yet, the existing 13.6-inch MacBook Air starts at $1199. So it’ll likely be around $1,500. A much better price point than $2,500.
It’ll likely replace the existing semi-pro MacBook Pro, the MacBook Pro 13. Sorta. since it is larger, it won’t really replace it, but we should see that model going away in favor of the 14- and 16-inch models.