Excitement is building around June’s Worldwide Developer Conference, with Apple’s move into mixed reality likely to be one of the key moments of the gathering. It won’t be the only announcement, with updates to the various operating systems, core components and new hardware, such as a highly anticipated MacBook Air debut, all pencilled in.
If you are looking for a new MacBook Air, then there are a few factors to consider that Apple will not shout about. Tim Cook and his team are working on game-changing technology that suggests 2023’s MacBook Air will be little more than a stop-gap before bigger and better hardware arrives.
Two notable changes are expected for the 2023 MacBook Air update, widely expected to be announced at WWDC thanks to the first change; the upgrade from the Apple Silicon M2 to the new M3 chipset. The M2 offered a twenty per cent jump in performance over the M1. Will Apple be able to offer another twenty per cent on the M2/M3 transition? Or will there be more architectural changes that can offer more performance?
We should have that as an answer in a few months. What we can already assume is that for the majority of MacBook Air users, the Apple Silicon is already delivering exceptional performance with more than enough capability for the average consumer; those looking for maximum performance will already be looking at the significantly more expensive 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
This leaves the second change as the real driving force that sells the machine, the move to finally offer the MacBook Air with a larger 15-inch screen. Given the MacBook Pro’s push towards professionals, there is a clear gap in the portfolio for a consumer machine with a larger display. That’s the role of the next MacBook Air, with a 15-inch display and the new M3 processor.
Wait a moment, though, because if consumers are looking at a new MacBook Air because of the new screen, Apple is planning on something much better in the near future.
Apple’s plan is to switch the MacBook Air away from the current LCD screens to OLED screens. These offer much deeper blacks, increased colour, the vibrancy of colours, and better efficiency. The Elec, via Hartley Charlton, reports on Apple’s plans to introduce OLED across the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iPad Pro families, with Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants expecting the first OLED MacBook Air to arrive in 2024.
If the screen is your thing, then the true screen update is slightly further away than June.
Couple that with discussions around Apple adding touchscreen capabilities to the Mac platform (finally following the PC market decades later), in large part due to Apple’s efforts to bring the touch-capable iPadOS and the mouse-and-keyboard approach of macOS closer together, there’s going to be significant upheaval in how the Mac platform in general and the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops.
Why go for the larger display now when Apple will significantly depreciate its value early next year?
Now catch up with the latest Mac, iPhone, and iPad headlines in Forbes’ weekly news digest. Read Apple Loop here on Forbes.com right now…
Check out my website.
