Subj : The Apple MacBook Air 15-inch gets a teardown - and Im not impres
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Tue Jun 20 2023 08:15:03

The Apple MacBook Air 15-inch gets a teardown - and Im not impressed

Date:
Tue, 20 Jun 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Description:
A comprehensive teardown of Apple's latest laptop reveals... not much, 
actually.

FULL STORY
======================================================================

Apples shiny new MacBook Air 15-inch is an odd duck; its larger size runs 
counter-intuitive to the Airs original mantra of compact portability, and it 
doesnt really bring anything new to the table, being equipped with last years 
M2 chip - previously seen in the 2022 13-inch MacBook Air . 

We already knew that the internal hardware specs essentially matched those of 
the 13-inch model, but now weve got a proper look inside the MacBook Air 
15-inch, courtesy of the hardware repair gurus over at iFixit . And the 
results are distinctly underwhelming. 

As you can see in iFixits teardown video below, the 15-inch model comes with 
the same processor and memory as the smaller model, but very little else has 
been adjusted. Specifically: there's a redesigned six-speaker array (compared 
to the 13-inch versions four) and a larger battery - but dont expect a longer 
battery life, since it has to power a larger, higher-resolution display. Tear 
it all down 

Unsurprisingly, iFixits teardown ninjas also noted that the MacBook Air 
15-inchs internals are far from repair-friendly - in fact, having watched the 
video, I might go so far as to describe it as repair-hostile. 

The same was true of the 13-inch variant, but though one might expect a 
larger chassis to provide a bit more breathing room for wannabe 
laptop-fixers, it seems thats not the case. Although Apple expanded its 
self-repair scheme to Europe last year, its still a challenging process - a 
far cry from the excellent Framework Laptop Chromebook Edition , which I 
recently reviewed, and other models in that series. 

Even putting aside the repairability issues (iFixit scored it 3/10 for ease 
of repair), it also thoroughly drives home the point that this simply isnt a 
very exciting hardware release from Apple. 

The MacBook Air 15-inch was basically the only mainstream consumer product 
revealed at Apples WWDC 2023 event - the Vision Pro AR headset and Mac Studio 
boast hefty price tags that place them beyond the reach of the average Apple 
user - so its a bit disappointing that the latest MacBook is basically just 
the same, but a bit bigger. Hell, I was more stoked to see a price cut on the 
13-inch Air . 

Its possible (likely, even) that Apple had hoped to dazzle us with M3 
MacBooks at WWDC, but it seems chip shortages mean that we wont be seeing the 
M3 chip until next year . This new 15-inch Air already felt like a stop-gap 
measure to me - and iFixits teardown only affirmed that feeling. Oh well - 
theres always next year, Apple.



======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/news/the-apple-macbook-air-15-inch-gets-a-teardown-a
nd-im-not-impressed


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