15-Inch MacBook Air vs. 13-Inch MacBook Air: Bigger, Yes, But Better?

Apple had plenty of Mac news to dish on during opening day of WWDC 2023, with the all-new 15-inch MacBook Air leading out of the gate. This is a head-turner for everyone’s favorite portable MacBook: 15 inches is a larger screen size than on any MacBook to date without the "Pro" moniker.

Naturally, that draws comparisons to the existing, smaller 13-inch MacBook Air: What are the benefits to the bigger size, how do the two compare, and is it still portable? Below, we’ve run the rule over the two systems on the basis of the publicly announced specs for the new 15-inch MacBook Air. Thanks to our colleague Brian Westover, we were also able to go hands-on with the new MacBook Air, so enjoy a closer look at the new machine as I compare it with its 13-inch predecessor below.

The First 15-Inch MacBook Air: Size Faceoff

Normally, these year-on-year comparisons between Apple products don’t vary much in terms of physical size. This time around, though, the changes are right in the product name. This is a larger MacBook Air, with the 15-inch name denoting the screen size (not the overall laptop size). More on the actual display in a moment, but first let's see what that means for the size of the laptop chassis as a whole.

The 2023 MacBook Air 15-Inch: Heftin' it

You wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that going larger with the MacBook Air may seem counterintuitive to the "portability first" design goal of the Air series, but let’s look at the specs before jumping to conclusions. The 2022 13-inch Air measures 0.44 by 11.97 by 8.46 inches (HWD) and 2.7 pounds—about as trim as it gets for the ultraportable class.

The 15-inch Air comes in at 0.45 by 13.4 by 9.35 inches, which is a moderately larger footprint. If you have an especially small bag or trusty case specifically for your 13-inch laptop, you’ll have to think about alternatives. While it may be a minutely thicker than its 13-inch sibling, it is still slimmer than those in its class; Apple claims this is the thinnest 15-inch laptop in the world.

The 2023 MacBook Air 15-Inch: A view of the lid

The elephant in the room is that, yes, this new machine is heavier, potentially betraying the Air name. But don’t wince too much: The 15-inch Air weighs just 3.3 pounds. Heftier, yes, but probably not enough to radically change how you perceive this laptop and its use cases. Based on our experience, it’s enough to feel a modest difference in weight yourself, but that delta likely won’t keep you from buying the larger Air (unless you are truly set on the smallest and lightest bag possible for travel).

Display Differences: Bigger, But Better?

Most laptop lines—Windows machines included—have trimmed down the overall footprint of their chassis in recent years with ever-thinner screen bezels. Often, this has led to squeezing a larger screen into roughly the same size chassis as before. These gradual advancements are likely what led Apple to decide it was time for a 15-inch MacBook Air. The total laptop size now doesn’t have to be much bigger to fit in a screen that houses a couple of extra inches of digital real estate.

The 2023 MacBook Air 15-Inch: The panel's actually 15.3 inches.

That’s how we arrive at the 15.3-inch display on this new system, up over the 13.6-inch screen on the existing Air. Now, a 13.6-inch screen is larger than some "pure" 13.3-inch systems, so you aren’t gaining as much display space as it may sound at first blush. But, having tested many laptops of these sizes, it makes an appreciable difference in everyday use.

13-Inch MacBook Air 2022: Really, the screen is 13.6 inches.

Now, let’s talk screen specs. We have the screen's size down, but is this a more advanced display than you're used to from a MacBook Air? The short answer is no: The core technology is largely the same here.

The 2023 MacBook Air 15-Inch: Slightly higher resolution than the 13-incher

The new Air uses Apple’s tried-and-true Liquid Retina IPS display technology, the same as the 13-inch version, though they vary in resolution. The 15-inch model features a 2,880-by-1,864-pixel resolution, compared with the 2,560 by 1,664 pixels in the 13-inch Air. Both are rated at 500 nits of brightness, which we’ll have to verify ourselves when we can get testing time in with a unit. The 13-inch Air did meet these claims, measuring 514 nits on our test at maximum brightness.

Components & Pricing: Running It Back With M2

Apple’s relatively new M Series homebrewed silicon—currently in its second generation—has enjoyed lots of attention in recent product announcements. While Apple did have some exciting chip reveals for other products this year, the 15-inch MacBook Air will simply be running the same M2 chip that's used in the 2022 13-inch MacBook Air, not new silicon.

Watch out for one caveat here: The base model of the 15-inch MacBook Air runs Apple's upgraded M2 chip with eight CPU cores and 10 GPU cores. The 13-inch Air of 2022 had that flavor of the chip as an optional upgrade, whereas the base model started with eight CPU cores and just eight GPU cores. A relatively small difference, but you are getting more GPU cores at the starting price. However, you have nowhere to upgrade from here.

Running the same silicon may not be as exciting on paper, but given the impressive performance we saw in our review of that 13-incher, we’re perfectly okay with it. The M2 is a capable chip on all fronts; read our first review of an M2 laptop, the 2022 Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch, and our above-linked review of the M2-based Air to better understand the architecture and get an idea of the performance levels.

The Air is never meant to be Apple’s top-performing laptop offering—that's reserved for the MacBook Pro line—so the M2’s power is more than enough for the system. Upgrading the silicon to any of the M2 Max or M2 Pro options would be an unnecessary move, and raise costs significantly.

With all of that explained, we come to the price. Considering the bumped-up base M2 chip and the larger screen size, the price jump is actually reasonable. The 15-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,299, which nets you the 10-GPU-core M2 chip, 8GB of unified memory, and a 256GB SSD. You can bump up to a 512GB SSD version for $1,499, but the models are otherwise the same.

The 13-Inch MacBook Air 2022: Now $1,099 for the base model

The 13-inch Air launched at $1,199 last year, and it's receiving a price drop as of the announcement of the 15-inch model. It will be available starting at $1,099, while the older M1 version will remain available at $999. Considering the newly dropped price is reflected in the table above, a $200 difference is palatable, and only a $100 difference in the launch price is quite welcome.

If you are looking for some new style, you won't find any new color options, however. Like the 13-inch Air, the 15-inch Air comes in Space Grey, Silver, Midnight, and Starlight.

Connectivity and Extras

Apple's 15-inch Air is running the same port and charging array as its smaller counterpart. That means two Thunderbolt 4 ports and MagSafe charging. A headphone jack also features, which is not a given on modern devices but sticks around here.

The 2023 MacBook Air 15-Inch: The ports on the left edge

The two MacBook Air sizes both include a 1080p webcam, a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, and a Force Touch trackpad—all the core features that make the Air stand out. Apple also claims 18 hours of battery life on the 15-inch system, though obviously, we can’t test it ourselves just yet. The 13-inch model lasted for 16.5 hours on our rundown test, so it stands to reason that the 15-inch model will fall in that range too, thanks to the efficient M2 chip.

The 2023 MacBook Air 15-Inch: Ports on the right edge

Early Verdict: Bigger and Well-Priced, But We See Room for Improvement

Parity across a product line is appealing on the one hand, but the identical loadout between these MacBook Air sizes is, perhaps, underwhelming. You can argue that a larger 15-inch laptop should include an extra port or additional features made possible by the extra chassis space. If you already want to utilize a larger screen for slightly more demanding work, then chances are you're in need of more hardwired connections than most.

As it stands, this is simply an upsized version of the 2022 13-inch MacBook Air. In fairness, we rated the 13-inch Air as a profoundly excellent laptop, so that’s not much of a knock. If you were hoping for something fully different, the 15-inch MacBook Air may be a letdown, but the more robust feature set is reserved for the MacBook Pro line, for now. If a larger screen for way less than a MacBook Pro sounds appealing to you, this may be the time to get on board, particularly if you didn’t buy the M2 MacBook Air the first time around.

Check back in the coming weeks for our full review of the 15-inch MacBook Air when units become available.