I like 11 better than 15

Tech Life

While I was feeling under the weather at the beginning of January, this article on MacRumors caught my eye: 15-Inch MacBook Air Rumored for 2023, But New 12-Inch MacBook Now Unlikely, then I forgot about it. But I did bookmark it because I wanted to return to it, and here I am. From the article:

Gurman did not share any additional details about the 15-inch MacBook Air, but display analyst Ross Young previously claimed that Apple’s suppliers would begin production of 15.5‑inch display panels for the new MacBook Air in the first quarter of 2023, leading him to assume that the notebook would be released as early as this spring.

I’m sure a few people will tell me via email and on social media that I’m wrong or shortsighted, but I don’t get the appeal of a 15.5‑inch MacBook Air at all, and I don’t understand why Apple thinks it’s a good idea to add a laptop of that size in the lineup when there are already MacBook Pros at 13.3, 14.2, and 16.2 inches, and another MacBook Air with a 13.6‑inch display.

I understand that product naming has become more fluid at Apple in recent times, but the MacBook Air line of laptops has always been about entry-level and compact machines. I don’t doubt that Apple can produce a light 15-inch laptop, but compact?

I always liked the fact that, for the past 20 years or so, Apple has had a compact laptop among its offerings, dating back to the 12-inch white iBook (dual USB) of 2001. (I’m not mentioning any laptop from the previous era, because in the 1990s laptops with 10 to 12-inch displays were rather common). Those who have been reading me for a long time know very well I’m a fan of the 12-inch PowerBook G4. Even today, despite being thicker than most current laptops, it remains a fairly compact machine in overall size, and can be easily carried around.

First-generation iPad and 11-inch MacBook Air

My first-generation iPad and 11-inch MacBook Air.

Due to pressing changes in my work circa 2018, I decided to purchase a second-hand mid-2013 11-inch MacBook Air, and after a very short period of adjustment, I felt I was using the true successor to the beloved 12-inch PowerBook G4. The same couldn’t be said about the retina 12-inch MacBook Apple introduced in 2015 after discontinuing the 11-inch Air. Sure, it had a better display, and it still was a compact machine, but the advantages stopped there. It was too underpowered in comparison, and having only one USB‑C port meant very very little versatility. But still, for those who wanted a super-light compact machine with a good screen to perform some general-purpose tasks while on the move, that 12-inch MacBook remained a good choice — provided the butterfly keyboard didn’t act up.

The 12-inch retina MacBook was discontinued in July 2019, and with it the smallest laptop in Apple’s lineup disappeared, leaving that seat to the 13-inch MacBook Air. Still a light, svelte Mac, but I’ve been wanting a return of a truly compact MacBook ever since the discontinuation of the 11-inch MacBook Air in late 2016.

Now that Apple Silicon allows great performance and efficiency, and a better thermal management, it would be entirely possible to manufacture a MacBook with the footprint of the 11-inch MacBook Air or the 12-inch retina MacBook without it resulting in a compromised or crippled machine. And I think it would be more appealing than yet another laptop in the 15- to 16-inch display size range. No, don’t ‘iPad’ me. Don’t tell me that an iPad would be enough for those who want an 11- to 12-inch device. Maybe for some. But I’m pretty sure a fair amount of people would love a powerful M‑class Mac with the flexibility of Mac OS in a very compact footprint. Today my humble 11-inch MacBook Air is still quite capable of carrying out many basic tasks and even slightly more demanding workloads, and I’m still amazed at how little space it takes while being very comfortable to work on, thanks to a mostly-normal-size keyboard, a big-enough trackpad, and a good selection of ports considering its compactness (MagSafe 2, two USB 3 ports, one Thunderbolt port, 3.5mm headphone jack). Imagine a new MacBook Air like this, but with an M2 chip and a retina display.

Back to MacRumors’ article:

As for the 12-inch MacBook, Gurman previously claimed that Apple was considering launching it at the end of 2023 or in early 2024, but today he said that the smaller notebook is no longer on the company’s near-term roadmap.

Which is a pity. I think Apple will eventually end up reintroducing a compact laptop like the 12-inch MacBook, but prioritising a 15.5‑inch MacBook Air now just seems so odd to me. It’s likely that at its introduction, the 13.3‑inch M1 Air will be discontinued and the 13.6‑inch M2 Air will be slightly reduced in price, so that this purported 15.5‑inch model can be slotted into the price gap between the $1,299 13-inch MacBook Pro and the $1,999 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 13.6‑inch M2 Air becomes again the entry-level model. Maybe. I don’t know. Apple has become fuzzier to ‘read’ in recent years. And maybe I’m wrong. Maybe, if the price is right, a 15.5‑inch MacBook Air will be an attractive product for many. But the 11-inch Air’s small footprint can’t be beat when working on a plane, or train, or in a cramped coffee shop, airport terminal, waiting room, and so forth.

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