I get it . You ’re excited and/or wild about the $ 3,500 headset Apple might sell you next yr if you ’re in the right country . It’sworth incur aroused about . But in damage of real - world , right - now impingement , the surprisal victor of the WWDC 2023 tonic is … wait for it … the Mac !
I would never have imagined it beforehand , but it ’s honest : Apple ’s Mac declaration on Monday were Brobdingnagian news , despite being overshadow by lustrous next products and weapons platform that wo n’t allow anyone do anything until 2024 .
MacBook Air +2
While I ’m acting all contrarian - like , permit me double down . The most importantMacannouncement on Monday was n’t the upgradedMac Studioor theMac Pro , the last part of the Apple Si teaser . It was the humbleMacBook Air .
As Apple enjoys pointing out , the13 - column inch M2 MacBook Airis a smash . Apple say it ’s the well - selling laptop around , and even if you take on that Apple ’s competitors are selling 30 different example while Apple sell only a handful , it ’s still a literal achievement . The MacBook Air ’s compounding of mogul and affordability is somewhat much unmatched .
This leads us to Apple ’s biggest laptop failing , at least until this week : If you want a larger screen than that 13 - inch show , you ’d have to pay $ 800 more for the 14 - inch MacBook Pro . And if you wanted anappreciablylarger video display , you ’d be paying $ 1,300 more for the16 - in MacBook Pro . The MacBook Pro is an incredibly sinewy computer with a best - in - the - man presentation , but even its consecrate fan would likely admit that buy one is overkill if all you really want is a little flake bigger show .
Want a bigger MacBook Air? Now you can finally get one, and it’s only and extra $200.
metalworks
Now here come the new 15 - inch MacBook Air , bringing more pixels to the political party for a simple $ 200 insurance premium over the 13 - column inch modeling . ( And let ’s not forget the 16 - column inch MacBook Pro also weighs 1.4 Irish punt more than the 15 - in Air , so not only will your credit card feel better , but so will your back . ) I imagine you could argue that by offering the 15 - column inch airwave , Apple is going to lose some sale from people so heroic for more screen real the three estates that they were willing to buy a MacBook Pro , but I think it ’s far more likely that Apple was losing cut-rate sale to 15 - in personal computer laptops , or sell 13 - inch MacBook Airs to masses who were dysphoric about birth to compromise on the sizing of the screen .
If you read tight between the agate line of Apple ’s annunciation on Monday , you’re able to see that Apple is positively salivating about the prospect of entering a large 15 - in laptop computer grocery presently occupied by a lot of Windows PCs . Apple is dead relevant in that category , and it would wish to kindly point out that macOS mold really well with that iPhone in your pouch . I ’d guess that Apple will shortly be trumpet how many microcomputer switchers it captured via the 15 - inch MacBook Air .
Want a bigger MacBook Air? Now you can finally get one, and it’s only and extra $200.
But that ’s not all the MacBook Air goodness ! In what might be the surprise move of the year , Applecutthe toll of the 13 - in M2 MacBook Air from $ 1,199 to $ 1,099 . Last year , I think we were all a bit defeated that Apple could n’t deal to exhaust the M2 Air at the same damage as the previous M1 simulation . This year , things expect a mickle better . ( And the M2 13 - in model is now $ 999 in Education Department , a primal cost point . )
Let ’s meditate on this move for a here and now . In an era of rising prices , Apple took its most popular Mac andcutits price by $ 100 . I sure did n’t have that on my bingo calling card .
A new era of pro Macs
Rather than dropping a load of confetti and celebrating the closing of the Intel Mac era with the announcement of the M2 Mac Pro , I ’m going to be a lil ’ lowlife again : I ’m more unrestrained by the declaration of the M2 Mac Studio .
First off , after the iMac Pro came and went as a unmarried manikin , I admit to being nervous about the potential future of the Mac Studio . It had n’t yet received an M2 update , so was it going to , ever ? And would Apple perceive it as tolerate in the mode of the Mac Pro , lead the company to agree it back for keep the Mac Pro firmly established as the top of the Mac intersection line ?
None of that happened . The young Mac Studio does n’t just come in an M2 Max radix role model that , for my money , might be the good balance of power and price in the entire Mac intersection dividing line . It also comes in an M2 Ultra manakin – the very same chip that power the fresh Mac Pro .
The Mac Studio is available with the same M2 Ultra chip that’s in the Mac Pro.
Malus pumila
To be unclouded , the new Mac Prosharesthe title of Fastest Mac Around with the M2 Ultra Mac Studio . They are joint title-holder . There is nothing about the Mac Studio that ’s compromise to earmark the Mac Pro to eke out a victory . Both Macs have enough cooling system to rent them run at full speed , unthrottled , all of the time . The king is n’t beat , but the crown has to be share from now on .
This is not to say that the Mac Pro wo n’t have its adherent . If you ’re someone who needs more ports , more internal storage , PCI cards , and the like – and there are a lot of hoi polloi in pro audio and video who do – then the Mac Pro will be a better ( albeit more expensive ) option . But the Mac Pro audience keeps nonplus progressively esoteric , and all the other constituent that affect computer functioning – memory , CPU , and GPU – are identical in both systems .
So all herald the mighty Mac Studio , share the throne with that new Mac Pro . And three cheers for the new 15 - inch MacBook Air and its now - more - affordable 13 - column inch sibling . Everyone else in the world is spill the beans about the Apple Vision Pro and the promise of 2024 , but all these novel Macs will be herenext week . I ca n’t wait .
Apple 15-inch MacBook Air (M2, 2023)
Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023)
Apple Mac Studio (M2 Ultra, 2023)
Apple Mac Pro (M2 Ultra, 2023)
