Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M2 test: will you take to the open sea?

Want a MacBook but don’t want to feel cramped with the traditional 13-inch format or sacrifice all your savings? Apple’s answer is called the 15-inch MacBook Air. A Mac that knows how to be discreet but that thinks big.

15 years ago, Steve Jobs revealed a new generation laptop by simply extracting it from an ordinary kraft envelope. A fairly theatrical but no less effective way of proving the finesse of the MacBook Air in the face of competition from PCs that were still quite massive at the time. In June 2023, after ups and downs, the MacBook Air is becoming trendy again. Brought up to date in 2020 using an Apple Silicon M1 chip then in 2022 with an M2 chip, the MacBook Air is now a little wider with the 15-inch version released last June… and in awaiting the imminent arrival of the next MacBook Pros, this time armed with an M3 chip.

But why a large MacBook Air when until now, we had to make do with the 11 then 13 inch formats? This model actually seems designed to convince those who feel a little cramped with the 13 inches of the MacBook Air M2 or M1 (still in the catalog) but also do not want to spend 2400 euros to upgrade to the next category with the MacBook Pro 14 inches or worse, the MacBook Pro 16 inches and its entry ticket at 3000 euros. This 15-inch MacBook Air thus fills a gap in the range by maintaining a price, if not affordable, at least in the current trend of premium laptops. The price of the MacBook Air 15-inch M2 starts at 1,599 euros for a configuration based on 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of SSD. But it is better to think carefully when purchasing since these elements are welded and therefore cannot change over time. Know for example that to double the RAM and storage, you will have to add no less than 460 euros to reach 2059 euros. The most muscular version with 24 GB of RAM and 2 TB of storage space costs almost the same price as a 16-inch MacBook Pro, i.e. 2979 euros. We were able to test this 15-inch MacBook Air M2 for several weeks. Here is our verdict.

15-inch MacBook Air: still excellent design but questionable connectivity

If there is a tradition that continues at Apple, it is the care taken in the design of its hardware. This MacBook Air is no exception to the rule. It adopts the same profile as the 13-inch MacBook Air released in 2022 with its chassis and flat cover. On the bottom, no ventilation grille is visible. The heat dissipation vents are discreetly located behind the hinge on the front of the screen.

The model we are testing here is dressed in the Minuit dress, a very dark blue that is particularly elegant… as long as you don’t handle it too much. Indeed, it has the unfortunate tendency to collect all the fingerprints. The other colors (Silver, Starlight and Space Gray) are less subject to this phenomenon. So don’t forget your little cloth to keep it spotless in all circumstances.

Despite its generous size (34 x 23.7 cm) it maintains the line with its 1.15 cm thickness and above all a fairly contained weight of 1.51 kg. It’s light enough to carry around all day in a backpack without suffering.

Once opened, the 15-inch MacBook Air reveals a black keyboard with obviously backlit keys. For him, Apple did not bother reinventing the wheel. This is the same one installed in the 13-inch model. It’s a shame that Apple didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to have more space to offer a larger keyboard, especially since the left and right edges are not occupied by speakers. This keyboard nonetheless remains very comfortable when typing. It remains sufficiently flexible, with a very well calibrated stroke and also firm enough for those who have a little heavy hand. For biometric identification, we can count on a fingerprint reader associated with the power key.

Finally, the trackpad remains as comfortable as ever. It is larger here than that of the 13-inch MacBook Air and occupies almost half of the lower part of the chassis with its 14.8 cm long.

There remains connectivity for which Apple is still so stingy. On the left edge, the 15-inch MacBook Air aligns a MagSafe power port (so magnetic) and two Thunderbolt 3 ports (USB-C 4). It will be possible to connect an external monitor and no more. This possibility remains reserved for Macs equipped with an Apple Silicon chip labeled Pro.

The right edge has a single mini-jack port. It’s a bit sparse, especially since all the useful connection ports are grouped on the same side. A USB-A port would not have been refused. We will have to do without it… permanently.

15-inch MacBook Air: a large format screen… still in LCD

While in the PC world the trend is towards Oled on the premium model, this 15-inch MacBook Air perseveres in LCD with its 15.3-inch Liquid Retina panel. This is the same panel as the 13-inch model, obviously a little larger. It offers a definition of 2880 x 1864 pixels for a resolution of 224 ppi. This beautiful display surface is very comfortable on a daily basis. To work in good conditions, surf the Web or entertain yourself with a film or series, in our opinion, it corresponds to the ideal size. The absence of Oled technology is certainly not prohibitive since this LCD panel backlit by LED shows very accurate colorimetry. But the contrasts here are not infinite as with Oled and the blacks are less deep since the pixels remain lit. However, the brightness – announced by Apple at 500 nits – remains completely correct. We had no difficulty using this MacBook Air outdoors. Reflections on the screen are also well managed thanks to an effective filter.

Small subtlety which remains an enigma: the notch at the top of the screen. 3.5 cm long and 7 mm high, it hides the 1080p webcam and… that’s it. No FaceID here (a fingerprint reader on the keyboard’s power button takes care of biometric unlocking). This big notch continues to spoil the landscape a little without us really understanding the reasons for its presence. It is perhaps simply for Apple to distinguish – from the front – its laptop from PCs since the name MacBook Air no longer appears anywhere. In our eyes, this large notch which eats up part of the menu bar remains really unsightly.

15-inch MacBook Air: top performance in silence

Technical sheet

To power this 15-inch MacBook Air, Apple is using its in-house M2 chip, like on last year’s 13-inch model. With one small difference. The entry-level 13-inch MacBook Air has 8 CPU cores and 8 GPU cores where, from the outset, with the 15-inch MacBook Air we have 8 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores. A little subtlety that allows it to scrounge up a few points in graphic calculations. And above all, the work is done in silence. This is one of the advantages of this M2 chip. The 15-inch MacBook Air does not have a fan and therefore does not produce any noise. The other side of the coin is that you shouldn’t ask too much from this SoC either. For 3D calculations or 4K video renderings, it will obviously take a little longer than MacBook Pros equipped with a ventilated M2 Pro chip. However, this MacBook Air is not doing so badly. On a daily basis, it remains fluid and pleasant. We had in hand a model one superior to the entry-level MacBook Air equipped here with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage (2059 euros instead of 1599 euros or 460 euros more). This is a configuration that we recommend. The 8 GB of RAM offered by default seems a bit tight to us to cover all situations or if you feel like playing a little. As for storage, a 256 GB SSD will quickly prove too cramped when installing numerous apps alongside a few films to take for the holidays. Small bonus: whether or not it is connected to the sector, performance does not vary unlike PCs which automatically calm down the heat of the processors to save battery.

15-inch MacBook Air: endurance and well-thought-out charging

Apple Silicon chips are real camels. And this 15-inch MacBook Air remains in the lead compared to its elders. With typical use based on word processing, audio and video streaming, messaging and web surfing, our model only required a trip to the recharge box after 14 hours of use. Apple announces 18 hours of playback usage on Apple TV+. In other words, it can accompany you for a whole day without sagging. We also appreciate that putting it into standby mode does not eat up its battery excessively.

For charging, Apple provides by default a 35 W charger which has the particularity of offering two USB-C sockets. A very practical way to only use one socket to charge the MacBook and another device such as a smartphone for example… however to the detriment of fast charging. With this charger, it takes almost three hours to refuel the battery with a capacity of 66.5 Wh. When ordering, Apple suggests – at no extra cost – to opt instead for a 70 W charger which will be more efficient. But in this case you will have to make do with a single USB-C socket.

15-inch MacBook Air: should you go for the largest MacBook Air?

In many ways, this 15-inch MacBook Air is attractive. Its beautiful screen is really comfortable on a daily basis, both for working and for playing. We still appreciate the flexibility of the keyboard and the large trackpad on which our fingers enjoy sliding. The configuration we had in our hands (16-512 GB) also represents a very good compromise for considering the future with peace of mind, even if this increases the base cost by 460 euros all the same. On this, we do not thank Apple which always has a somewhat heavy hand on the bill when it comes to adding options. However, this machine is made to last, so you might as well think a little wider from the start. And, while we were previously using a 13-inch M1 MacBook Air from 2020, the move to the M2 SoC proved to be very beneficial with increased responsiveness. It’s also difficult to return to a narrower screen even if the transportability of this computer takes a little hit in the wing. Because there is obviously a dilemma with this 15-inch MacBook Air. Maybe he just had the wrong family. Too large to be called Air, not powerful enough to join the Pro range, it should perhaps have been called MacBook at all.