Just a few days ago, Apple unveiled the first ever 15-inch MacBook Air. And if you’re in the market for a new laptop, you might be wondering what the differences between the 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air are.
In this post, we’re going to be covering all of the differences between the 15-inch MacBook Air and both of the 13-inch MacBook Air models.
Contents
- 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air: What is the 15-inch MacBook Air
- There are two 13-inch MacBook Air models
- 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air: The key differences between the M2 and M1 models
- 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air: The key differences between the M2 models
- 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air: Is the 15-inch model worth it?
15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air: What is the 15-inch MacBook Air
First, though, let’s look at what the 15-inch MacBook Air is. As it sounds, it’s a pretty standard MacBook Air, but with a 15-inch display. That’s pretty big, nearly as big as Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro. It’s definitely not a laptop for someone who favors portability.
In addition to being a pretty massive laptop, this MacBook Air also has a higher-fidelity display than the smaller models. It also has great speakers. So if you want a bigger MacBook Air because you’re looking for a machine that can bring you some entertainment, this is a great pick.
That said, as you’ll see throughout this post, most of the differences between the 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air are minor. So I wouldn’t recommend this machine if you’re looking to maximize performance. You’ll be fine with the 13-inch model. And with the smaller, more portable design, you might actually favor the 13-inch model.
There are two 13-inch MacBook Air models
Another important point to cover is that there are actually two 13-inch models. And the biggest differentiator between these models is the chip. The new models have an M2 chip, while the older 13-inch MacBook Air has an M1 chip.
To be clear, both of these chips are excellent. Both are developed by Apple and are only a few years old. They’re extremely powerful, and both will carry your laptop forward for years to come. I have an iMac with an M1 chip and it never has any hangups despite being nearly two years old now.
That said, you’ll of course get more performance from the M2. It’ll last longer and provide more power than the M1 chip. So if it’s in your budget and you want a laptop that’s going to go as far as possible, the M2 model is your best bet for now.
15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air: The key differences between the M2 and M1 models
The first two laptops we’re going to compare in this 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air breakdown are the M2 15-inch MacBook Air and the M1 13-inch MacBook Air. These devices are the most different, so there are going to be several differences.
I’ve pretty much covered every difference between these two devices, so if you’re wondering about a point that I haven’t covered, you can assume it’s the same between both models or the difference is so minor it isn’t worth mentioning.
Price
The biggest and first difference to cover in this 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air comparison is the price. The 15-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,299 while the 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $999. That’s a pretty sizable difference, to be sure, so if you’re on a budget, the 13-inch wins out.
You may have noticed that I said “starts at” rather than simply saying that this is how much these devices cost. That’s because these devices can go up in price pretty significantly depending on the upgrades your purchase. These are just the prices you get when you purchase no upgrades, and I do suggest buying upgrades.
The 13-inch MacBook Air can come up to $2,498 if you completely upgrade it, but I don’t really recommend that. Instead, I just recommend upgrading the storage to 512GB or 1TB, depending on your needs, and upgrading the memory to 16GB if you need the extra performance (i.e., you work with videos, music, or photos – or you want to game).
If you’re just going to be using this machine for homework and writing emails, 8GB will be plenty. That’s how much I usually go with. I would definitely upgrade the storage to at least 512GB, though. You’ll need it in 2023 and beyond.
As you can see, even starting with the more affordable 13-inch model can end up being pretty pricey after upgrades. So unless you really value having a larger screen, you’ll get more bang for your buck spending the difference on upgrades rather than screen real estate.
Display
The next major difference in this 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air comparison is, of course, the display. And the most obvious difference is the size. The 15-inch MacBook Air has, you guessed it, a 15-inch display.
It also has a Liquid Retina display versus the 13-inch’s Retina display. Both are excellent, but the new 15-inch model will have improved visuals. I would say that the average user probably won’t notice much of a difference, especially since the color output is the same.
But if you work with very high-fidelity media, then you may notice that the 15-inch has a sharper image.
GPU
That brings us to the GPU in our 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air comparison. The GPU on the 15-inch MacBook Air is, unsurprisingly, a bit better than the 13-inch MacBook Air.
It has a 10-core GPU, while the 13-inch has a 7-core GPU. That should provide noticeably better graphics performance, but again, you’ll probably only notice this if you’re working with a lot of media or gaming.
It’s worth noting that the M2 13-inch MacBook Air can be upgraded to have 10-core GPU, but it doesn’t come with it by default. The older M1 MacBook Air, though (which is the one that we’ve been talking about), caps at 7-cores. You can’t upgrade it past that point.
Memory
Another point of consideration is memory. For those that don’t know, memory is the same thing as RAM. It’s different from your Mac’s storage, which is where files and apps are stored. Memory, on the other hand, is for whatever you’re working with. So if you have 8GB of memory, that means you can work with 8GB of data at a time.
The 15-inch MacBook Air starts at 8GB of memory and can be upgraded to 24GB of memory, which is a pretty considerable spec bump. The 13-inch MacBook Air starts at 8GB and caps at 16GB, so you won’t be able to get as much performance from it.
That said, upgrading to 16GB and 24GB is going to cost you a good chunk of change. And for the vast majority of users, I actually don’t really recommend upgrading your memory. Again, users that are going to be working with media (video editors, graphic designers, and gamers) will benefit from 16GB of memory. But other users (myself included) should be just fine with 8GB.
As for the 24GB upgrade, honestly, I’m not sure what someone could be doing that would warrant the need for that much memory. I would imagine it’s just for those who want to ensure that their Mac will never have hangups.
It’s also worth mentioning that the 15-inch MacBook Air has 100GB/s of memory bandwidth, which the older 13-inch MacBook Air does not have. This refers to how fast the memory on your Mac is, and to be clear, 100GB/s is incredibly fast. So this is something to consider if you’re deciding between the 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air.
FaceTime camera
One of the most straightforward differences in this 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air is that the new 15-inch MacBook Air has a better FaceTime camera than the older 13-inch MacBook Air. The old camera is 720p while the new one is a more standard 1080p.
It’s fair to say that neither is very good (Apple has never put a great camera in its Mac lineup). But both should work for basic video calls and conferences.
In my opinion, this shouldn’t be a deal-breaking feature. I will say, though, that 720p is pretty low in 2023. People will notice that your video quality is lacking when you call them. It’ll get the job done though.
Media engine
A pretty minor difference in the 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air comparison is the media engine on these devices. The “media engine” is just a vague term for the kind of media processing your Mac is capable of.
In this instance, all you really need to know is that the 15-inch MacBook Air supports ProRes and ProRes RAW while the 13-inch model doesn’t. ProRes is Apple’s own media format, supported on specific iPhone models and some third-party cameras.
This file format just gives you deeper integration and options when working with media on your Mac (i.e., taking and editing photos). If that’s not something you’re too concerned with, then feel free to ignore this point. If you’re a photographer, though, then it’s maybe worth considering.
Speakers
No surprise here, the 15-inch MacBook Air features a great set of speakers that outshine the 13-inch MacBook Air. It has a six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers. Force-cancelling woofers means that your MacBook shouldn’t vibrate too much when playing audio, even when it’s loud or bass-y.
And of course, having six speakers means you’ll get a pretty loud and robust sound. The 13-inch MacBook Air, on the other hand, just has basic stereo speakers. It’s a standard (but certainly not bad) experience.
Again, unless you’re a musician, this probably isn’t a breaking point for which Mac to buy. But it’s another perk for those who choose to go with the 15-inch model.
Fast charging and Bluetooth
The last big difference in our 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air post is fast charging and Bluetooth.
We’ll touch on Bluetooth first – the 15-inch MacBook Air has 5.3 while the 13-inch model has 5.0. So you’ll have slightly longer range, better sound quality, less energy consumed, and faster data transfer speeds. It’s just better overall, but not necessarily to an incredible extent or anything.
As for fast charging, this is actually a pretty nice feature that is limited to the newer MacBook Air. The older 13-inch model doesn’t provide fast charging, so you’ll have to wait longer between charges. For people who work from home, this might not be a big deal. But when you’re fighting for an outlet at a coffeeshop, fast charging can be a real life saver.
15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air: The key differences between the M2 models
And with that, we’ve covered all of the differences between the M2 15-inch MacBook Air and the M1 13-inch MacBook Air. Now, we’re going to do a 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air comparison on the M2 15-inch and M2 13-inch.
These two laptops are much more similar, but there are still some important differences for those who are deciding between these two. If you’re sure you want the M2 but just haven’t decided on which size you’re going with, here are the key differences.
Price
It comes as no surprise in this 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air point that the 15-inch MacBook Air is more expensive than its 13-inch counterpart. As mentioned, the 15-inch model starts at $1,299 while the 13-inch model begins at $1,099.
That’s not too big of a difference, though I will again recommend that most buyers grab the 13-inch MacBook Air and use the $200 difference to instead pay for extra memory or storage. Your dollar will go further, and you won’t really be missing out on much.
Display
Next up is, of course, the display. The 15-inch MacBook Air has a screen that is two inches larger diagonally than the 13-inch. Additionally, the 15-inch model has more pixels than the 13-inch, which is to be expected.
Other than that, these displays are identical. The 15-inch doesn’t have any additional features that the 13-inch MacBook Air doesn’t have. So if you’re going with an M2 MacBook Air, the only difference between the displays is the size.
GPU
And that brings us to our last point in this 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air comparison, which is the GPU. It starts with an 8-core GPU, whereas the 15-inch MacBook Air starts at 10-cores. So you’ll get slightly improved GPU performance from the 15-inch model.
Fortunately, you can choose to upgrade the 13-inch to have a 10-core GPU. So you aren’t necessarily missing out just because you decide to go with the 13-inch MacBook Air.
15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air: Is the 15-inch model worth it?
And that’s it! That’s everything there is to know in a 15-inch MacBook Air vs 13-inch MacBook Air head-to-head comparison. In short:
- The M2 15-inch MacBook Air is a great bargain, but probably more screen than most users need
- The M2 13-inch MacBook Air has all of the power of the 15-inch in a smaller size that is kinder to your wallet
- The M1 13-inch MacBook is a budget-friendly option for those that want to focus on upgrades, though it’ll probably show its age faster than the M2 models
So, is the 15-inch MacBook Air worth it? For most users, including myself, I would say probably not. There are a few cases, such as having a larger budget or working with media, where having more screen real estate might be a plus. But if that’s not much of a concern for you, and especially if you already have a desktop computer, I’d stick with the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air.
For more insights, news, and guides on all things Apple, check out the rest of the AppleToolBox blog.
See you next time!
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