MacBook Air 15-inch: Apple just announced its biggest Air yet

At Apple’s WWDC keynote, the company unveiled a new 15-inch version of its popular MacBook Air laptop. The new 15-inch version joins the current 13-inch Air, and Apple’s own M-series chips power both.

This wouldn’t be the first time the MacBook Air has come with a different screen size. From 2010 to 2016, Apple offered the 11-inch MacBook Air. With the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops, Apple now offers laptops with 13-, 14-, 15-, and 16-inch screens. Add to the lineup the iPad Pro, and you’ve got a laptop size for just about anyone.

Starting at $1,299, the new MacBook Air 15 is the world’s thinnest 15-inch laptop at 11.5 millimeters thick and weighs just 3.3 pounds. It has an Apple M2 chip (octa-core processor, 10-core GPU), a 15.3-inch display with a maximum brightness of 500 nits, up to 24GB of memory and up to 2TB of storage space. The 13-inch M2 MacBook Air remains in the lineup for $100 less at $1,099, and the M1 MacBook Air retains its entry-level position at $999. The MacBook Air is now available for pre-order and is expected to start shipping next week.

Watch this: Apple introduces 15-inch MacBook Air for $1,300

03:25 a.m

The M2 MacBook Air 15-inch also features a fanless design, so it’ll stay quiet in class, in meetings, or when you’re on FaceTime or Zoom calls. A 1080p webcam and three microphones will also improve the overall quality of video calls. The cabinet also features six power-cancelling woofers for more immersive surround sound.

In its MacBook Air 15 announcement, Apple said the new Air is 12 times faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Air and is capable of up to 18 hours of battery life. This is not surprising, given that Apple’s MacBooks continue to have longest battery life of all the laptops we’ve tested.

This is a developing story. See CNET’s full coverage of WWDC 2023.