Despite the many leaks and rumors about the 15.5-inch MacBook Air, there’s been no definite word on its processor. However, details of an unreleased MacBook with a large display have surfaced, and these indicate the chip will likely be an Apple M2 rather than an as-yet-unreleased M3.
The machine is supposedly running macOS 14, which won’t be announced for months.
Super-size MacBook Air likely to use M2 processor
In its many years in Apple’s product lineup, the the MacBook Air has never had a screen larger than 13.6 inches. According to a sizable collection of leaks, that’s about the change, though. A model with a display of at least 15 inches and possibly 15.5 inches is expected in the coming months.
To add fuel to the fire, Bloomberg reported Friday that a notebook that matches the earlier leaks is testing third-party applications from the App Store. Logs resulting from these tests allowed some tentative specs of the notebook to come to light.
The device is supposedly code named Mac 15,3 and has “processor specifications similar to current models but with a larger, higher-resolution display,” according to Bloomberg.
The logs indicate the chip has the same number of CPU and GPU cores as the Apple M2. This fits with previous reports that the super-size MacBook Air will use the same M2 as the current 13.6-inch Air.
This isn’t a settled question: another unconfirmed report said the 2023 MacBook Air will use an M3, a chip Apple has yet to announce. The newer chip would give the laptop a noticeable speed boost.
The 2022 models featured a significant redesign, with an ultra-slim profile. The 15-inch version will apparently use the same general design, just enlarged to make room for additional screen real estate.
Welcome macOS 14
The notebook that’s the subject of the logs leaked to Bloomberg runs macOS 14, as noted, although the latest version publicly available is macOS 13.3.1.
macOS 14 will almost certainly be a major topic at WWDC23 in June, but it’s not expected to reach regular users until early fall. It’s possible the same will be true for the 15-inch MacBook Air.
Just as the leaks have been unable to pin down a processor, a release date for the product is equally hazy. It could be late spring, or at WWDC, or even later.
