MacBook Air 15-inch Review: Bigger is Better

Having used a 13-inch MacBook Pro for work then switching to a 13-inch HUAWEI Matebook X Pro to return to Windows, I can say unequivocally that the biggest factor in influencing my decision to use a laptop is its form factor, particularly, its size.

If all performance variables remain the same, I’d choose the bigger form factor all the time and that’s why the MacBook Air 15-inch is the best laptop I’ve used in a long time.

Gushing aside, is it actually any good?

MacBook Air Exterior

The configuration we got was in Starlight colour with an M2 chip, 512GB storage, and 16GB RAM for a cool RM7,799. It has a MagSafe 3 charging port that people love and two Thunderbolt USB 4 ports.

For someone who interviews a lot of people over Microsoft Teams (yuck), the headlining feature for me was the 1080p webcam that finally arrives on the MacBook Air. Having used the 720p cameras of the two aforementioned laptops, I can say unequivocally that the 1080p webcam here is a step up.

You no longer look like a cave troll when there isn’t sufficient light in the room and I find I don’t have to turn on all the lights in a room to look halfway decent.

The 15-inch screen has the same resolution as its 13-inch sibling which is to say, it’s good, but not great. The bezels are small and I hardly realise that there’s a notch in the middle of the screen.

It isn’t exactly heavy, but picking up the 15-inch isn’t as easy as the 13-inch. The balance of the large screen is tricky, but once you chuck it in a bag you won’t feel the weight.

Lastly, the slight gold-ish colour of Starlight is hard to detect under most light conditions, but once the light hits it just right, it’s truly chef’s kiss. It doesn’t absorb oil from your fingers as aggressively like the Midnight colour, but the keyboard keys are basically sponges for the oil on your finger tips.

Overall, from the outside, the MacBook Air 15 is a good looking device in that understated way Apple pulls off so well.

Daily work use

The difference when jumping from an Intel-based computer to the M2 ARM-based MBA is significant, particularly in battery life. The on-the-box claim is 18 hours for the 15-inch and I find that I do get through 2 work days worth of battery before having to charge.

Compared to my Intel-based 2020 MacBook Pro 13-inch, that machine gives me about 6 to 8 hours, enough for one work day, but I’ll still charge it every day. The Windows computer I have lasts about 3 – 5 hours nowadays and I have to bring my charger with me all the time.

The 15-inch also almost never gets hot, which is good because it doesn’t have a fan. Again, compared to my Intel benchmarks, the MBP’s fan kicks up whenever I watch YouTube videos on Chrome and the Mate X Pro heats up fast with heavy tasks like video editing or gaming.

Perhaps the best thing about the extra real estate that the 15-inch provides are the improved ergonomics. Typing is just a joy with enough key travel and satisfying clicking.

With the 13-inch, I always felt like it needed an external keyboard, but I can rest my palms comfortably with the 15-inch and type for long periods without discomfort (this kind of review typically has me sitting on a chair for at least 3 hours, typing, researching, deleting, editing, typing again, and watching another YouTube video).

Another thing I appreciate is how quickly it wakes up from sleep with the TouchID. There’s no lag between the screen waking up, so I pretty much use it like a phone. Sometimes if I receive a text, I find it faster to whip out the computer to reply than to type on my phone.

Gaming on a MacBook Air

That’s right, for the first time ever, you can put gaming and MacBook Air next to each other in a sentence without rolling your eyes.

I almost immediately installed Resident Evil: Village when I got the machine and to my surprise it ran without a hitch. Just like all things Apple, everything just works. I didn’t fiddle with the settings and just started playing as if this was a console.

Granted, the graphics look nothing like the PS5, but it’s decent for a chip that doesn’t have a graphics card. I also tried Psychonauts 2, a platformer with zany graphics that had an open world and was less demanding and found that there were hardly any load times or hiccups.

Amazingly, after an hour of gaming, the laptop did not get hot, not in the least. I even achieved this in my hot living room without the air conditioning on while it was completely on battery.

This last point really blew my mind. The games ran smoothly on just the battery and I found no noticeable difference. People like to poke fun at Apple for being wishy-washy with its commitment to gaming, but with the M2 chips and above, it feels like for the first time, gaming on a Mac might become a thing.

I also tried various emulation software for consoles (totally legally) and found that it can handle almost all of them without a problem.

Who should buy this laptop?

At RM6,199 for the base 15-inch model, the MacBook Air 15-inch isn’t cheap. That said, its closest competitor, the premium Dell XPS 15 costs RM8,199.

If you’re choosing between the 13-inch and the 15-inch MacBook Air, the question comes down to simply portability and what you’re willing to sacrifice in terms of screen real estate. Once you go 15-inches, it’s hard to go back to 13. Working, gaming, and media are all more enjoyable on a big screen.

The base MacBook Air 13-inch with M2 is RM5,199 so you’ll have to weigh that extra RM1,000 on your own. I’d wholeheartedly say that the extra RM1,000 is worth it since you’ll be looking at this thing all the time and typing on it.

There are no gains on battery life for the bigger machine, so you’re really paying for that big screen and overall ergonomics. Students looking for a partner to get you through college and university (and maybe a Masters) can safely look at the 15-inch.

Young creatives will also appreciate this machine because it does most things well and quickly. Coders, 3D artists, engineers, and other professionals who need a graphics card or more cores should look elsewhere though, maybe at the new M3 line-up of MacBook Pros.

But for everyone else, the average consumer looking for a laptop, a no fuss buyer who wants a computer to handle most things (and handle them for at least the next 5 years), the MacBook Air 15-inch should be the default pick.

Visit apple.com/my/mac to browse a Mac and prepare to move some money from your accounts in the Cayman Islands to get yourself one of the best computers money can buy.