Apple announces the 15-inch MacBook Air, starting at $1,299

Apple today expanded its MacBook Air lineup with a new 15-inch model, starting at $1,299. The larger MacBook Air is similar to the redesigned 13-inch MacBook Air from last year, moving away from the Air’s iconic wedge design to a squared-off profile.

The MacBook Air sports a Liquid Retina Display in a 15.3-inch LED-backlight panel. The resolution is 2880×1864 at 224 pixels per inch that shines at 500 nits of peak brightness. Of course, it comes with a notch that houses a 1080p FaceTime HD camera. The thickness measures at 11.5mm and weighs 3.3 pounds in its fanless design.

Powered by Apple’s year-old M2 chip, it has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a headphone jack, and MagSafe charging port. Apple says it is up to 12x faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Air, and offers up to 18 hours of battery life. The memory and storage configurations can expand up to 24GB and 2TB, respectively.

The 15-inch MacBook Pro comes in the same four finishes: Midnight, Space Gray, Starlight, and Silver. Preorders are open now, with in-store availability beginning next week. Apple has also lowered the price of the 13-inch MacBook Air down to $1,099, and the M1 model to $999.