What’s wrong with the 15-inch MacBook Air. After several months of use, I have questions

Before the New Year holidays, more than 4 months ago, I bought myself a new 15-inch MacBook Air. I chose an almost complete model to increase my productivity. It’s the thinnest and lightest laptop yet, but now with more RAM and storage.

Yes, this is my first custom MacBook, almost in a higher configuration. There is 24 GB of the notorious combined memory, as well as 1 TB of storage. This is also a model on the M2 chipset, but this is what personally doesn’t bother me very much (I wrote about the purchase here).

Before this, I had a basic MacBook Air on the M1, which once suited absolutely everyone. As a result, it is still used in the family, although its replacement is also possible soon (it was very “tired” from the outside, as I wrote about here).

At first I thought about a MacBook Pro 16″ on an M3 Pro with 38 GB of RAM and 1 TB of disk space, but decided against it because the cost was too high. I don’t regret it, because MacBook Air 15″ Today closes absolutely all manufacturers with smaller dimensions. However, you also brought me to him have questions.

This article collects the negative aspects accepted by international experts if we decide to buy a MacBook Air 15 inches in the near future. At the same time, today it makes no difference which chipset it will work on.

By the way, all the photos in the article were taken on the iPhone 15 Pro Max (we have a review at the link). It’s a good device that, among other things, produces very good results, I’d like to share.

The most controversial thing remains his cutout on the screen.

I would like to use a laptop without a cutout on the screen, but then it makes sense to increase the work space.

From all the photographs used in this article, it is clearly visible that the cutout on the screen itself ultimately decided the victory. I have three reasons for this.

❶ He’s still annoying in appearance. This is the first MacBook I’ve used for a long time with this new notch on the screen – Apple now uses it on all their respective laptops.

When I bought this device, I was sure that such a decision would not bother me at all. But it turned out to be wrong. I notice that part of the screen is missing at least several times a day and get irritated.

At the same time, I don’t notice cutouts on the screens of Apple smartphones at all. Perhaps they were executed somehow more effectively.

❷ It interferes with working with the menu bar. I use the Hidden Bar application, which allows me to collapse some of the icons to the left of the clock so that they don’t take up too much space.

However, it doesn’t really save me. When I expand the entire list of the time that is needed, it does not move to the cutout in the screen, and it is not transferred to its “back” side. As a result, some of the icons are supported.

When you open the lace, the problem disappears by itself.

❸ The camera in it is still very so-so. It is quite possible that one could come to terms with the stupidity of the cutout if it had a normal camera. But no.

She cannot recognize the owner by the face, even for not the most serious confirmation of any confidentiality actions.

Plus, as personal experience shows, she doesn’t shoot very well. Recently I needed to record my own welcome video; my regular smartphone broke down after being dropped. In the end, I had to use the camera in the laptop, and it coped with the antivirus.

In short, I recommend closing the notch, it is unnecessary.

How to remove the cutout: System settings → Displays → Show all resolutions → select smaller height (more details here).

In the end, I only use MagSafe magnetic charging at home.

Magnetic charging makes the idea impossible, leaving only one Type-C cable for everything at once.

After purchasing the iPhone 15 Pro Max (I talked about my first impressions of it here), I decided to defeat Lightning and reduce the number of gadgets in my personal use as much as possible.

As a result, I changed the first generation AirPods Pro to the second generation AirPods Pro with Type-C. I simply abandoned everything else that used Lightning and sold it for unkindness (except for the old iPhone, there was also, for example, an iPad).

While I was using the MacBook Air on the M1, the combination turned out to be close to ideal. But after switching to the MacBook Air, the M2 was on the verge of collapse… The culprit was the third generation MagSafe magnetic charging port, which Apple decided to return to.

❶ On the one sideThe thing seems to be not the most useless.

The cable is also very magnetized to it, and if you catch it, it will simply bounce off and not pull the entire laptop onto the floor.

Plus, there is a light indicator on the “cord”, it makes it clear whether the laptop is charging (lights green) or is still in the process (lights orange).

And the cable itself with cable braid looks very good.

❷ On the other sidefor obvious reasons, it will not be possible to use this cable with other devices that have Type-C, even if you really want to.

So to avoid having to carry extra cables in your backpack, this was a win for us. I took the original two-meter alternative from Apple Type-C → Type-C.

The MagSafe port has only been used for a while at home. Most often, I need this simply so that I don’t have to dig around in my backpack once again looking for a cable.

The power of the 35 W power supply is not enough for fast charging

Ideal power supply for iPhone and AirPods, but not for fast charging a large MacBook Air.

Continuing the topic of charging, I hasten to note that the 15-inch MacBook Air models, which are equipped with a 35 W power supply with two Type-C ports, are best observed. They are so-so suitable for charging such a laptop.

I recently shared a thread about how great it is that to power the MacBook Air, due to its high energy efficiency, a very weak power supply is enough (you can read it here). In no case do I want to renege on my words. Everything written is 100% true.

However, MacBook Air 15 inches charges with this thing for quite a long time. It does not support long-term charging, which is sometimes very frustrating when you need to quickly replenish your energy supply and go somewhere.

Moreover, when purchasing, you can choose a model with a 70 W power supply, which will handle this much faster. I think I’ll look for it on sale somewhere separately so that I can leave a second unit with a couple of outputs at home for iPhone and AirPods – it’s ideal for them.

Screen brightness is disappointing when working outdoors

On the left is a 15-inch MacBook Air with a maximum screen brightness of 500 nits, on the right is a 13-inch MacBook Air on the M1 – it has 400 nits.

While I was using the MacBook Air on the M1, as well as other “air” Apple laptops before it, I constantly complained about the low screen brightness.

Still, 400 nits for normal work has always been very insufficient for me personally. This is especially noticeable if you need to do a little work in the car in the summer, sit at a table somewhere in the park to write a few thoughts for your iPhone, or simply have a free table in a coworking space only near the window.

I was sure that 500 nits in a 15-inch MacBook Air would solve the problem 100%. Turned out to be wrong. No, there is definitely enough in the room now. But it’s not enough outside even in cloudy weather.

It got a little warmer, I was just in the park. The client unexpectedly asked to reschedule the call “for now” to show him what we were doing there (we are building a new website). I haven’t sweared so much to myself yet. As they say, you can’t see a thing.

At this point, start arguing that the 14-inch MacBook Pro with 600 nits of screen brightness should be more reliable for all occasions. Yes, and HDR is there. However, 14 inches is noticeably less than 15…

Basic specs are not enough for a large laptop

I continue to be convinced that the choice to use a custom model with a large amount of RAM and permanent memory is very justified.

With the last point of this article I want to scold not my laptop, but Apple itself.

As I wrote earlier, I have almost the maximum custom configuration, which today I’m head over heels in terms of performance. But the other day I had to work on a terminal with 256 GB of disk space and 8 GB of RAM (see Pasha’s analysis of Mac RAM here).

In short, the simplest configuration works so-so. There is not enough RAM even for a large number of tabs in the browser; most applications (web and regular) have slowed down.

A small drive in this case is also used at lower speeds, which also does not negatively affect performance.

The fact is that When looking at a fairly large laptop, the question about volume is surprising. From such a big machine you expect something more, but it can’t give it.

At the same time, the basic MacBook Air on the M1, which I also have on hand, does not give such impressions – it is an ultra-compact computer from which you do not expect anything extraordinary in terms of performance.

Yes, I have 5 questions in total for the 15″ MacBook Air

❶ The screen cutout needs to be selected. For now it can be closed programmatically, but in the future, it seems to me, Apple will physically abandon it.

❷ You can dispense with the standard cable. MagSafe is not taken into account when choosing additional accessories that are used at home, in the office, or always with you. So personally, I prefer Type-C → Type-C.

❸ MacBook power supply is best for iPhone. Charging at 35 W is weak. If you find a laptop on sale with a 70 W adapter included, it’s better to buy it. IMHO.

❹ The brightness is very low for outdoor use. 400 nits were in the MacBook Air on M1 – not enough even for indoors, and 500 nits in the MacBook Air on M2 and M3 – not enough for a conventional park. I want 600 nits, like the MacBook Pro.

❺ It is not advisable to buy a basic MacBook 15″. The minimum configuration that I advise you to pay attention to is 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of internal memory.

In general, the computer is cool, there is nothing to argue about here. However, there are a few minor subtleties that bug me a little. It’s especially strange why Apple presents such “poor” components in the basic versions.

The notch on the screen is also unnecessary. At least it had a decent camera…

📸 All photos in the article: