Apple surprises with three new Macs: Air, Studio, Pro

Samuel Buchmann

5/6/2023

Translation: machine translated

At WWDC, Apple unveiled a 15-inch MacBook Air - and also took the opportunity to update the Mac Studio and Mac Pro with M2 chips.

Apple presented three new computers at the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC): A 15-inch MacBook Air copies the specifications of the smaller model. The Mac Studio gets an upgrade to the M2 Max and M2 Ultra chip. The Ultra also finds its way into the new Mac Pro.

15-inch MacBook Air with 18 hours of battery life

The MacBook Air is getting a larger version: the flounder is now also available as a 15-inch model. Apple is adopting the minimalist design of the previous 13-inch version. The new 15-inch Air weighs 1.5 kilograms, is 11.5 millimetres thick and comes in four colours - silver, space grey, midnight and polar star. It has a MagSafe connection for the power supply, two USB-C ports with support for Thunderbolt 3 and a headphone socket. The 15-inch version does not have a fan either.

The most important thing about the new MacBook Air is its larger display. The diagonal is 15.3 inches, the resolution 2880 × 1864 pixels. This means the same pixel density as the 13-inch model, namely 224 pixels per inch (ppi). The brightness is also the same at 500 nits. There is a 1080p webcam at the top centre.

Apple is saving a new chip for future versions. Inside the 15-inch MacBook Air is the familiar M2 chip with 8 CPU cores and up to 10 GPU cores. The choice of RAM ranges from 8 to 24 gigabytes (GB) and the SSD from 256 gigabytes to 2 terabytes. Apple promises a battery life of up to 18 hours when playing films. This is also identical to the smaller MacBook Air.

The official retail price of the 15-inch MacBook Air starts at 1399 francs or 1599 euros, which is 100 more than the 13-inch model with the same performance cost at launch. Apple is lowering its price by 100 francs or euros, so that the cheapest version of the 13-inch MacBook Air now starts at 1199 francs or 1299 euros.

With more RAM and storage space, the price rises quickly as usual with Apple. With 512 GB SSD, the laptop already costs 1619 francs or 1829 euros. Nevertheless, the large Air should be a good option for anyone who wants a large display but doesn't need the performance of the expensive MacBook Pro. Its 16-inch version was previously the only Apple laptop with a large screen.

Mac Studio gets an upgrade to M2

The Mac Studio was the last computer with the latest generation of chips. Now it is getting an update to M2 Max and M2 Ultra. The latter is completely new. The M2 Max is already familiar from the MacBook Pro. It offers 12 CPU cores, up to 38 GPU cores and up to 96 GB of unified memory (this is what Apple calls the RAM, which is also video memory). Tests will show whether the chip runs faster in the Mac Studio than in the MacBook Pro - although the chips have to clock down very late, at least in the 16-inch version.

The better cooling of the Mac Studio will probably be more important with the M2 Ultra chip. This consists of two combined M2 Max. Accordingly, the specifications are doubled: 24 CPU cores, up to 76 GPU cores and up to 192 GB RAM. The chip will probably only be utilised by professional video editors or graphic designers. They should also be pleased about the update to the HDMI port. It is now version 2.1 and therefore supports higher resolutions and frame rates.

The new Mac Studio with M2 Max chip starts at 2099 francs or 2399 euros, with M2 Ultra at 4199 francs.

Mac Pro: Mac Studio with PCI-E slots

The Mac Pro had to wait a long time for its update with M-Chips. Now the time has come: Apple is giving it the fastest Apple Silicon chip currently available, namely the M2 Ultra. The difference to the Mac Studio is small at first glance - the performance should be identical. It was not for nothing that Apple compared the new Mac Pro with the long outdated Intel model during the keynote.

The only advantage of the Pro over the Studio are six PCI Express Gen 4 slots, in which professionals can install special cards that they absolutely need. It also comes with two more Thunderbolt ports on the back of the housing. This looks the same as the old Intel model. The Mac Pro will cost 7199 francs or 8299 euros at launch in the version with M2 Ultra with 60 Core GPU, 64 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD. That's a whopping 3600 francs or 3500 euros more than the Mac Studio with the same specifications.

The new MacBook Air and Mac Studio can be pre-ordered here now and will be available from 13 June:

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Samuel Buchmann

Senior Editor

Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.ch

My fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.