If you’ve been lamenting the loss of the 15-inch MacBook Pro in 2019, there is some good news on the horizon. According to a new rumor, Apple will be bringing back the classic screen size in 2023.
Except it won’t be in the MacBook Pro. According to Display Supply Chain Consultants’ Quarterly Advanced IT Display Shipment and Technology report, Apple is working on a larger MacBook Air, which is on track for release in 2023. The report follows a similar rumor by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman more than a year ago.
DSCC CEO Ross Young, who has an extremely accurate track record with display predictions, told 9to5Mac that the new 15-inch model will be a variant of the MacBook Air that won’t replace the current model. It’s not clear what processor the new model will have, but based on Apple’s silicon cadence, it will likely have an M2 chip.
Ming-Chi Kuo followed up the DSCC report with a tweet of his own that added a few more details, most notably that the machine might not use the MacBook Air name. He also predicts the laptop will likely launch early in 2023 and may retain the same 30W power adapter. Apple last sold a plain MacBook from 2015-to 2019.
Apple is expected to release a redesigned Mac Book Air with an M2 processor later this year. Ross doesn’t dispute that report, though he says Apple is planning to increase the display to something slightly larger though still smaller than the 14-inch MacBook Pro.
Steve Jobs introduced the 15-inch Titanium PowerBook as a One More Thing announcement at Macworld San Francisco in January 2001 and a version of it remained in the lineup until the 16-inch MacBook Pro replaced it in late 2019. Apple currently makes 13.3-, 14.2-, and 16.2-inch laptops.
Update 3/25: Added a rumor from Ming-Chi Kuo.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.