APPLE

MacBook Air 15'' will have M2 chip, according to DigiTimes publication

Apple's alleged 15-inch MacBook Air will be equipped with the M2 chip, according to Taiwanese supply chain publication DigiTimes. The report states that the laptop will launch in the second quarter of 2023, which runs from April to June.

"Industry sources say the 15-inch MacBook Air began mass production after Lunar New Year and is expected to ship in the second quarter," the report reads.

Apple already updated the 13-inch MacBook Air with the M2 chip in July 2022. The chip is manufactured based on TSMC's second-generation 5nm process and is considered by some industry watchers to be a stopgap until the chip M3 based on 3nm is ready. TSMC started mass production of 3nm chips in December. Report sources believe that Apple could update the MacBook Air again with the M3 chip in the second half of 2023. It would be unusual for Apple to update the MacBook Air twice in such a short period of time, but it is certainly possible. The sources said that the latest 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models were originally supposed to be equipped with 3nm chips, but the M2 Pro and M2 Max are still 5nm chips.

This information comes just one day after display industry analyst Ross Young said Apple's supply chain started production of display panels for a 15-inch MacBook Air this month. Young estimated that the new MacBook Air will ship in "early April," which would be early in the Q2 period reported today.

A new 15-inch screen size would be the biggest ever for the MacBook Air. The laptop has been offered in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes over the years.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said last year that a new 15-inch MacBook with M2 and M2 Pro chip options would be released in Q2 2023 or later. Kuo said that this MacBook may not have the Air branding.

mundophone