Apple MacBook Air 15 (Mid-2023) review – the new 15-inch MacBook Air is all you expect it to be

Design and construction

After you take it out of the box, you will notice the incredibly thin profile of the MacBook Air 15. It holds its own against pretty much every other 15-inch notebook that dares to call itself thin.

In terms of numbers, we are talking about a profile of only 11.5mm at a weight of 1.51 kg. Although this is super impressive, we have to say that there is one inherent disadvantage of that – the body is uncharacteristically weak when you try to twist it. Yes, it is still quite stiff, but this is probably the most flex-prone MacBook on the market right now.

Anyways, the aluminum unibody gives the cool feel you expect, while the smooth hinges allow you to open the lid with one hand. Indeed, the bezels around this display are pretty thin, but here comes the surprise we were talking about in the intro – there is a notch. Again.

It houses a Full HD Web camera. While this is not anything novel on the market right now, we have to say that it is considerably better than many other devices that boast a shooter with the same resolution. In addition to that, the laptop sports an Ambient light sensor, which not only lets the display choose the best brightness for the conditions around you but also the best color temperature.

Now, moving to the base, we see nothing but the keyboard and the touchpad. The former has short key travel but clicky feedback, which makes the overall experience pretty comfortable.

Respectively, the touchpad is simply fantastic. It is large, smooth, and responsive. Moreover, you get the so-called Force clicks, which offer more than one “level” of click. Of course, this is simulated by the haptic engine beneath the touchpad, but that doesn’t make the feeling any less magical.

Interestingly, we see no grills anywhere on the laptop. While this is normal for the passive cooling system, it is a bit weird when you consider the fact that there are six speakers inside this machine. This comprises two tweeters and two pairs of force-canceling woofers.

Ports

Here is where the MacBook Air 15 really shows its weakness – there are only the MagSafe charging port and two Thunderbolt connectors on the left, and an Audio jack on the right.

Author: Alex Iliev

Author: eng. Kroum NikolovHead of Engineering at LaptopMedia.com, inventor and innovator with 40+ years of experience in electronics and high technology.

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