Apple listened to its customer base and provided them with the 15-inch MacBook Air, which is pretty much an identical copy of the 13-inch version, but as far as demand goes, a new report claims that people are just not interested in the portable Mac. There are several reasons why we believe that this is the case, which we have discussed here.
Shipments of the 15-inch MacBook Air in July were 50 percent less than previously anticipated
A paywalled report on DigiTimes states that according to Apple’s supply chain, demand for the larger 15-inch MacBook Air is just not there. The exact figure was not mentioned in the report, but the following is stated:
“According to Apple’s supply chain, the 15-inch MacBook Air, announced during June’s WWDC, reportedly didn't meet customer demand expectations. There are even calls for the supply chain to put shipments on hold.”
Additional information spotted by MacRumors claims that the 15-inch MacBook Air’s shipments for the month of July were 50 percent lower than originally estimated, which is why Apple’s suppliers have reportedly cut down on production. The bigger MacBook Air was unveiled during the technology giant’s WWDC 2023 keynote, and while many were expecting the machine to feature the company’s cutting-edge 3nm M3 SoC, it featured the same M2 as the 13-inch MacBook Air, so the differentiation factor was already absent as far as varying chipsets go.
Also, given the current global economic landscape, where consumers have been forced to cut expenses as they combat inflation, their savings may not allow them to pursue a MacBook Air purchase. Furthermore, the base configuration that Apple sells on its online store starts at $1,299, and while that specific model appears to be price-competitive when compared to other Windows 11 laptops, it only features 8GB of unified RAM and 256GB of internal storage that is not upgradeable and will quickly get used up.
To get a worthy portable Mac upgrade, it can cost consumers upwards of $1,999 to get a MacBook Air with decent specifications, and that is a budget that many may not entertain at this time. There is also the possibility that many people are skipping an upgrade right now as they are hoping that new Macs are introduced later in the year featuring’s Apple next-generation M3, which will deliver more performance and greater power efficiency. Only time will tell how well this particular model sells.
News Source: DigiTimes
