A bigger MacBook Air could fix declining Apple laptop sales

Apple's betting on a larger MacBook Air with a 15-inch display to boost declining laptop sales, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The device, which is expected to arrive this year, may come with the same M2 chip included in the MacBook Air model released last year - and not the upgraded M3 chip as previously thought.

As Gurman noted, the 15-inch MacBook Air could have the same 3024 x 1964 resolution as the 14-inch MacBook Pro, albeit with slightly less sharpness because it's stretched to fill more space. It's not yet clear when this laptop will come out right now, but Apple is reportedly testing it alongside macOS 14, which it plans to reveal at the Worldwide Developers Conference this June.

Apple's laptop sales have declined significantly within the past year or so. Mac revenue fell 10 percent last summer and is set to fall even further in the first quarter of 2023, with Apple reporting a sharp 29 percent drop in sales. Earlier this month, an IDC report revealed that Apple's laptop shipments are set to decline by nearly 40 percent in the first quarter of 2023 amid "weak demand, excess inventory and a deteriorating macroeconomic climate".

In addition to this larger MacBook Air, Apple is reportedly testing an array of other Macs to help offset declining sales. This includes a new 13-inch MacBook Air, 24-inch iMac, and 13-inch MacBook Pro, all of which are expected to come with M3 chips based on the new and more efficient 3nm process. Meanwhile, a refreshed 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro are in the pipeline for 2024, according to Gurman.

At Tesla's investor day, Elon Musk's company unveiled its latest Master Plan 3.0, along with details about its plans to grow to "extreme size."