Technologies

Apple MacBook Air 15-Inch Review: The Best Portable Big Display Choice

You don’t need a Pro to get a larger screen size. The Air 15 is the more affordable option you should go for.

Apple MacBook Air (15-inch)

$1,299 at Best Buy

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Like

Big 15.3-inch screen size
M2 processor still feels fast
Costs far less than the Pro laptops

Don’t like

Very few ports for its size
No performance boost from the 2022 13-inch Air

Hello, big screen. When I opened the new MacBook Air 15-inch for the first time, it felt weirdly large. I recently bought the MacBook Air 13-inch M2 model, CNET’s pick for the best laptop overall, and I love it. It’s my do-everything computer, and it has the speed and battery life to handle whatever I take on.

No, I don’t need a MacBook Pro, and you probably don’t either. Apple’s M2 processor in the Air already exceeds the requirements of all but the most serious creative pros. And for the first time it’s now available in a roomy 15-inch laptop.

Watch this: 15-Inch MacBook Air Review: Way Cheaper Than a Pro

06:34

Putting a larger screen on the thinner, lighter and more affordable Air line is a no-brainer. Apple does this with iPhones, iPads and even to some extent the Apple Watch. It’s the same proposition here: pay a little more, get a bigger screen.

What the 15-inch Air doesn’t do is push the envelope further. A year after the M2 13-inch model, this is basically the same computer with a few tweaks. There’s a default 10-core GPU on the M2, which is an upgrade on the 13-inch version. There are better speakers (or at least more of them). And of course, more screen space and pixels.

The 15-inch MacBook Air — The MacBook Air 15-inch offers a big-screen Mac laptop that isn’t Pro-priced.

Scott Stein/CNET

But the screen tech is the same (good, but not mini-LED like the Pro models), configurations are largely similar, and most notably, there are no extra ports on the Air’s larger body. That’s the biggest bummer here: two Thunderbolt USB-C type ports, a MagSafe charger and a headphone jack feels even more minimal on this long-edged machine. Why not one more port on the other side, at least? Or two?

The 15-inch Air starts at $1,299 compared with $1,099 for the 13-inch; a $200 uptick is exactly the price bump I’d expect. This whole package is way, way less expensive than the MacBook Pro equivalents. If I were buying a larger-screened Mac laptop, I’d start here first every time. But serious 4K video editors and graphics pros will likely find the Pro worth it if they can afford it.

I wrote this review on the 15-inch Air. I appreciate the extra screen space, and it’s great to have on my desk. But I don’t regret getting the 13-inch version, either.

15-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air laptops side by side — The Air 15 (left) next to the Air 13. Definitely bigger, but the same thickness.

Scott Stein/CNET

Design: Thin and big

This 15-inch Air feels notably thin as you use it, just because it’s a normal MacBook Air thinness over a larger footprint. But it almost makes that display seem more surprising. It’s a big thing when it sits on my lap, and I’m not used to an Air having this width.

Owners of a 16-inch MacBook Pro will just shrug, but using it on my lap does give me a «I’m on a big laptop» vibe. Except, of course, for it being silent because of its fanless design, and basically heat-free. It’s been as quiet as my 13-inch version, and I love that I don’t have to panic about venting airflows or a hot lap.

Apple kept a camera notch on the display, just like the 13-inch M2 Air. I’m used to it. It’s fine. Apple puts its top menu bar around the notch and it kind of makes the display feel normal. I wish the notch weren’t quite so big as it is, especially since, unlike the iPhone Pros, there’s no Face ID camera, but so be it.

Ports on the 15-inch MacBook Air — These are the only ports you get, other than a headphone jack. Same as on the 13-inch model.

Scott Stein/CNET

Speakers are hidden, as opposed to lining the sides of the keyboard. That leaves a lot of extra room around the keyboard area, and below Apple has put a positively gigantic trackpad that’s as good as all the other models.

Touch ID is on the keyboard, and all the ports (MagSafe, and two Thunderbolt ports) line the left edge. The right edge has a headphone jack. But why not more ports? I’d expect at least one more on a 15-inch laptop, and it feels awfully ridiculous to have so few. At least offer a port upgrade option.

Screen and audio? More than good enough

The 15.3-inch display isn’t mini-LED like the Pro models, but really, I’m fine with how good it is. Apple’s Liquid Retina screens are still colorful and crisp and bright (and have ambient light color adjustment with True Tone), but they probably won’t blow you away. The new speaker upgrade on the 15-inch model is a punchier bass boost experience than the 13-inch model and delivers better audio overall, if you care about that.

A few years ago I’d have called this whole thing a Pro experience, so to me this is a pretty nice Air package overall.

Price equation: Worth getting the 15 if you’re spending up for extras

It turns out that the step-up 8GB RAM/512GB storage version of the 15-inch Air is $1,499, while the 13-inch Air’s equivalent is $1,399. Only spending an extra $100 for the larger screen seems like a logical bet for anyone wanting more room to work or something easier on the eyes.

The price gap is $200 for the base model, which also isn’t huge, but I do prefer the 13-inch Air for its portability. I love its compact lap feel and good-enough screen size for my needs. But, putting it next to the 15-inch Air, it’s clear that you can put apps side-by-side more easily on the 15-inch model. My wife looked at both on a table and said she’d prefer the 15 if she were at a desk a lot doing work.

But either way, these laptops are over $1,000 less than the 16-inch-screen MacBook Pro. These are the easiest way to get a great larger-screened MacBook now, and they’re worth it. One note: the 15 now has a year-old M2 processor. Apple’s M2 was only a moderate increase in performance over the breakthrough advance of the M1 before it when it arrived last summer. Will a future M3 take another leap? Maybe you shouldn’t worry. Apple’s speed gains on the M-series chips over the Intel models have been so good that they still feel fantastic.

MacBook Air 15 or 13? Take your pick, either’s fine. At this point in 2023, these MacBook Airs feel like the safest bet in Apple’s laptop lineup.

Technologies

Anthropic Launched New Claude 4 Gen AI Models. Here’s What They Do

The models can now use tools like web searches during extended reasoning tasks.

The latest versions of Anthropic’s Claude generative AI models made their debut Thursday, including a heavier-duty model built specifically for coding and complex tasks.

Anthropic launched the new Claude 4 Opus and Claude 4 Sonnet models during its Code with Claude developer conference, and executives said the new tools mark a significant step forward in terms of reasoning and deep thinking skills.

The company launched the prior model, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, in February. Since then, competing AI developers have also upped their game. OpenAI released GPT-4.1 in April, with an emphasis on an expanded context window, along with the new o3 reasoning model family. Google followed in early May with an updated version of Gemini 2.5 Pro that it said is better at coding.

Claude 4 Opus is a larger, more resource-intensive model built to handle particularly difficult challenges. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said test users have seen it quickly handle tasks that might have taken a person several hours to complete.

«In many ways, as we’re often finding with large models, the benchmarks don’t fully do justice to it,» he said during the keynote event.

Claude 4 Sonnet is a leaner model, with improvements built on Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet model. The 3.7 model often had problems with overeagerness and sometimes did more than the person asked it to do, Amodei said. While it’s a less resource-intensive model, it still performs well, he said.

«It actually does just as well as Opus on some of the coding benchmarks, but I think it’s leaner and more narrowly focused,» Amodei said.

Anthropic said the models have a new capability, still being beta tested, in which they can use tools like web searches while engaged in extended reasoning. The models can alternate between reasoning and using tools to get better responses to complex queries.

The models both offer near-instant response modes and extended thinking modes.

All of the paid plans offer both Opus and Sonnet models, while the free plan just has the Sonnet model.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 23, #446

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 446 for May 23.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle has a humorous title, and if you understand the reference, you’ll know what words to look for. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: The musical fruit

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: There are magical ones in fairy tales.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

REEK, GADS, PLAY, PLAYS, PITA, DIAL, FALL, PALL, PALLS, FALLS, GENIE, BEEN, LACK, DENY, NILL.

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

FAVA, NAVY, BLACK, GREEN, PINTO, KIDNEY, CANNELLINI

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is BEANSALAD. To find it, start with the B that’s three letters to the right on the top row, and wind down.

Technologies

The Marvel Rivals Auto Battler Is a Natural Evolution of Hero Shooters

Move over Teamfight Tactics. Marvel Rivals’ new limited-time mode is the perfect addition to the auto battler genre.

Marvel Rivals has been a breath of fresh air for the hero shooter genre, combining popular comic book characters and chaotic third-person shooter action to create epic team fights that keep me coming back for more.

Fast-paced combat is the name of the game in Marvel Rivals, which is why it could come across as a confusing development that the next limited-time mode launching in Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 is a form of auto battler (also frequently referred to as auto chess).

Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol is an experimental mode launching on June 6, where six players will draft teams of heroes to go head to head with their opponents’ drafts. You’ll be able to support your AI teams while the new hero Ultron (also debuting in season 2.5) is chipping in extra healing and damage to the fight.

Aside from the fact that it’ll be cool to stage your own version of Marvel Comics’ Secret Wars, is the decision to add an auto battler to Marvel Rivals (which has previously released limited-time modes that mostly tracked with the shooter’s core gameplay loop) really all that far out of left field? I don’t think so.

Why is Marvel Rivals getting an auto battler mode?

The new mode is similar to multiplayer online battle arena spinoffs such as Dota Auto Chess and League of Legends’ Teamfight Tactics. I think drawing the line from a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) to auto battler is easy for most people.

MOBAs are strategy games first and foremost, where players pick and choose items to craft builds that will help them win their lane, while also contributing to big team fights. Players need to work together to overwhelm the other team and push them back to their spawn.

MOBAs and auto battlers are both about team synergy, positioning and picking the right upgrades, so it’s not surprising to people when characters from a game in one of these genres appear in another.

There are many people that wouldn’t associate hero shooters with MOBAs in the slightest. Games like Marvel Rivals have a high ceiling for very different mechanical skills — especially aiming. But hero shooters are also complex strategy games that share many of the same fundamentals as a MOBA.

Putting together a viable team composition with strong character is the most important part of a hero shooter — and Marvel Rivals takes this to another level with the strongest team-up abilities that require multiple heroes to activate.

An auto battler will allow people to experiment team compositions that don’t often get played in real Marvel Rivals’ matches, and could even help the community find new experimental hero combinations that have the potential to shake up common ways people play the game.

In Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol, as the auto battler mode is called, players will be able to put together balanced teams, lock in the risky GATOR strategy (which is nightmarishly similar to Overwatch’s GOATS meta) or fall back on triple support with brand new upgrades that change how the game works.

Absurd power scaling might look like Overwatch 2’s Stadium mode

There’s a clear rivalry between Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals, since they’re the two biggest hero shooters on the market right now. Blizzard’s hero shooter is entering its ninth year of life with flagging interest, but its solid fundamentals have been a high bar for Marvel Rivals to hurdle.

Both games have been trying out bold new things — Overwatch 2 recently shipped the MOBA-like Stadium mode that lets players augment popular abilities and take powerful passives as they fight in a flurry of different objectives in a best of seven gauntlet.

Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol in some ways feels like NetEase’s response to Blizzard’s big success with Stadium mode. You might not have quite as much influence on the outcome of each battle, but this serves as a proof of concept for Marvel Rivals’ hero power scaling.

This new mode also lets players pick passive abilities that buff certain roles as well as more powerful hero-specific upgrades that drastically alter the course of a fight, so the snowballing power of a Stadium match is very much emulated here.

In the Season 2.5 developer vision video, we got a look at what some of the upgrades will look like.

Venom can grow into a hulking monster after devouring enemies with his ultimate ability, Hela cuts a swath through the playing field with a field of flying daggers, Psylocke zips around her ultimate ability’s area of effect at twice her normal speed and Namor summons many more squid turrets to attack his enemies.

It’s safe to assume that every character in the game will have some kind of special power unlocked in the later rounds of an Ultron’s Battle Matrix Protocol match. This definitely isn’t NetEase reheating Blizzard’s nachos, but I do think it’s indicative of a broader shift toward making hero shooters feel a little bit more chaotic and unrestrained.

Game balance is important, but one of the biggest draws of this genre is that each character is a unique power fantasy you can’t find elsewhere. I can’t imagine such in-depth upgrades were designed for a one-and-done mode, so it’ll be interesting to see where they might show up next.