Comparison Apple MacBook Air 15 2023 [MQKP3] vs Apple MacBook Air 2022 [MLXX3]

General device type.

In addition to traditional laptops, nowadays you can find varieties such as netbooks, ultrabooks, 2 in 1 tablet laptops and transformers. Here are their main features:

— A laptop. Laptops of a more or less traditional format that do not belong to any of the specific categories described below. The classic, most popular screen size in these models is 15.6 ". 13.3" and 14" laptops are considered compact, laptops with a 17.3" screen are large-format, and larger displays are found in advanced gaming models. At the same time, devices from this category are also very diverse in terms of characteristics and capabilities: they range from “typewriters” designed for education and home tasks, to high-end gaming solutions, and workstations and multimedia complexes.

— Ultrabook. High-end laptops that combine compactness, light weight and advanced features. The diagonal in ultrabooks ranges from 11 "to 14", the thickness of the case does not exceed 21 mm, while the internal equipment usually includes powerful processors, a large amount of RAM, fast drives like SSD and other similar solutions. In addition, many devices from this category are made in a characteristic stylish design and are also designed for...the role of fashion accessories.

— Transformer 360°. Another type of laptop that can turn into a tablet. However, unlike the laptops-tablets described above, in this case, not a removable keyboard is used, but a special swivel connection of the upper and lower blocks. The design of this connection is such that the top of the device can be rotated 360° and placed face up on the keyboard. Thus, the transformer can be converted from a laptop to a tablet without removing the bottom half; this is the fundamental difference between such models and the “2-in-1” described above. This format of work is generally more convenient — no need to look for a place for the removed keyboard, there is no risk of forgetting or losing it; in addition, the mounting design usually allows you to use the device in the format of a “photo frame” — an inclined tablet on a stand without a keyboard. Thus, transformers have become more widespread today than collapsible laptops-tablets. Their disadvantages include the inability to reduce weight by removing the keyboard. The diagonal of such devices can be from 12" to 17".

— 2 in 1 (laptop-tablet). Laptops that can turn into tablets. In such models, the entire “hardware” (or at least its key components) is placed in the upper half, the screen is made touch-sensitive, and the lower half with the keyboard can be completely separated. From traditional tablets, which can also be equipped with keyboards, such devices differ in three main points. The first is more powerful hardware: in particular, most 2-in-1 models carry full-fledged laptop processors (up to and including Core i7), while tablets mainly use CPUs similar to smartphone chips. The second point is a larger screen size, usually 13 – 15". The third caveat is that the keyboard of a laptop-tablet can include not only a set of keys and a spare battery, but also some system components: a discrete graphics card, an additional drive, etc. .
In general, 2-in-1 models are more versatile than traditional laptops; however, nowadays they are much less common than another similar type of laptop — transformers (see below). This is due to the fact that the removable keyboard is not always convenient: when using a device in tablet format, it usually has to be removed; it is not always possible to find a place nearby for the removed keyboard; besides, it can be forgotten or lost through inattention. However, this design also has advantages: for example, if there is enough tablet on the road, there is no need to carry additional cargo in the form of the lower half of the device.

Diagonal size of laptop display.

The larger the screen, the more convenient the laptop for watching high-definition movies, modern games, working with large-format graphic materials, etc. Large screens are especially important for multimedia and gaming models. On the other hand, the diagonal of the display directly affects the size and cost of the entire device. So if portability is key, it makes sense to pay attention to relatively small solutions; especially since most modern laptops have video outputs like HDMI or DisplayPort and allow connection of large-format external monitors.

In light of all this, the actual maximum for laptops these days is 17"(17.3"); however larger devices (18") reappeared at the beginning of 2023. The standard option for general purpose laptops is 15"(15.6"), less often 16", a diagonal of 13"(13.3") or 14" is considered small by the standards of such And smaller screens can be found mainly in specific compact varieties of laptops — ultrabooks, 2 in 1, transformers, netbooks; among such devices there are solutions for 12 ", 11" and even 10" or less.

The resolution of the screen installed in the laptop — that is, the size of the screen in pixels horizontally and vertically.

Higher resolution, on the one hand, gives a sharper, more detailed image; on the other hand, it increases the cost of the laptop. The latter is connected not only with the cost of the displays themselves, but also with the fact that in order to work effectively at high resolutions, you need the appropriate filling (primarily a graphics card). This is especially true in games; so if you are looking for a laptop with a high-resolution screen that can effectively "run" modern games — you should pay attention not only to the characteristics of the display, but also to other data (the type and parameters of the graphics card, test results, the ability to work with certain games — see everything below). On the other hand, if the device is planned to be used for simple tasks such as working with documents, surfing the Internet and watching videos, you can not pay much attention to the “hardware” parameters: anyway, they are selected so that the laptop is guaranteed to be able to cope with such tasks on full resolution of the "native" screen.

As for specific numbers, the resolution options that are relevant today can be divided into 4 groups: HD (720), Full HD (1080), Quad HD and UltraHD 4K. Here is a mor...e detailed description of them:

— HD (720). This category includes all displays that have a vertical size of less than 1080 pixels. The most popular HD resolution in modern laptops is 1366x768; in devices larger than 15.6 ", 1600x900 is also often found. Other values quite exotic and are rarely used. In general, screens of this standard are now typical mainly for entry-level laptops.

— Full HD (1080). Initially, the Full HD standard provides a frame size of 1920x1080, and it is this resolution that is most often used in laptop screens from this category. However, in addition to this, other resolution options are also included in this format, where the vertical size is at least 1080 pixels, but does not reach 1440 pixels. Examples include 1920x1200 and 2560x1080. In general, Full HD displays provide a good balance between cost, image quality and laptop hardware requirements. Because of this, nowadays they are extremely widespread; matrices of this standard can be found even in low-cost devices, although they are mainly used in more advanced technology.

— Quad HD. A transitional option between the popular Full HD 1080 (see above) and the high-end and expensive UltraHD 4K. The vertical size of such screens starts from 1440 pixels and can reach 2000 pixels. Note that QuadHD resolutions are especially popular in Apple laptops; most often, such devices have 2560x1600 screens, although there are other options.

— Ultra HD 4K. The most advanced standard used in modern laptops. The vertical size of such screens is at least 2160 dots (up to 2400 in some configurations); the classic resolution of a modern UltraHD matrix is 3840x2160, but there are other values. Anyway, a 4K display allows for high image quality, however, it costs accordingly — including due to the corresponding requirements for a graphics adapter; in addition, to work with high resolutions, it can be more convenient to connect an external monitor to the laptop. Thus, such screens are used relatively rarely, and mainly among premium laptops.

The capacity of the drive installed in the laptop. If there are several separate drives (for example, HDD + SSD, see "Drive type") — this item indicates the volume of the most capacious drive (in our example — HDD).

A larger drive allows you to store more data, but it also comes at a higher cost. At the same time, it is worth remembering that the price also depends on the type of media: for example, SSDs are much more expensive than hard drives of the same volume. So it is best to directly compare drives of the same type with each other. As for specific volumes, the most modest figures are typical for configurations with pure solid-state memory — SSD of one type or another or eMMC (see "Drive type"): among them you can find solutions for 240 – 360 GB and even 128 GB or less . Hard drive capacity actually starts at 480 – 512 GB ; 1TB storage capacity is average, and the most capacious modern laptops are equipped with storage of 2TB or even more.

Technology for direct wireless communication between various devices, in particular for connecting speakers, headphones, for transferring files, etc. Version plays a key role in Bluettoth's abilities. In modern realities, Bluetooth wireless protocols below revision 4 are no longer relevant. More about them:

— Bluetooth v 4.0. A fundamental update (after version 3.0), which introduced another data transfer format — Bluetooth Low Energy (LE). Bluetooth LE allows you to significantly save energy with such a connection.

— Bluetooth v 4.1. Development and improvement of Bluetooth 4.0. One of the key improvements was the optimization of collaboration with 4G LTE communication modules — so that Bluetooth and LTE do not interfere with each other. In addition, this version has the ability to simultaneously use a Bluetooth device in several roles.

— Bluetooth v 4.2. This version did not introduce fundamental updates, however, it received a number of improvements regarding reliability and noise immunity, as well as improved compatibility with the Internet of Things.

— Bluetooth v 5.0. Version introduced in 2016. The key innovations were the further expansion of the possibilities associated with the Internet of Things. In particular, in the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol (see above), it became possible to double the data transfer rate (up to 2 Mbit / s) at the cost of reducing the range, as well as quadruple the range at the cost of redu...cing the speed; in addition, a number of improvements have been introduced regarding the simultaneous work with numerous connected devices.

— Bluetooth v 5.1. Update of the version described above v 5.0. In addition to general improvements in the quality and reliability of communication, this update has implemented such an interesting feature as determining the direction from which the Bluetooth signal is coming. This makes it possible to determine the location of connected devices with an accuracy of up to a centimeter, which can be useful, for example, when searching for wireless headphones.

— Bluetooth v 5.2. The main innovations in this release are a number of security improvements, additional power optimization in LE mode, and a new audio signal format for synchronizing parallel playback on multiple devices.

The number of speakers installed in the laptop.

Theoretically, one speaker is enough to work with sound, but most entry-level and mid-range models (as well as many premium devices) provide two speakers — for stereo operation, which allows you to achieve some surround sound. And having more than two speakers usually means the laptop has enhanced audio capabilities.

The capacity of the complete laptop battery in watt-hours.

Higher capacity allows the laptop to work longer on a charge, all other things being equal. However, keep in mind that the actual battery life will depend not only on the characteristics of the battery, but also on the power consumption of the laptop itself — and it is determined by both hardware characteristics and installed software. Therefore, only models with similar characteristics can be compared with each other according to this indicator. And if you need a “long-playing” laptop, you should choose it not by battery capacity, but by directly stated operating time.

As for watt hours, this is a less popular unit of capacity than milliamp hours, but more physically correct: it accurately describes the amount of energy stored by a battery. Thanks to this, in terms of capacity in Wh, it is possible to compare batteries with different nominal voltages (whereas this is not allowed for mAh — additional calculations must be carried out using special formulas). At the same time, Wh can be easily converted to mAh if the battery voltage is known: for this, the capacity in Wh must be divided by the voltage and multiplied by 1000.

The presence of a fast charging function in the laptop. Also, the notes to this paragraph may specify the specific possibilities of such charging — for example, "50% in 40 minutes."

The general features of this function are obvious from the name — it significantly reduces the battery charging time compared to the standard procedure. This requires specialized chargers, but such chargers are often supplied with a laptop. And finding a third-party charger is not a problem — just make sure that it supports the same fast charging technology as the device itself (or at least one of the compatible ones).

Detailed information about different fast charging technologies can be found in special sources. Here it is worth touching separately on data on partial charging, which can be given in the notes — like the “50% in 40 minutes” mentioned above. When evaluating these data, note that the battery charging rate is uneven: it is highest at the first percent of the charge, then the process gradually slows down. Two practical implications follow from this. Firstly, information about the partial charge rate is relevant only if the battery is charged from scratch. In our example, this means that from 0 to 50% the battery will really charge in 40 minutes, but for charging, say, from 20 to 70%, it will take a little more time. The second caveat is that the time for a full charge will not be directly proportional to the specified partial c...harge time: again, using our example, "50% in 40 minutes" does not mean "100% in 80 minutes" — the latter will take longer. In fact, such nuances are most often unprincipled, but they can be critical in cases where the charging time is very limited.

The total weight of the laptop — the device itself, without additional accessories (wires and power supply, mice, bags, etc.). For 2 in 1 models (see "Type"), the weight is indicated when assembled, with a keyboard connected.

Nowadays, models weighing less than 1 kg are found even among fairly large devices — 14 – 15 ", not to mention smaller solutions. Laptops weighing 1 – 1.4 kg are also considered very light, 1.4 – 1.7 kg — light, weight from 1.7 to 2.1 kg(more precisely, even up to 2.5 kg) can be called average, up to 3.5 kg — more than average, and a mass of more than 3.5 kg means that this is an advanced gaming or multimedia laptop designed primarily for power, not portability.

It is also worth remembering that when assessing the weight, the diagonal (size) of the device must also be taken into account. For example, 1.7 kg for a 13" laptop is a lot, and a 17" model can be considered very light if its weight does not reach 2.1 kg.