Why the Mac, not Apple Vision Pro, was the real hero of WWDC

Apple's Mac announcements were huge news.

- JASON SNELL

I get it. You're excited and/or angry about the $3,500 headset Apple might sell you next year if you're in the right country. It's worth getting excited about (fave.co/3NqvgpK). But in terms of realworld, right-now impact, the surprise winner of the Worldwide Developers Conference 2023 keynote in early June was...wait for it...the Mac!

I would never have imagined it, but it's true: Apple's Mac announcements were huge news, despite being overshadowed by shiny future products and platforms that won't let anyone do anything until 2024.

MACBOOK AIR +2

While I'm acting all contrarian, let me double down. The most important Mac announcement wasn't the upgraded Mac Studio (fave.co/46dBzpf) or the Mac Pro (fave.co/3PsFA2Z), the final piece of the Apple silicon puzzle. It was the humble MacBook Air (fave.co/3Jtx9AW).

As Apple enjoys pointing out, the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air (fave.co/3zbn711) is a hit. Apple says it's the best-selling laptop around, and even if you accept that Apple's competitors are selling 30 different models while Apple sells only a handful, it's still a real accomplishment. The MacBook Air's combination of power and affordability is pretty much unmatched.

This leads us to Apple's biggest laptop weakness, at least until this June's announcements: If you wanted a larger screen than that 13-inch display, you had to pay $800 more for the 14-inch MacBook Pro. And if you wanted an appreciably larger display, you had to pay $1,300 more for the 16-inch MacBook Pro (fave.co/3ETaZ8Q). The MacBook Pro is an incredibly powerful computer with a best-in-the-world display, but even its dedicated fans would probably admit that buying one is overkill if all you really want is a slightly bigger display.