New 15-inch MacBook Air to hit shelves in 2Q 2023 (opens in new tab)

There is. 15" laptops are the most popular size and what Apple sells in that size bracket is not cheap. It's a pretty gaping hole in their lineup really. A $1300 or $1400 15" MBA would probably sell very well, not because of weight and size but because it's a 15" screen for less than $2500. It makes more sense than the 13" MBP that's barely distinguishable from the MBA.

absolutely. when I worked at bestbuy maybe 5 years ago, there were a lot of people who would have bought a Mac if there were a cheaper 15" option. For many people, especially some older folks, 15" is the minimum.

On the other hand, there were also a few people who paid up for a 15" Pro just for the larger screen.

As a webdev I don’t need beefy gpu and cpu performance has got so good that even smaller one would do. Also 15 and 16 have same resolution so not much difference for dev. I mostly work off a couch so having lighter laptop would be nice. I’m always amazed when I pick up previous gen 15”.

I’ll need to replace my 2015 model soon, and anything smaller than 15” is a downgrade - screen is too small for serious work all day.

The problem is that MacBook Pros has been creeping past into the $2000 range for an entry level configuration.

I think so too. M2 MBAs are priced at $1200 for the base model, which is "low" considering Apple's tendency to overcharge for powerful machines.