Apple’s 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air have arrived, and beyond the update to theM4 chip, the tech giant hasn’t changed much about its popular ultra-light laptop – but, on the plus side, the smallerMacBook Airis $100 cheaper now.
Apple says the M4 chip is up to two times faster than the MacBook Air with an M1 processor. It’s likely that, similar to other devices, the power increase the M4 MacBook Air offers over its M3 counterpart is relatively minimal, so it’s not surprising the company istouting gains over the M3.
The M4 MacBook Air starts at a 10-core CPU and an 8-core GPU M4 for the 13-inch and a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU for the 15-inch version. Apple says that its M4 chip offers a two-times faster neural engine compared to the M3 MacBook Air.
MacBook Air (M4)
Apple’s M4-powered MacBook Air features the tech giant’s latest chip, a new 12-megapixel Center Stage camera, and a lower starting price.
The Mac Studio gets the M4 Max and new super-powerful M3 Ultra chip
It looks like Apple hasn’t forgotten about the Mac Studio after all.
The rest of the new M4 MacBook Air’s specs
This is the definition of a chip refresh
Other notable specs include support for up to 32GB of RAM (base RAM starts at 16GB) and support for two external displays. The M3 only supported two displays when closed, which will be welcome news to anyone who uses their MacBook Air with a desk setup. Interestingly, there are no gains in battery life this year, with Apple listing battery life as up to 18 hours, depending on usage. However, the M4 MacBook Air features two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an upgrade over last year’s Thunderbolt 3.
And finally, there’s also a new color this year, sky blue (a metallic light blue with an interesting dynamic gradient), which joins midnight, starlight, and silver.
The 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $999 and the 14-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,200.
The M4 MacBook Air seems identical to the M3 MacBook Air, beyond the likely marginal spec bump from the M3 to the M4. Often-requested upgrades like a higher refresh rate display and a nano-texture screen coating are still reserved for the more expensive and higher-end MacBook Pro.
Regarding pricing, the 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,000 and the 14-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,200. The laptop is available to pre-order now and releases on March 12th. Earlier this week, Apple revealed the7th gen iPad Air and 11th gen iPad.
iPad and iPad Air upgrades offer more power, will be available next week
Apple has launched the new M3 iPad Air and the 11th generation iPad.
