Apple’s last Mac-focused event might have been in October 2023, but the technology giant is finally bringing its latest M3 chips—based on a 3-nanometer design—to other Macs in the lineup.
M3 is now arriving on the 13-inch MacBook Air and 15-inch MacBook Air, ushering in the next generation of Apple’s (AAPL) ultra-portable laptops. Both the 13-inch and 15-inch are sticking with a more modern build in four color options, larger displays with higher peak brightness, and now get even stronger performance.
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The 13-inch and 15-inch are up for order now, starting at $1,099 and $1,299, respectively. You can save $100 on each, thanks to Apple's education discount. While the 13-inch MacBook Air with M1 is being discontinued—this was one of Apple’s first Macs with in-house silicone—the 13-inch with M2 will stay in the lineup at the $999 price point.
With the M3 chip inside, you can expect up to 13x the performance from an Intel-powered Mac and a sizeable 60% boost from an M1-powered Mac. In either the 13-inch or 15-inch, the M3 chip has an 8-core CPU and can be configured with up to a 10-core GPU and up to 24GB of RAM. That will equal a blazing fast experience for most, if not all, tasks, including photo and video editing, but also ensures more everyday or productivity-centric tasks like web browsing and word processing go off without a hitch.
In our testing on the M2 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Airs, we had no issues with even more advanced workflows, and the 14-inch MacBook Pro that pairs the M3 chip with a fan was no slouch either. These two MacBook Airs might lack a cooling system, which makes them slimmer, but thanks to the chip's efficiency, they can scale for more power-hungry tasks and not run warm. That also stretches to battery life, as the 13-inch and 15-inch with M3 can last for up to 18 hours on a full charge.
Apple also notes that the 13-inch and 15-inch with M3 are especially suited for AI and ML tasks, claiming it as the “world’s Best Consumer Laptop for AI.” I will test that once I get my hands on a unit, but it speaks to the 16-core Neural Engine built into the M3 chip. This ensures that applications, processes, or tasks based on artificial intelligence or machine learning can fly here. Applications like Adobe Firefly, CoPilot in Office 365, or advanced image edits in Pixelmator should all fly here. Of course, automatic portrait mode on FaceTime calls and near real-time speech-to-text also use AI/ML built into macOS Sonoma.
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The M3 chip also allows both MacBook Airs to connect and support up to two external displays when the laptop lid is closed. That’s an improvement over the previous Airs, which were limited to just one external screen. Additionally, the new 13-inch and 15-inch feature Wi-Fi 6E for a faster wireless internet connection.
The 13-inch MacBook Air still boasts a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, and the 15-inch has a 15.6-inch Liquid Retina display–both can show up to one million colors and have a peak brightness of 500-nits. You’ll also get two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports, a MagSafe charging port, and a headphone jack.
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