Apple’s latest spring release is the MacBook Air, an update to its super-thin, preposterously light laptop. It comes, as before, in two sizes: one with a 13-inch display, the other a 15-inch.
Both do the same job, though the larger model is a little bigger, heavier and £200 more expensive. Almost all other aspects are the same across both sizes, though the larger Air squeezes in two extra speakers for better sound. I’ve been putting the 15-inch MacBook Air through its paces since it was announced on March 5.
The new releases bring a similar design - but with a new colour in the range and an upgraded webcam. Apple has also knocked £100 off the price, which is a welcome surprise.
Does Apple do enough to make the new laptop a good buy? Read on.
Tech specs
- Processor: Apple M4
- Display: 13in: 13.6in, LED-backlit, 2,560 x 1,664 native resolution, 500 nits brightness, 15 in: 15.3in LED-backlit, 2,880 x 1,864 native resolution, 500 nits brightness
- Storage: 256 / 512GB / 1TB / 2TB
- Size: 13in: 30.41 x 21.5 x 1.13cm, 15in: 34.04 x 23.76 x 1.15cm
- Weight: 13in: 1.24kg, 15in: 1.51kg
- Colour: Midnight, starlight, silver and sky blue
- Webcam: 12MP Centre Stage Camera
Design
Since the day in 2008 when Apple’s then-CEO Steve Jobs wowed his audience by sliding the original version out of a manila envelope, the MacBook Air has been focused on slim, lightweight style. The latest design debuted in 2023, replacing a tapering shape with sharp cliff edges and a flat lid with equal thickness all across. It introduced a display that squeaked so far into every corner that the only way to fit in a webcam was to create a cut-out at the top of the screen, cleverly designed so that it sat within the measurements of the Mac’s menu bar.
All those design touches remain in this new laptop, so the only way you can tell the new Air from last year’s model is one new colour. The Silver, Midnight and Starlight options remain, but the Space Grey finish has been replaced by something brighter and, I’d say, more attractive. Sky Blue is the new colour and it’s an understated light shade that’s bright enough to be noticed but still something to take seriously.
Whichever colour you plump for, the braided power cable is colour-matched to the laptop. Unlike the iPad and iPhone, Apple still supplies a charging plug with the Mac. With the 15-inch MacBook Air, you get a dual-charging plug with two USB sockets in every configuration while with the 13-incher, the base model has a single socket.
The webcam has been upgraded to a 12-megapixel resolution. This means it can offer Centre Stage, a video-conferencing feature found elsewhere in the Apple ecosystem which uses software to pan and zoom what the camera sees, to ensure you’re always the main focus. This also adds a useful Desk View option so you can share your physical desktop with the rest of the call.
Display and Sound
The MacBook Air display does not have the miniLED backlighting or extra-fast refresh rate of the pricier MacBook Pro, nor the touchscreen you’ll find on an iPad or some non-Apple laptops. And some users object to the notch where the Centre Stage camera sits, though its careful placement means I rarely notice it.
But the MacBook Air display is beautiful: pin-sharp, detailed, rich and with faithful colours. And the lack of touchscreen means that at least you’ll have one gadget without smeary fingerprints on it.
If you have a workload that needs more screen space, you can connect up to two external displays. And for the first time, if you do this, you can use the MacBook Air as well – previously with two externals connected, the Air’s lid had to stay closed. This is a use case many won’t need, but it shows that the MacBook Air has capabilities beyond the everyday.
The audio on the MacBook Air is good, though no match for the speakers on the MacBook Pro. If you’re planning on using it for movie playback, for instance, and you don’t want to connect headphones, the larger 15-inch model may tempt you. Not just because of the more immersive display but because the 13-inch Air has four speakers, which sound good, but the 15-inch comes with six speakers, which sound better.
Performance and Battery Life
The M4 processor is the latest generation of Apple’s own processors, the fast and power-efficient silicone which transformed the performance and battery life of Apple laptops when it was introduced with the M1 five years ago.
Until now, the M4 was only available in the MacBook Pro, but it’s now here in the much more affordable MacBook Air. It replaces the M2 and M3 chips which were installed in the Air range until now.
Those processors were both fast, and for many users fast enough, but there’s a definite improvement here, and if you’re coming to this laptop from a Mac model with an Intel chip, say, the difference is night and day.
As ever when buying a laptop, it’s always worth choosing something more powerful than you need to allow for more demanding programs in the future.
If you want the most powerful Mac, then the MacBook Pro offers even faster performance, especially with the M4 Pro and M4 Max options, but for most people, the MacBook Air is enough, more than enough, to keep everything flowing fast and seamlessly.
What’s more, despite being so thin and light, the battery in the MacBook Air is enough to power it all day long, so you may not feel you need to always carry your power cable with you.
Pricing
Until the new laptops were announced, the MacBook Air range started at £999, but this was for the model with an older M2 processor. If you wanted the faster M3 processor, the cheapest one was £1,099, or £1,299 for the 15-inch model.
This time around, Apple has put M4 in every option, and the pricing starts at £999 for the 13-inch and £1,199 for the 15-inch.
The new laptops go on sale on Wednesday, March 12.
Verdict
Apple MacBook Air with M4 Processor
The MacBook Air has consistently been a beguiling laptop, matching decent power with a sleek and slim design. The latest look is just as appealing, especially in the new Sky Blue colour, and the M4 chip is extremely good.
If there’s a downside, it’ll be for Apple: some power users will feel that they don’t need the more expensive MacBook Pro after all. And now that the price has been cut, the MacBook Air is better value than ever.
The new MacBook Air has its fastest performance yet, exceptional portability and strong battery life, all in a gorgeous aluminium design that’s still outlandishly slim and light.
Buy now £999.00, AO
