Apple has announced a new generation of the beloved MacBook Air series. This is the line of Apple laptops easiest to recommend to the widest range of people.
They aren’t too expensive, they have more power than most folks need. And these days they run totally silent as they don’t have cooling fans.
But is the MacBook Air M4, the latest 2025 model, really worth considering? If you’re new to MacBooks we think there will be little reason to hold off buying one of these PCs.
Apple has dropped the price a little this year, with MacBook Air M4 laptops (13in) starting at £999. This is what Apple used to charge for previous-generation legacy models. 15-inch ones start at £1199.
It gets a bit more complicated if you already own a somewhat recent MacBook, so let’s break it down a bit further, starting with the three updrades in this new generation.
The TLDR: MacBook Air M4’s 3 upgrades
The Apple M4 processor brings roughly a 20-25% bump to processor performance to the latest MacBook Air. There’s also an improvement, but a less dramatic one, in graphics power.
This isn’t going to mean much for average day-to-day performance, but the other big spec change might.
All MacBook Airs now start with 16GB RAM, not the 8GB that was the baseline at the beginning of 2024. Apple has raised the RAM floor for its Apple Intelligence AI but it also means you can be more sloppy about how many apps you keep running, how many browser tabs you have open, without straining the system.
The MacBook Air M4 also gets Apple’s Center Stage 12MP webcam. It’s only actually intended to show a 1080p feed for your chats and video meetings, like the old model, but has a super-wide-angle lens. This means it can follow you around a room without using a motorised camera. And it can display a view of what’s in front of your laptop, on a table, handy for showing someone something on a call.
The 2025 MacBook Air also has a fractionally larger battery, but it does not affect Apple’s battery life estimates.
Is a MacBook Air M4 worth the upgrade for MacBook Air M3 owners?
Unless you have a way to sell your MacBook Air M3 without losing too much money, we don’t think it’s worth upgrading from last year’s model to this year’s one.
The processor power bump isn’t going to mean a huge amount to most people’s day-to-day use. And if you are a power hound, there’s a real question as to whether you should be buying a MacBook Air in the first place.
One counter is for those who bought an 8GB RAM MacBook Air in the last few years, and are regretting it. A jump to a 16GB RAM minimum is a big win for us laptop-buyers as this upgrade used to cost £200.
Is a MacBook Air M4 worth the upgrade for Air M2 owners?
While a move from an M2 MacBook Air is a slightly more sensible upgrade than for MacBook Air M3 owners, we still think this isn’t a necessary step for all that many in the MacBook Air M2 crowd.
The two generations have the same core design, (roughly) evenly matched battery life, the same screen tech. A jump from an Apple M2 chip to M4 brings upwards of a 40% performance jump in some situations. But M2 still punches plenty hard in 2025.
However, buyers from that era won’t have had the option of a 15-inch MacBook. Want a larger PC? The MacBook Air family has you covered nowadays.
Is a MacBook Air 4 worth the upgrade for Air M1 owners?
Here’s where things get much more interesting. The Air M4 is a great upgrade for owners of the MacBook Air M1 from 2020.
Back then Apple used its classic shell design, with a chunkier bezel and smaller display. And the jump from M1 to M4 is an up to 60% performance boost.
A MacBook Air M4 is going to feel like a new laptop, much more than for folks who already own the more recent models. But is it a “must upgrade”? Nah. The Apple M1 still holds up today, and supports Apple Intelligence. If your MacBook is playing up, check out how much drive space you have left as this can affect your PC’s stability.
Is a MacBook Air 4 a good upgrade for Intel Mac owners?
Anyone who currently owns an old Mac with an Intel processor needs an exit strategy, as support is being wound down. While the current latest software, macOS 15, supports a few of the last Intel Mac generations, macOS 16 due later this year is expected to cull all but the last few Intel Macs.
A MacBook Air M4 is not be the right pick if you want a workstation PC. But if you just need an everyday PC that will last years, it’s a great option alongside the Mac mini.
