MacBook Air 13-inch and 15-inch overview (2024): Wonderful but unsurprising

It is exhausting to anticipate a lot from Apple’s new M3-equipped MacBook Airs. The 13-inch M2 mannequin, released in 2022, was the primary main redesign for Apple’s hottest pocket book in over a decade. Final yr, Apple lastly gave its fanatics a big-screen ultraportable pocket book with the 15-inch MacBook Air. This week, we have the identical two computer systems with barely sooner chips. They did not even get an actual launch occasion from Apple, only a sleepy Monday morning press launch. They appear the identical and are a bit sooner than earlier than — what else is there to say?

Now, I am not saying these aren’t nice computer systems. It is simply that we have been a bit spoiled by Apple’s laptops over the previous couple of years. The M3 MacBook Air marks the inevitable innovation plateau for the corporate, following the monumental rise of its cell chips and a whole refresh of its laptops and desktops. It is like hitting cruising altitude after the joy of takeoff — issues are secure and cozy for Apple and customers alike.

Apple

Apple’s newest MacBook Air takes all the things we cherished concerning the M2 redesign — a sleeker and lighter case — and provides extra energy because of an M3 chip.

Execs

• Sturdy and glossy design
• Quick efficiency because of M3 chip
• Wonderful 13-inch display screen
• Nice keyboard and trackpad
• Stable quad-speaker array

Cons

• Charging and USB-C ports are solely on one facet

$1,099 at Amazon

Apple

Apple’s big-screen MacBook Air nonetheless appears and feels nice, and it is sooner because of an M3 chip.

Execs

• Sturdy and glossy design
• Quick efficiency because of M3 chip
• Wonderful 15-inch display screen
• Nice keyboard and trackpad
• Stable six-speaker array

Cons

• Charging and USB-C ports are solely on one facet

$1,299 at Amazon

M3 MacBook Air vs the M2 MacBook Air

Although they give the impression of being precisely the identical as earlier than, the M3 MacBook Air fashions have just a few new options underneath the hood. For one, they help twin exterior shows, however solely when their lids are closed. That was one thing even the M3-equipped 14-inch MacBook Professional lacked at launch, however Apple says the feature is coming to that device through a future software program replace. Having twin display screen help is especially helpful for workplace staff who might have to drop their computer systems onto short-term desks, but it surely may be useful for creatives with a number of screens at house. (Should you completely have to have your laptop computer show on alongside two or extra exterior screens, you will need to go for a MacBook Professional with an M3 Professional or Max chip as a substitute.)

Each new MacBook Air fashions additionally help Wi-Fi 6E, an improve over the earlier Wi-Fi 6 normal with sooner speeds and dramatically decrease latency. You may want a Wi-Fi 6E router to truly see these advantages, although. According to Intel, Wi-Fi 6E’s skill to faucet into seven 160MHz channels helps it keep away from congested Wi-Fi 6 spectrum. Mainly, you may very well be capable of see gigabit speeds extra typically. (With my AT&T gigabit fiber connection and Wi-Fi 6 gateway, I noticed obtain speeds of round 350 Mbps and uploads ran between 220 Mbps and 320 Mbps on each techniques from my basement workplace. Each add and obtain speeds leapt to 700 Mbps once I was on the identical ground because the gateway.)

Design and weight

Two years after the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air debuted, the M3 follow-up is simply as glossy and enticing. It appears impossibly skinny for a pocket book, measuring 0.44 inches thick, and is pretty mild at 2.7 kilos. We have seen ultraportables like LG’s Gram and the ZenBook S13 OLED which are each lighter and thinner than Apple’s {hardware}, however the MacBook Air nonetheless manages to really feel like a extra premium package deal. Its unibody aluminum case feels as easy a river stone but as sturdy as a boulder. It is a pc I merely love to the touch.

The 15-inch M3 MacBook Air is equally skinny, however clocks in half a pound heavier at 3.2 kilos. It is nonetheless comparatively mild for its dimension, however the further bulk makes it really feel extra unwieldy than the 13-inch mannequin. I can simply slip both MacBook Air mannequin right into a tote bag when working out to seize my children from college, however the bigger mannequin’s size makes it extra annoying to hold.

For some customers, although, that further heft can be price it. The larger MacBook Air sports activities a 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display screen with a pointy 2,880 by 1,864 (224 pixels per inch) decision, making it higher fitted to multitasking with a number of home windows or working in media enhancing apps. It is also a greater match for older or visually impaired customers, who might need to scale up their shows to make them extra readable. (That is one thing I’ve seen whereas looking for computer systems for my mother and father and different older family members. 13-inch laptops inevitably turn into exhausting to work on, until you are all the time sporting bifocals.)

Whereas I am impressed that Apple lastly has a big, consumer-focused laptop computer in its lineup, I nonetheless want the 13-inch MacBook Air. I spend most of my day writing, Slacking with colleagues, enhancing images and speaking with firms over video conferencing apps, all of that are straightforward to do on a smaller display screen. If I used to be instantly enhancing extra episodes of the Engadget Podcast, or chopping up video alone, although, I would bump as much as the 14-inch MacBook Professional with an M3 Professional chip. Even then, I would not have a lot want for a considerably bigger display screen.

It is comprehensible why Apple would not need to tweak the Air’s design an excessive amount of, provided that it was simply redone just a few years in the past. Nonetheless, I would like to see a USB-C port on the proper facet of the machine, simply to make charging simpler in each location. However I suppose I ought to simply be completely happy Apple hasn’t eliminated the headphone jack, one thing that is taking place all too ceaselessly in new 13-inch notebooks, just like the XPS 13.

{Hardware}

For our testing, Apple despatched the “midnight” 13-inch MacBook Air (which is nearly jet black and encompasses a fingerprint-resistant coating that truly works), in addition to the silver 15-inch mannequin. Each computer systems had been powered by an M3 chip with a 10-core GPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. Whereas these MacBooks begin at $1,099 and $1,299, respectively, the configurations we examined price $400 extra. Preserve that in thoughts for those who’re listening to our benchmarks, as you will positively see decrease figures on the bottom fashions. (The most affordable 13-inch providing solely has 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and an 8-core GPU, whereas the entry-level 15-inch unit has the identical RAM and storage, together with a 10-core GPU.)

M3 chip efficiency

I did not anticipate to see an enormous efficiency enhance on both MacBook Air, however our benchmarks ended up stunning me. Each laptops scored round 300 factors greater within the Cinebench R23 single-core check, in comparison with the M2 MacBook Air. And when it got here to the extra strenuous multi-core CPU check, the 13-inch M3 Air was round 1,700 factors sooner, whereas the 15-inch mannequin was round 2,400 factors sooner. (Since each machines are fan-less, there is a good probability the bigger case of the 15-inch Air permits for barely higher efficiency underneath load.)

There was a extra noticeable distinction in Geekbench 6, the place the M3 fashions had been round 40 p.c sooner than earlier than. Apple is touting extra middling enhancements over the M2 chips — 17 p.c sooner single-core efficiency, 21 p.c speedier multi-core workloads and 15 p.c higher GPU workloads — but it surely’s good to see areas the place efficiency is even higher. Actually, although, these aren’t machines meant to exchange M2 techniques — the higher comparisons are how they measure as much as almost four-year-old M1 Macs and even creakier Intel fashions. Apple claims the M3 chip is as much as 60 p.c sooner than the M1, however in my testing I noticed only a 35 p.c velocity bump in Cinebench’s R23 multi-core check.

With regards to real-world efficiency, I did not discover an enormous distinction between both M3-equipped MacBook Air, in comparison with the M2 mannequin I have been utilizing for the previous few years. Apps load simply as rapidly, multitasking is not noticeably sooner (thank goodness they’ve 16GB of RAM), and even photograph enhancing is not considerably speedier. It is a good time to level out that the M2 MacBook Air continues to be a fantastic machine, and it is a good higher deal now because of a decrease $999 beginning worth. As we have stated, the very best factor concerning the existence of the M3 Airs is that they’ve made the M2 models cheaper. You may absolutely discover some good offers from shops clearing out older inventory and refurbished models, in addition to current house owners promoting off their M2 machines.

Gaming and productiveness work

I am going to give the M3 MacBook Airs this: they’re noticeably sooner for gaming. I used to be capable of run Lies of P in 1080p+ (1,920 by 1,200) with excessive graphics settings and see a easy 60fps more often than not. It often dipped into the low-50fps vary, however that did not have an effect on the sport’s playability a lot. The director’s minimize of Loss of life Stranding was additionally easy and straightforward to play at that decision, as long as I did not crank up the graphics settings an excessive amount of. It is good to have the choice for some critical video games on Macs for as soon as. And in order for you extra selection, you can even stream high-end video games over Xbox’s cloud streaming or NVIDIA’s GeForce Now.

Along with being a bit sooner than earlier than, the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Airs are merely good computer systems to make use of. Their 500-nit screens help HDR and are brilliant to make use of outside in daylight. Whereas they are not as spectacular because the ProMotion MiniLED shows on the MacBook Execs, they’re going to get the job completed for many customers. Apple’s quad and six-speaker arrays are additionally best-in-class, and the 1080p webcams on each computer systems are good for video conferencing (particularly when paired with Apple’s digicam tweaks for brightness and background blurring). And I can’t say sufficient good issues concerning the MacBook Air’s responsive keyboard and easy trackpad – I want each laptop computer used them.

Battery

Sadly, the quick turn-around time for this overview prevented me from working a whole battery check for these computer systems. In the intervening time, although, I can say that each machines solely used up 40 p.c of battery life whereas enjoying a 4K fullscreen video at full brightness for over 10 hours. Apple claims they’re going to play an Apple TV video for as much as 18 hours, in addition to browse the net wirelessly for as much as 15 hours. My testing exhibits they’re going to positively final way over a typical workday. (I might typically go three days without having to cost the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air. Primarily based on what I’ve seen up to now, I anticipate comparable efficiency from the M3 fashions.)

Wrap-up

There aren’t any main surprises with the 13-inch and 15-inch M3 MacBook Air, however after years of continuous upgrades, that’s to be anticipated. They’re nice computer systems with wonderful efficiency, attractive screens and unimaginable battery life. And better of all, their introduction additionally pushes down the costs of the still-great M2 fashions, making them a good higher deal.