Pros
- Sizable performance gains from M1/Intel Airs
- All-around great design, features
- Adds dual display support, Wi-Fi 6E
Cons
- Base configuration short on memory, storage
There’s a tipping point when a computer goes from being useful to actually killing your productivity. This is where I’m at with my Intel-based 16-inch MacBook Pro, which I use for work. Testing the updated MacBook Airs with Apple’s M3 chips only made its performance shortcomings that much more apparent. I mean, there’s a good reason Apple keeps pitting the M3’s performance gains against older M1- and Intel-based MacBook Airs: Those are the people who stand to gain the most by upgrading.Â
That’s not to say the M3 silicon isn’t also an improvement over the M2, because it is. It’s just that the performance differences are overall modest, but graphics performance does get a notable bump, similar to the 14- and 16-inch M3 MacBook Pro models we reviewed last year. In fact, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro has the same M3 chip that’s standard on the updated 15-inch MacBook Air and an upgrade on the 13-inch. And while creators looking for a big power boost will likely want an M3 Pro or Max chip, the regular M3 is well-suited for the Air’s eminently portable design, and it absolutely trounced my Intel MacBook Pro.Â
The rest of the M3 MacBook Air is great too and pretty much the same as the M2 models — another reason those with M1 and earlier models will want to consider upgrading.Â
Watch this: M3 MacBook Air Review: A Better Reason to Upgrade?
Apple MacBook Air (M3, 13-inch, 2024)
Price as reviewed | $1,499 |
---|---|
Display size/resolution | 13.6-inch 2,560×1,664 Liquid Retina LED backlit display |
CPU | Apple M3 chip 8-core CPU |
Memory | 16GB unified memory |
Graphics | Apple 10-core GPU |
Storage | 512GB SSD |
Networking | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax); Bluetooth 5.3 |
Operating system | Apple macOS Sonoma 14.4 |
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