Apple’s MacBook Air has undergone some main modifications lately, together with the change to Apple silicon, an entire redesign, and the introduction of a 15-inch mannequin, making it all of the extra vital to think about if now is an efficient time to improve or if an older mannequin will suffice on your wants.
Following its newest refresh, Apple discontinued the M1 13-inch ‌MacBook Air‌ from 2020 and the M2 15-inch ‌MacBook Air‌ from 2023. Now, prospects can select between the ‌M2‌ 13-inch ‌MacBook Air‌ from 2022 for $999, and the M3 13- and 15-inch MacBook Airs that had been simply launched for $1,099 and $1,299, respectively.
See the breakdown beneath for every new function, change, and enchancment that was added with every ‌MacBook Air‌ mannequin since 2018 in comparison with its direct predecessor:
MacBook Air (M3, 2024)
- M3 Chip
- 15% sooner Neural Engine
- Assist for AV1 decode
- New GPU structure
- Dynamic Caching
- {Hardware}-accelerated ray tracing
- {Hardware}-accelerated mesh shading
- Assist for as much as two exterior shows when the lid is closed
- Voice Isolation and Broad Spectrum microphone modes
- Enhanced voice readability in audio and video calls
- Wi-Fi 6E
- Anodization seal to cut back fingerprints with Midnight end
MacBook Air (M2, 2022/2023)
- Thinner design with flat lid, rounded backside edges, and uniform thickness
- 13.6- or 15.3-inch Liquid Retina show
- Apple ‌M2‌ chip
- As much as 10-core GPU
- {Hardware}-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW
- ProRes encode and decode engine
- As much as 24GB unified reminiscence
- 100GB/s reminiscence bandwidth
- 500 nits brightness
- 1080p FaceTime HD digital camera
- 4-speaker sound system or six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers
- 3.5mm headphone jack with assist for high-impedance headphones
- Bluetooth 5.3
- MagSafe 3
- Quick-charge succesful with accessible 70W USB‑C Energy Adapter
- Out there in Silver, Area Grey, Starlight, and Midnight
- 1.24 kg (2.7 kilos) or 1.51 kg (3.3 kilos)
MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
- Apple ‌M1‌ chip
- 8-core CPU
- As much as 8-core GPU
- Media engine
- {Hardware}-accelerated H.264 and HEVC
- Video decode engine
- Video encode engine
- 16-core Neural Engine
- As much as 16GB unified reminiscence
- 62.5GB/s reminiscence bandwidth
- Broad color (P3)
- Picture sign processor with computational video
- As much as 18-hour battery life
MacBook Air (Intel, 2020)
- As much as Intel Core i7 processor
- Intel Iris Plus Graphics GPU
- As much as 2TB storage
- Magic Keyboard
- Bluetooth 5.0
- 1.29 kg (2.8 kilos)
MacBook Air (Intel, 2018)
- Tapered “wedge” design
- 13.3-inch Retina show
- As much as Intel Core i5 processor
- As much as 4-core CPU
- Intel UHD Graphics 617
- As much as 16GB reminiscence
- As much as 1.5TB storage
- Butterfly Keyboard
- 400 nits brightness
- Full customary color (sRGB)
- 720p ‌FaceTime‌ HD digital camera
- Stereo audio system
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- Wi‑Fi 6
- Bluetooth 4.2
- As much as 12-hour battery life
- Out there in Silver, Area Grey, and Gold
- 1.25 kg (2.75 kilos)
‌M2‌ ‌MacBook Air‌ customers have little or no cause to improve to an M3 mannequin until they want absolute peak efficiency and do not need to purchase a MacBook Professional, or maybe in the event that they bought the 13-inch machine in 2022 and at the moment are within the 15-inch M3 mannequin.
Most ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Air‌ customers will stand to profit from upgrading to the M3 mannequin, particularly if they’re in search of a much bigger display and go for the 15-inch mannequin. These customers would achieve a way more fashionable design, a bigger and brighter show, higher efficiency, sooner reminiscence, a 1080p digital camera, improved audio system, ‌MagSafe‌ 3, fast-charging, and extra. However, some ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Air‌ customers could also be higher off ready for the subsequent main refresh if they’re nonetheless proud of the machine, and upgrading shouldn’t be important.
For individuals who have an Intel-based ‌MacBook Air‌, both of the generations at present on sale signify a extremely worthwhile improve spearheaded by Apple silicon for a significant efficiency enchancment and upgrading is really useful, with most of the above upgrades shortly stacking up.
