Apple’s Latest MacBook Air Is Worth Buying
So you want to buy a MacBook? You have no shortage of options. If you go directly through Apple, you’ll be able to choose between the Air and Pro in two different sizes and a seemingly endless number of configurations. If you shop from a third-party seller, the problem only gets worse. There are a lot of MacBooks.
Which car you should buy is entirely up to you and your unique needs. However, unless you have a complex or specialized job, there is one model that makes more sense than most others. Until today, I have recommended the MacBook Air M2 to most people . The combination of price, portability, and power made it not just the best MacBook for most people, but the best laptop overall. (Sorry, PC.) There were and are cheaper options, but the M2 MacBook Air was, in my opinion, simply the best value on the market.
I don’t think so anymore because Apple just released the new MacBook Air , and it’s my new pick for the best MacBook for most customers. Here’s why.
The price is right
Let’s start with what makes the MacBook Air great: the price. The MacBook Air has long been Apple’s entry-level machine, offering a very clear deal: you spend $999 and get a solid Mac. You could pay more to get extra features and increased power, but it wasn’t necessary. A cool grand piano is all you need.
Apple has changed this deal a bit since the launch of the MacBook Air M2. Instead of offering it as an entry-level $999 model, the company left the previous generation M1 in that spot and priced the new model a few hundred dollars higher. Now the “old” MacBook Air was your entry into the Mac line, and if you wanted the latest MacBook Air, you needed to spend more.
Luckily for consumers, the MacBook Air M1 turned out great. It’s actually still pretty cool. Even though Apple continues to release new Macs with new chips, I argued that the MacBook Air M1 was the best MacBook for most people until early 2024. It wasn’t until Apple replaced the M1 with the now “old” MacBook Air M2, pricing it at $999, that I declared it to be the best option.
The MacBook Air M4 continues this tradition, but with minor changes. The M4 is a completely new phone, but it’s also the entry-level machine in Apple’s lineup. For that $999 you won’t get last year’s model or the year before: this is the latest MacBook Air you can buy. It doesn’t feel like any kind of compromise, and so it can easily be recommended to almost anyone looking for a great MacBook at a reasonable price.
M4 chip
If the dispute was only about money, it would not stand up to criticism. Now that Apple has dropped the M2 and M3 MacBook Air from its lineup, those machines will likely be sold at other retailers. If the MacBook Air M2 was the best Mac for most people yesterday at $999, shouldn’t it definitely be the best Mac for most people if they can buy it? Ultimately, this is part of my argument against buying the latest iPad Air – it’s a great tablet, but so are the older Air models, which are now likely to be cheaper than ever.
Yes, the discounted MacBook Air M2 is a fantastic price and I wouldn’t stop anyone from buying it. But I think $999 is an even better price for the M4 MacBook Air. For this price, you get Apple’s latest chip, the M4, which is the most powerful chip in Apple’s laptop lineup. The MacBook Air’s M4 has 10 CPU cores, compared to the M2’s eight, and its NPU (the chip responsible for running artificial intelligence tasks) has 120GB/s of memory bandwidth, compared to the M2’s 100GB/s. The M2 is still a very capable chip, and you won’t notice as much of a difference between them as you will between the M1 and M4 (Apple claims the M4 Air is almost twice as fast as the M1 Air), but there will be a benefit, as evidenced by independent tests of other M4 chips . We won’t know exactly how well the M4 Air performs until reviewers test it, but it will undoubtedly perform better than the chip coming out in 2022.
Performance aside, Apple will almost certainly support the M4 chip longer than the M2. I have no doubt that the M2 has many more years of support ahead of it, but when the time comes that Apple eventually stops making updates to these machines, the M4 will likely continue to receive them for at least another year or two, if not longer.
Apple is also continuing the trend of launching every MacBook with at least 16GB of RAM. Previously, Apple’s base MacBook models included 8GB of RAM, which was enough for simple tasks but wasn’t always enough for more demanding apps—and didn’t bode well for their longevity. You had to spend an extra $200 to upgrade to 16GB, which completely negated the value of the MacBook Air. Last year, Apple decided to increase the RAM on all Macs to 16GB without increasing the price. $999 for a laptop with 8GB of RAM might be a tough pill to swallow, but for a laptop with 16GB? This is excellent value for money.
The benefits you expect from MacBook Air
Apple didn’t break the mold with the M4 MacBook Air, and that’s good. This design is functionally identical to the MacBook Air M2 and M3, which means it’s excellent.
The base MacBook Air M4 still features a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display with a 2560×1664 resolution, P3 wide color gamut, and 500 nits peak brightness. It weighs the same 2.7 pounds, has the same great speakers and microphones, and comes with an excellent backlit keyboard and Touch ID. ( The days of the butterfly keyboard are long gone .) Like the M3 MacBook Air, this M4 features Wi-Fi 6E support (one generation newer than the M2’s Wi-Fi 6 support).
You also get MagSafe charging, which is one of the best features of the MacBook. Why Apple abandoned magnetic chargers in the first place I’ll never understand, but at least it’s gotten better in recent years.
Various small benefits
The changes the company has made compared to previous MacBooks are subtle but noticeable. First of all, the camera. The M4 has a 12-megapixel camera, which should improve the quality of video calls. However, the big benefit of this higher megapixel count is the addition of the Center Stage feature. Introduced on the iPad and implemented on the M4 MacBook Pro , this feature follows your face as you move around the frame during a call. This allows you to walk and talk in front of your MacBook Air while remaining in focus.
The MacBook Air M4 still has two USB-C ports, but they’re different from the two on previous MacBook Airs. These are Thunderbolt 4 ports rather than USB-4, which means there are higher minimum speed requirements. This allows the M4 MacBook Air to connect up to two external 6K monitors.
The colors have also changed a bit. Gone is the iconic Space Gray option that many know and love, and that’s not necessarily a “small advantage.” However, the new Sky Blue color looks great . Ever since Apple refreshed the iMac line with fun new colors in 2021, I’ve been wanting them to use the same thing in their laptops. This is the closest we’ve gotten and I hope they keep it up in future models.
Old MacBooks are still a great value (with a caveat).
Apple will let you pre-order the MacBook Air M4 today, with the machine going on sale on Wednesday, March 12th. But if you have an interest in an older Mac, I’d recommend waiting and buying it if you can: once that new MacBook comes out, discounts on older machines will follow.
Apple won’t be selling the new MacBook Air M2 and M3, but stores like Amazon and Best Buy probably will. If you’re looking to buy a new MacBook Air for under $999, this is the best option. My guess is that these companies will take at least $100 or $200 off these models, if not more. If Apple sells the new M4s for $999, those stores won’t be able to justify keeping the older models at the same price. Apple will also likely be selling used M2 and M3 models in its refurbished store , so keep an eye out for those.
As I said above, the M2 and M3 chips are still excellent and Apple will likely support them for many years to come. No matter which of these three machines you buy, the functionality will be the same as the design hasn’t changed, so you’ll get a modern MacBook at a great price.
Check your RAM
The only caveat is keep an eye on the RAM: you’ll likely find deals on MacBooks with 8GB of RAM that I can’t recommend in 2025. These Macs will generally perform well and can perform the tasks you need, but sooner or later you will run into limitations with that amount of memory. Your Mac won’t perform as well as a machine with 16GB of RAM, and in all likelihood, Apple will end support for it before models with more memory. These machines aren’t worthless by any means (Apple currently fully supports all M-series Macs with 8GB of RAM), but if you’re looking to buy a new MacBook this year, it’s important to prioritize 16GB of RAM.