Apple M4 MacBook Air review: I have no notes

The only things missing from these Airs are some Pro-only bells and whistles.

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[BrianM]

I'm in IT, have used MacBook Pro's for the past 12 years - that has changed.

at my current job, those past systems were the 2012 MBP with upgraded GPU, 16 GB of ram, and replaced HDD with SSD - used it until the 2018 MBP came out - and it's GPU was beginning to have issues with switching between the integrated GPU and the AMD chip - got the 2018 MBP with 32 GB of ram, 512 GB storage and used that until late last year.​

- finally got it replaced with the 15" MacBook Air with M3, 16 GB of ram, 512 GB storage at half the price the earlier MacBook Pros were. (had been testing the M1 & M2 Air's - and was very impressed with their performance, even the 2020 M1 Air outperformed the 2018 MacBook Pro at everything - CPU, GPU, disk, and doubled the battery runtime, just had fewer ports)

The M3 Air has been fantastic - I even run it in Low Power Mode on Battery 99% of the time to get an extra 2-4 hours of battery runtime - most weeks I unplug on Monday, and don't plug it back in again until Friday when it's usually down to 20-40% (If something needs more processing power, I can either turn low power mode off, or plug it in temporarily)
It is a secondary computer, used whenever I need to be mobile, but compared with the 2018 MBP which when new doing the work needed would go down 15% in 1 to 1.5 hours, the M3 Air only drops 2-4% doing exactly the same work - mostly Screen Sharing or Microsoft Remote Desktop, with web browsing and Teams the next most common tasks.

I wish I could have waited for the M4 model with its even better CPU/GPU performance and ability to run 2 external displays in addition to the built-in screen, but there was no certainty of when it would be released. Still no regrets, the M3 Air will run me for another 5-6 years.

For anyone needing a laptop and can use MacOS, it is a fantastic general use computer - even for those who need to do some graphics/video work it has plenty of power (if you make money doing that kind of work, the MacBook Pro's or Mac Studio are of course much faster - so can easily pay for themselves). The Intel Air's were decent overall - but there was a much larger gap in performance between the Intel MB Air's and Intel MacBook Pro's.

oh, and in a few months, it'll show up on the Apple Refurb page to be an even better deal (at home I've only bought refurbs for the past 15 years, usually put the price difference into more ram, or more storage) - for those not aware, Apple refurbs come with full 1 year warranty, and you can buy the AppleCare extended warranty as well.

 

[Hadrian's Waller]

The obsession with the notch is silly.

 

[DNA_Doc]

Bestbuy is selling those for half price already, at $499. Actually kinda weird that it is so discounted.

They just went up to $499.99. They were $459.00 just yesterday, which has been their lowest ever.

Speaking of deals, Best Buy is also selling the 14" FHD Vivobook with the 12th-gen i3, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD for $220. The ram and storage are both upgradable (one free ram slot - I've taken this laptop to 24GB, but it may accept more. Open box version are selling for $175. Another great deal on an everyday laptop.

 

[MushyMiddle]

I'm a Java dev, working on a large project with some 15K .java files. While I use an M4 MBP 16" as my daily drive, so this isn't an M4 Air, what Apple has done with M4 in general is pretty amazing. On my old Intel (i9) MBP 16", a full build would take 6-10 mins. On the M4 MBP 16", around 1.5 mins. It was so fast that initially, I had to run a build a second time to make sure it actually built everything. I couldn't believe it built the project so quickly.

I also have an M3 Air for non-dev work. I don't often build on it, I wouldn't be worried to do so.

I'm no Apple fanboy - far from it. But M4 (Pro) is amazing. Intel should be shaking in their boots. And Microsoft.

Just make sure you configure ample memory and SSD. My M3 MBA is 16GB, M4 MBP is 24GB. Both 1TB SSD. I'll never go back to Intel/Windows, on which I developed professionally for decades.

 

[neutronium]

$1000 for a laptop good for 'basic tasks' with effectively no storage - something that chromebooks accomplish just fine for under $200.
$800 to upgrade to 2TB SSD. Which is 10x normal pricing.
$200 for every 8GB of RAM. Again, 10x normal pricing.

This is the computer equivalent of spending $20 for a dozen eggs - Except there is no computer flu out there disproportionately harming the production output of a small number of regional family-owned computer farms in Colorado, so what is justifying the greed? The existence of an extremely-nerfed decoy-priced product that they do not actually want you to buy. That's it.

It's darkly cynical and obvious psychological manipulation, yet you fell for it, hook line and sinker. Enjoy your free advertising, Apple.
This MacBook isn't even blue.

To see people say that this MacBook air is a good value is beyond offensive, it's disgusting. It makes me physically sick to the stomach. The gouging here is grotesque, and unprecedented from any company other than Apple. If any other company tried this on a customer-facing product, they would be flamed to death. Lawyers would be in court arguing if it violates property rights, and the right to repair. The EU would probably intervene.

But Apple does it, and you call it a good value? I spit at your good value. If this meets your definition of a good deal, then you seriously need to step back and reevaluate your standards.
I get that Windows 11's awful experience has lowered the bar to zero. Computers might suck now, but that should not give Apple a blank check to get universal, unmitigated praise for abusing its customers on hardware costs like this. Two companies can be bad in two different ways at the same time.

But - and I am only saying that because I care - there's a lot of decaffeinated brands on the market that are just as tasty as the real thing.

 

[Kit_L]

I cannot understand anyone who thinks that $1,000 for a laptop that you literally make your living from is "expensive". I edit video (FCPX) and write for a living, and I spend most of most days on my M2 MBA, and it works perfectly. It is much less expensive than all the "Pro" laptops I had in the past that needed to be optioned to the max to do the work this one does. The M4 version will be better.

 

[Made in Hurry]

It looks like a nice computer, but it is listed at $1410 (14.990 NOK) from Apple.no (Norway), and at that price, there is a lot of other nice contenders.

 

[JustYourAverageJDP]

Have you tried Korean fried chicken? Might be worth getting absorbed.

/jk (Though I would trade our current congress for one that knows how to deal with a nutcase President)

If the Canadian Government banned Korean Fried Chicken I would actually be devastated. I love it. Kentucky Friend Chicken on the other hand is wretched.

I don't drink American Liquor, I drink Canadian local brewery and Islay Whiskey. I wont even notice the American section being bare.

American exceptionalism isn't universal with these examples.

#ElbowsUp

We may have soured against our outgoing Prime Minister but everyone in Canada stands unified with that quote.

 

[quackmeister]

I can't tell if it's the picture, my screen, my eyes, or if I'm just being gaslit by Apple, but I was very confused why you/Apple are calling the laptop in the pictures "Sky Blue".

It’s a sad sign of the times that subtlety – once the hallmark of refined discernment – now comes off as fraud.

Three cheers for planet Apple.

 

[YetAnotherPoster]

Not sure why you mention US taxes (which have always been low) and forget to mention that you probably have 18% or more VAT wherever you live. That's the real complaint you should have....

That's the price we pay for a civilised society. Quite cheap if you ask me.

 

[SittingDuck]

They will use it a lot like Linux in terms of actual dev workflows (for example, I've seen videos of people using vim/neovim on Mac, doing tons of command line work - which honestly, puzzles me - if you are mostly working in the command line and vim anyhow, why not just use Linux?

After decades (literally) of FreeBSD and Linux, I switched to a Mac. I get all the command-line stuff I used previously and the useful Mac stuff as well: seamless syncing with my tablet and phone, longer-lasting more power-efficient hardware, actual support from IT, etc. I typically run 8-10 virtual desktops (or workspaces, or whatever they're called), with a multi-tab Terminal window as the basis for whatever project I'm using that virtual desktop for. With MacPorts, I've got access to the same workflow tools I used under FreeBSD/Linux. The only thing puzzling in your statement is that I've never understood people using vi when emacs is available.

 

[Rector]

That's the price we pay for a civilised society. Quite cheap if you ask me.

There’s nothing wrong with 18% or 20% VAT, but complaining that Apple gouges Europeans without bothering to consider the VAT built into the Euro retail price is disingenuous.

 

[Rector]

The only thing puzzling in your statement is that I've never understood people using vi when emacs is available.

It’s probably because they can’t find the meta key.

 

[YetAnotherPoster]

There’s nothing wrong with 18% or 20% VAT, but complaining that Apple gouges Europeans without bothering to consider the VAT built into the Euro retail price is disingenuous.

If we add 20% VAT to the base level price of €1100 that makes €1320 which is lower than the €1499 retail price.

 

[zogus]

Samsung isnt threatening to end the existence of Canada.

Why would I throw my money to feed the beast that will annihilate my people?

I am doing what Americans value - Voting with my dollar.

If Samsung threatens to absorb Canada into South Korea I will update my purchasing priorities. Thanks.

If you are that strongly invested against patronizing American businesses, why are you on this web site? You do realize that Condé Nast is an American company, right?

 

[johnsonwax]

Ars never changes. It's an Apple website.

You can literally buy a 14" OLED with 16GB ram/512 storage, latest Ultra 5 CPU, HDMI 2.1, and 2 x Thunderbolt 4 and 2 x USA A ports for $499 right now.

And it's half the speed of the M4 Air.

 

[schnackenpfefferhausen]

If the Canadian Government banned Korean Fried Chicken I would actually be devastated. I love it. Kentucky Friend Chicken on the other hand is wretched.

I don't drink American Liquor, I drink Canadian local brewery and Islay Whiskey. I wont even notice the American section being bare.

American exceptionalism isn't universal with these examples.

We may have soured against our outgoing Prime Minister but everyone in Canada stands unified with that quote.

Nothing unifies Canada like a hockey reference.

 

[schnackenpfefferhausen]

Nothing unifies Canada like a hockey reference.

Oh, and I just saw this on reddit, and I can't not share it:

 

[TerberculosisRobocop]

'Even if'.

Every time I see one of our staff with a browser window open with so many tabs across the top that the OS can barely display the icons, let alone any text, I just want to reach for the nearest 2x4. What is it with people who can't organise their stuff?

What is it with people who can’t remember where they put the last 30 things they used?

 

[quackmeister]

Honestly, the apple fetish among you people is just pathetic.

What a miserable life, when the universe itself conspires against you.

 

[instant classic]

I have to comment on the Notch Drama. I think Apple has done a terrible job of explaining the notch.

Some people are saying “why not just make the bezel at the top of the screen thicker hand have no notch?”

But that is exactly how this screen is set up. They did not bring the notch down to intrude into the laptop’s 2560x1600 screen. Rather, they added two small screens at the top of that screen, and then shoved the menu bar up there.

Result: the laptop still has its normal 2560x1600 screen. If you use an app with no menu bar - games, fullscreen video, other apps with no menu bar - then the app uses that entire screen. But if you use an app with the menu bar visible, the menu bar appears above the screen, which mean the app itself can use all of that 2560x1600 screen.

Visually, you get small bezels and a notch. Functionally, you get the same as always, but you’re able to use more of the screen because the menu bar is moved up into the bezel.

NGL I think this is smart and I can pretty easily move past the fact that it looks a bit silly. But as always YMMV.

EDIT to add: this is not the way the notch/island works in iPhones. On phones, the notch actually does intrude into fullscreen apps/videos/pics. The Macbook notch is a much better notch.

This is meant in no way shape or form to be snark but I would have never guessed this if not for your explanation. That’s actually a really neat way they handle it on the laptops.

 

[LexaGrey]

We get ripped off a bit here in EU-Land as usual - 1199 USD converts to about 1100 Euro, but it costs 1499 Euro.

Yes, I know that includes tax and the USA price listed is pre-tax, but even adding on the average sales tax of around 8% in the USA that would only come to about 1200 Euro.

In the past it used to be closer to the USA price, factoring in sales tax... so it's a bit odd.

Are there tariffs in place I missed hearing about?

I believe this falls under “nothing in life is free”.

Most countries force 2 year warranties and additional consumer protections. It is like a mini-AppleCare so many Europeans skip buying that. I am sure the lawmakers sold it as “companies will just provide extra coverage for free” like that is a thing. The computer version of socialized healthcare.

Americans can choose the higher risk 1 year warranty for a cheaper price or AppleCare options.

Edit: note that countries like Brazil and India (with more on the way) that demand locally sourced parts for new units and repairs pay for that with more expensive items and higher cost repairs (often repairs nearly the cost of a new device). If Trump gets his way Americans will soon be paying way more than Europe.

 

[zogus]

Honestly, the apple fetish among you people is just pathetic.
Does tim still block you from the teat if you don't give them 10-star reviews? Seems like it.
Is there any chance you could have a bit of journalistic integrity?
No?

On behalf of the Apple fetish people here, I’d like to thank you very much for taking time out of your valuable life to create a brand-new account just to kindly point out how unenlightened we are. I stand in awe of your original and constructive insight, and while I will be unable to partake of your wisdom on Ars any more because I’m about to hit the ignore button, I do look forward to seeing you disseminate many more such creative thoughtful guidances from you on more appropriate forums such as X, 8chan and cat > /dev/null .

 

[roojay]

What a stupid reply. One can be doing things and literally need dozens of pages open. If I have Exchange update get borked you can bet your butt I have many tabs open to help me troubleshoot the issue.
Also - modern browsers will deactivate tabs after they haven't been the active tab for a while and reload the page when called upon again, so it's a non-issue these days anyway.

close the fkn tabs

 

[Renne]

Is there any chance you could have a bit of journalistic integrity?
No?

Instead of making burner accounts to post extremely limp hate mail, have you considered doing something you might find enjoyable? Have you played Kirby Star Allies? Or Control?

 

[QuarterSwede]

I am dangerously close to buying one of these.

I’ve still got my old Thinkpad T420. Even 12-13 years later, on paper it does what I need but in practice Optimus still sucks. So I’ve been looking around for replacements and have been thinking about trying an Apple laptop.

Oh man, things escalate quickly. Starting with $100 for ancient and/or broken, I think to myself “well, for another $100, I can move up in $ATTRIBUTE.” Next thing I know, it’s at “well screw it, I’ll just buy a new one from Walmart for $700.” And now this one seems well worth the extra $300 on top of that.

I’ll have to do some thinking about how much I actually need a laptop these days, because this is approaching “no brainer” territory.

Once you close and open a MacBook Air M series laptop and it turns on instantly you’ll be pushed over the edge. The MacBooks are so much better than Intel laptops it’s not even in the same league. That’s the ONE thing I wish I had at work on my Ryzen 5 Thinkpad. God it’s slow to come out of sleep. It’s pathetic in 2025.

 

[SraCet]

$1000 for a laptop good for 'basic tasks' with effectively no storage - something that chromebooks accomplish just fine for under $200.
...

I recently shopped for a basic laptop to do basic tasks, for an elderly relative with basic needs.

I was all set to buy one of these $200 Chromebooks because I assumed such a thing would certainly be good enough, but, have you actually looked at one of these devices?

What I found out is that if you're spending less than ~$600 for a laptop, you're likely getting something pretty shoddy. The screen probably either has very low resolution, or catastrophic viewing angles, or both. The keyboard deck probably flexes when you type on it. The trackpad surface is likely small and made of textured plastic, vs. smooth glass. The laptop is likely relatively thick and heavy for its capabilities. The fan(s) probably spin up often and sound annoying, even if they aren't especially loud according to a decibel meter. The screen hinge might have some weird friction to it, or make a creaking or snapping sound, which makes me think it will likely break after only a few years. (Common point of failure with laptops in general, really.) The whole build is probably creaky plastic with seams that are a bit uneven and/or sharp.

Can you use these laptops for basic tasks? I'm sure. But it's pretty easy to see the value in paying $1000 for a laptop that suffers from none of these problems.

 

[SraCet]

I applaud Apple for staying true to their fanless ethos in the Air laptop lineup.

Lesser companies frequently treat fanless high-performance laptops as short-lived experiments or a one-off marketing gimmick (cough Lakefield).

For normal consumers, fanless laptops should be the norm. Less heat, less weight, longer battery life, zero maintenance, zero noise, more flexible, and just at the cost of 5% to 10% 1T perf.
...

Less heat? Hardly. More heat. Because no fan.

Edit: Downvotes? For this? Really? LOL. Okay. You guys know that these fanless laptops thermal throttle on sustained loads in order to prevent the CPU from overheating, right?

 

[SraCet]

What is it with people who want to choose violence when they see something different?

Having a million tabs open just because you're too lazy to put any effort into closing them or organizing them is indeed "different."

The same way it's "different" to get take-out at a fast food restaurant so you can go sit in your Ford F250 in the restaurant's parking lot and run its internal-combustion engine for an hour so you can eat your lunch while listening to the radio.

 

[SraCet]

Haven't you heard? Bezels are the Worst Thing in the Entire Multiverse. Every tech review of a pre-notch MacBook told me so!

That's why the notch exists. It's also why the chassis isn't larger, to address another commenter's concern. The notch takes the screen from "16:10, with a menu bar reserving space at the top, and a camera in a thick bezel" to "16:10 plus a menu bar in bonus screen space to either side of the camera, and a bezel as thin as the chassis allows".

Face ID is another story. I wonder if Apple is too arrogant to pay Microsoft royalties on a Windows Hello patent or something.

Last I heard, the Face ID assembly (dot projector, IR camera, etc.) is too thick to put in a laptop screen.

 

[wco81]

I have an M1 Air with 16G RAM and it is overwhelmed when editing RAW photos in Lightroom. I've been considering upgrading to a 14" MBP but wonder if this Air + 24G RAM will do the trick? Any opinions?

For Lightroom, the capabilities of the display might be as important as RAM.

The Air display maxes out at 500 nits while the MacBook Pro displays have 1000 nits full screen and 1600 nits peak.

So if you have any interest in HDR photo editing which LightRoom supports, it may be worth considering buying the Pro instead of the Air.

In addition to brighter display, you also get Pro Motion refresh rates and the processors will be more powerful and allow you to configure with more RAM.

Of course you would pay at least $1000-1100 more for the pro machines. But for heavy Lightroom use, it could be worth it to some people.

 

[johnsonwax]

why does nobody talk about Mabooks not being able to output to two monitors and have extended view and not mirrored. yes they can output to two or more monitors but having to use all mirrored is not very practical.

This isn't true. You've been able to extend a Mac desktop since 1987 when the Mac SE came out.

The Air is limited to 2 monitors, the Pro is limited to 4. The Studio can go to 8.

 

[interars]

why does nobody talk about Mabooks not being able to output to two monitors and have extended view and not mirrored.

Huh, what are you referring to? Our hotdesking office has USB-C docks we plug into, which have two external Dell monitors. By default when we plug MacBooks into them it gets extended and you can drag the mouse pointer all the way from one side of the internal screen across to one side of the second monitor. (Ironically I actually made the two external monitors mirror each other in macOS to give me effectively two monitors, because I found it less disruptive this way as it matches my setup at home).

The two monitors tend to be plugged in to the dock over different ports, one is HDMI and the other is DisplayPort/DVI (I forget). So maybe you're getting a problem if you daisy chain them over USB-C, but your statement that Macboks or macOS don't support extended view seems blanket wrong to me unless I've misunderstood.

 

[SeanJW]

I applaud Apple for staying true to their fanless ethos in the Air laptop lineup.

Lesser companies frequently treat fanless high-performance laptops as short-lived experiments or a one-off marketing gimmick (cough Lakefield).

For normal consumers, fanless laptops should be the norm. Less heat, less weight, longer battery life, zero maintenance, zero noise, more flexible, and just at the cost of 5% to 10% 1T perf.

4+6 cores is more than enough for casual and moderate usage.

//

To be blunt, I’m greatly disappointed almost every Lunar Lake and Qualcomm Oryon laptop chose actively-cooled designs.

Just make one SKU fanless-only. Windows OEMs have an obsession to eke out a 2% perf win for 15% more power.

Air is currently fanless. Not all were - for the Intel line, you needed the MacBook 2015-2017 to get fanless. I still have one running macOS 12 and I'm one of the lucky ones where the keyboard still works. I prefer the keyboard in fact, though I know its pure good fortune it still works.

 

[bpatb]

They were once upon a time, and I would argue the very top of the line models still are. But perhaps, a better term than 'luxury' market would be 'pro' market - there are a lot of creative pro's who use top of the line, expensive Mac laptops for their work - many people in the music industry, graphic design/digital art/etc,, I think a lot of architects maybe use Macs.

Virtually every Youtube video I see anymore about programming, a LOT of programmers are switching to Macs too. They will use it a lot like Linux in terms of actual dev workflows (for example, I've seen videos of people using vim/neovim on Mac, doing tons of command line work - which honestly, puzzles me - if you are mostly working in the command line and vim anyhow, why not just use Linux?

But, I think they use Macs because 1) it's better hardware than comparable PC laptops, and 2) gives them very good video tools for making those YT/TikTok/Twitch videos, which is really what that particular market's core business is, not so much programming as making social media content ABOUT programming.

I'm mostly a software developer (though I'm also mostly a manager and system architect and VFX supervisor and business owner too... but I'm gonna pretend I still spend 8 hours a day coding. Under no circumstances do I make YT/TikTok/Twitch videos).

I've been doing pretty much everything on the command line since I started almost 30 years ago. Started on Sun workstations at school, IRIX at my first industry jobs, then Linux, and now macOS. For my time and money macOS beats them all. I get all the unix command line and scripting goodness that I want (not to mention a shared file system with our mostly Linux infrastructure) and a fantastic GUI, with great hardware, and a relatively seamless user and admin experience. I don't remember when I switched to a Mac focused workflow rather than a Linux focused one.. but I feel like it's been at least 15 years, if not more.

I still have access to a linux workstation for building and testing. But the former happens through ssh and the latter only takes me on the order of tens of minutes a week. I hate the UX of Linux with a white hot passion so those are tens of minutes too many, in my opinion. I get in, I do whatever I need to do, and get out as fast as I possibly can.

 

[SeanJW]

You misunderstood my post. This isn't about "having as many pixels" or "losing pixels"—it is obvious apps didn't lose pixels. I'm discussing wasted pixels on the left & right of the notch, when the Menu Bar is on auto-hide.

I'd try my setup first: with the menu bar hidden, the notch does intrude into the app's new space, because the app now maximizes into the top 3% of the screen → the notch is in the middle of that 3%. Thus, the center of the app clearly gets intruded on by the app.

See my actual point with an auto-hidden Menu Bar:



Clearly, most people leave their Menu Bars fully visible all the time, so they rarely interact with my dilemma.

Soooo.... if you don't gain anything from having the menubar on autohide because it takes up none of your main screen space.....why would you have it on autohide?