Apple’s M4 MacBook Air combines power and portability for $999

By Alex Blake and Willow Roberts Published March 5, 2025

Apple has just launched a new MacBook Air equipped with its M4 chip, bringing improved performance and efficiency to one of the company’s best MacBooks. The long-rumored update means that all of Apple’s laptops now come with the M4 chip.

As expected, the M4 MacBook Air is more of an evolution than a revolution. The M4 chip means a slight improvement in terms of performance compared to the previous M3 version, but there are few changes elsewhere. According to Apple, the M4 MacBook Air can perform tasks like video editing and photo editing up to 2x faster than its M1 counterpart — so upgrading could be worth it for M1 owners.

The laptop’s chassis remains the same, as do its display, speakers, and keyboard. Apple last updated the MacBook Air’s design in 2022, and the company is not expected to repeat the trick for another couple of years. However, a new “sky blue” color has been added to the lineup and the base price has been lowered to $999 — that’s a $100 drop.

Other additions include a new 12MP Center Stage camera and support for two 6K external displays alongside its built-in display. Both the 13-inch and 15-inch models are available to pre-order today, with a release date of March 12.

The M4 chip (or some variation of it) is now present in the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro, the iMac, and the Mac Studio, putting it in about half of Apple’s computers. Other Macs, like the Mac Pro, have not yet received the chip, but are expected to make the transition over the next few months.

Rumors suggest that Apple will quickly move on to the M5, with a new MacBook Pro bearing this chip landing in late 2025. Apple has begun switching most of its Macs to an annual release cycle, so we will likely see an M5 MacBook Air arrive sometime in 2026.