More powerful, more colorful and cheaper!

Although the MacBook Air is its star product, Apple was satisfied with a press communication to announce its new version to Puce M4. With, surprised, a price drop of 100 euros, but an increase in the prices of options.

The announcement of the new iPad Air M3 and iPad 11 was therefore just an appetizer. We are almost reassured since after the publication by Tim Cook on the X network on March 3 of the sentence “There is something in the air ‘, everyone expected to see a new MacBook Air arriving rather than a simple basic update of the tablet of the same name (read our article). And it is therefore done since Apple continued on its momentum by publishing no less than three press releases Musclés of its chips with the M4 Max and the M3 Ultra, a new Mac Studio which precisely benefits from these new overpowered chips (read our article) and, therefore, a new MacBook Air based on M4 processor.

MacBook Air M4: unchanged design and autonomy

We remember that the MacBook Air lost its famous bevel design when the M1 chip was passed through the M2 chip, while remaining ultra-fine. The new MacBook Air M4 resumes exactly the same physical characteristics as its predecessor, both in its 13 inch version and 15 inches (see table below). Apple, on the other hand, chose to finally offer a color more “fun” for its most popular laptop by replacing the midnight blue which frankly pulled to the black, Mar a light blue rather engaging, at least in the photos. Note that, concern for detail requires, the macbook air blue sky comes with a matching color charging cable.

The new MacBook Air also kept the same LCD screens with respective resolutions of 2560 x 1664 and 2880 x 184 pixels. The new MacBook Air M4 also keeps the 12 Mpxl webcam, a centered frame compatible, which means that it always generates a final image, but by automatically cropping on the person (s) who are in front of the lens. The webcam also allows you to use the DeskView function to show its above your office at the same time as your face.

Finally, we also note that the MacBook Air M4 remains provided with two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports only. We do not know if the battery capacity has changed but Apple promises up to 18 hours of autonomy in video streaming mode for the MacBook Air M4, is as much as for the previous model. It will therefore have no trouble working a whole day with without needing to connect it.

MacBook Air M4: more powerful and more memory options

It is therefore well under the hood that the differences are hidden and there are more numerous that we would have expected. The processor, first of all, goes from M3 to M4, which allows a power gain of around 15 to 30 %. All tests have shown, since the iPad Pro announced in May 2024 that the M4 chip is very successful. With this additional power, Apple has finally decided to unbridle the video part and it is now possible to use two external screens in addition to the integrated screen. The MacBook Air M4 is therefore able to manage three screens at the same time while this number was limited to two with the previous version, forcing to close the hood if we wanted to enjoy two large external screens.

As if Apple wanted to push the MacBook Air a little more to a professional audience, we can now choose to go up to 32 GB of RAM, against a maximum of 24 GB for previous models. Recall that this choice must be made at the time of purchase because it is beautiful that it is impossible to add ram a posteriori on a Mac. And, bad news: not only is the addition of memory still as expensive at Apple, but the options have even increased! While it was necessary to count 230 euros per 8 GB slice, it is now 250 euros that you have to pay! Fortunately, the basic models all include 16 GB of RAM, essential to run Apple Intelligence, the artificial intelligence tools of the apple.
On the storage side, the MacBook Air M4, both in version 13 and 15 inches, are equipped as standard with a 256 GB SSD, which can be evolved at 512 GB, 1 TB or even 2 GB. Here too, you have to choose at the time of purchase, being ready to break your piggy bank since each 256 GB tranche is now charged 250 euros, against 230 euros until then.

MacBook Air M4: Price and availability

Pre -orders for the MacBook Air M4 were opened the same day for its ad, for first deliveries scheduled for March 12. Apple did not hesitate to announce with a fanfare that despite all the improvements in this model, its starting price had dropped by 100 euros compared to the previous model, therefore going from 1299 to 1199 euros. A decrease welcome naturally, but a little spoiled it must be said by the increase in the price of options described above. In terms of options, moreover, we regret that this new MacBook Air does not take advantage of the nano-textured anti-reflective screen option, which is however available on the IMAC M4 for example, as well as on the MacBook Pro.