I've tested the new MacBook Air for a week – here's why M4 is such a winner

The MacBook Air M4 follows a proven formula that has seen previous versions heralded as not only the best MacBook – but one of the best laptops on the market.

To make a good laptop, the device should be small, lightweight and easy to carry without compromising on performance. By definition, the MacBook Air M4 does that, even in the 15-inch model that I've spent the week reviewing.

The larger 15-inch model – as there's also a 13-inch – weighs just 1.51kg (3.3lbs) and is just 1.15cm (0.45in) thick. It has a battery life of up to 18 hours and the M4 chip is one of the fastest on the market right now. Plus, thanks to the fanless design, it runs completely silently.

So, is the MacBook Air M4 the new laptop champion? After a week living with one day-today, I'm already tempted away from my larger MacBook Pro. The Air is certainly a machine meant for more than just writing and emails, though, so I also tried to push its abilities with photo and video editing plus a bit of gaming too.

How much is the MacBook Air M4?

Prices for the MacBook Air M4 start from £999 / $999 / AU$1699 for the 13-inch model, or £1199 / $1199 / AU$2099 for the 15-inch model.

It comes in a choice of four colours, including Silver, Midnight and Starlight, plus a new Sky Blue. You can see that new finish in my review photos – it's very fetching indeed.

The base models come with 256GB storage and 16GB memory, but these can be upgraded up to 2TB and 32GB, respectively, as part of the order process.

The base 13-inch model also features an 8-core GPU version of the M4 chip, rather than the 10-core that features across the rest of the range, but this is also upgradeable should you wish before purchase.

If you want to go all out on the MacBook Air, the top-spec model will cost you £2199 / $2199 / AU$2299 for the 13-inch or £2399 / $2399 / AU$2699 for the 15-inch version – which is still cheaper than a base spec 16-inch MacBook Pro M4.

I tested the 15-inch MacBook Air in Sky Blue with 16GB memory and 512GB storage, which is priced at £1399 here in the UK.

What's new on the MacBook Air M4?

On the surface, you would struggle to tell the difference between the MacBook M4 and the previous M3 model. That’s because, design-wise, they are identical. The exception being that Sky Blue finish. I’ve already written about how much I like the new colour – but it is the biggest change here and is likely to draw a new audience to this laptop.

Until recently most modern MacBooks only came in a Silver or 'Space Grey' finish. The addition of the Space Black and Midnight versions proved extremely popular, though, so now we are seeing an experiment with another colour, albeit a subtle one. Under some lighting conditions, it would be easy to mistake the blue for silver. Even as I type this now, under bright spot lights from the ceiling, it looks decidedly silver.

This subtly keeps the machine classy though. A bolder blue, like that used on the iMac, could have potentially cheapened the look of the MacBook Air – less is often more in terms of laptop colour. The Midnight option is probably still my favourite though.

The fact that nothing else has changed on the design is certainly no bad thing. I usually opt for 13-inch and 14-inch laptops to save weight and space, but this 15-inch MacBook Air is so thin and lightweight that you don’t realise how big that screen is until you open it up. That extra inch or two of display is very noticeable – and means you can easily work across multiple tabs or with a busy video workspace.

For power, the MacBook Air M4 uses the MagSafe connector rather than a USB-C port – and there are certainly pros and cons to this. It means that you still have two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports available, and should someone trip over your power lead, you won’t lose your laptop. However, it does mean that you can only plug in on one side and have to use the dedicated lead.

Display technology

The screen on the 15-inch MacBook Air M4 is a 15.3-inch Liquid Retina Display. That gives you a 2880x1864 pixel resolution (the 13-inch is 13.6-inch at 2560x1664 pixels) and 500 nits of brightness. This is one area where the Air lacks compared to the MacBook Pro – which gives you up to 1600 nits peak HDR brightness and 1000 nits sustained.

In reality, this isn’t an issue unless you plan on using the machine outdoors in bright sunlight and for critical colour work. For indoor use, the Air’s screen is capable of far more brightness than you’ll realistically require.

It also doesn’t have the ProMotion tech, which gives the MacBook Pro its 120Hz refresh rate, so the display doesn’t look quite as smooth for fast-moving gaming or fast scrolling. Once again, though, for general use, it’s more than capable. In fact, this screen looks fantastic – and the larger size is a big help when working on the move.

One notable upgrade from the previous MacBook Air (M3) is that it now features a 12MP Centre Stage camera instead of a standard 1080p web camera. This allows it to reframe and follow your movements while on a call, and also supports Desk View, which can split the screen and allow you to show documents or other items on your desk in front of you during your call.

Performance and battery life

The MacBook Air may be a thinner, lighter version of the MacBook Pro, but when it comes to performance this is no entry-level device. If the M3 model was considered powerful, this new M4 goes way beyond that.

Using Geekbench 6 benchmarking, the MacBook Air M4 CPU scored 14,441 (compared to around 12,000 for the M3) and the GPU scored 54,112 (M3 was around 46,000) on the Metal test.

This is actually one of the biggest jumps in performance, certainly for the CPU. Considering most buyers are likely to be coming from M1 or M2 chips, the change will be significant. It’s 2x faster than the MacBook Air M1 and 23x faster than the Intel-based MacBook Air i7.

What that means in practice, is that the MacBook Air M4 is capable of just about anything you throw at it. Whether you’re editing video, fine-tuning photos, mixing audio or gaming, this machine will take it in its stride. Yes, there are machines that will do things faster – the M4 Pro and Max chips, as well as the insanely powerful M3 Ultra – but for most regular users, including some professionals, this is more than enough.

Battery life has always been a strength of the MacBook Air and once again this M4 model delivers. With an 18-hour video playback or 15 hours of web use, it will cover up to two days of working without having to find a charger.

I was also impressed with how well it holds its charge. Some machines I’ve tried recently have a habit of draining significantly when in standby or sleep mode. This of course depends on how much stuff you have running in the background but certainly on this fresh install, any drain was minimal.

Intelligence features

As with all M-series silicon-chipped Macs, the MacBook Air M4 is fully compatible with all of the new Apple Intelligence features in macOS 15. With the extra power here, it delivers those features almost instantly, allowing you to maximise your productivity and add a spark of creativity to your work too.

The Apple Intelligence writing tools are available across a wide range of programmes and apps on the Mac – not just those created by Apple. The tools allow you to proofread your writing for spelling and grammatical errors, as well as rewrite sentences, paragraphs or whole documents. You can choose to change the tone of your writing, making it formal, informal or more succinct. You could even turn it into a song, poem or haiku, should you wish.

The really clever stuff is when you use the text prompt to ask it to create writing just based on a few parameters – write an apology for missing a friend's party or a complaint letter for a faulty product. It’s also really handy for summarising large bodies of text. This uses ChatGPT behind the scenes.

Image Playground is Apple Intelligence’s text-to-image generation that allows you to produce an animation, illustration or sketch. You can also use an existing picture or named person from your picture library to generate an image, and then add one of the preset themes or categories – putting the person into a different location, wearing a costume or fitting a certain occasion. Unlike Some more advanced text-to-image systems, Image Playground can’t produce photo-realistic images or any form of video. However, this is probably as the software is playing safe and effectively still in Beta.

Siri is also more advanced thanks to Apple Intelligence and can take context into account when asked a question. This is even handy for finding files or certain emails, without knowing exactly the name of the document you’re looking for. Siri is able to access ChatGPT for general information, making it smarter. One of my favourite additions, however, is the ability to type questions to Siri, saving you from having to talk to your computer.

Should I buy the MacBook Air M4?

The MacBook Air continues to impress – and this bump in performance, thanks to the M4 chip, makes it an unbelievably powerful option in both sizes.

For portability, the 13-inch is still my choice, but if you do want a larger screen, the 15-inch is still impressively thin and lightweight, making it easy to slip into your bag.

On paper, the screen brightness and performance of the MacBook Air suggests a big step down from the MacBook Pro – but I found the screen to still be very impressive. So, unless that extra brightness and refresh rate are critical for your work, you won’t feel short-changed.

Overall, the MacBook Air M4 offers both power and portability unlike anything else in the market. While little has changed generation to generation, the Air remains a shining example of a laptop done right.

Also consider

Without a standard MacBook now in the the range, if you wanted a more affordable option than the MacBook Air, the best place to look is in the iPad lineup, such as the new 13-inch iPad Air M3. The advantage here is that you get a touchscreen display and Apple Pencil compatibility. However, using the iPadOS isn’t as suited to work use as MacOS.

For me, a reason to opt for the MacBook Pro over the Air, would be for access to the M4 Pro or M4 Max chips. These are significantly faster, especially in terms of graphics. The Pro also gives you that brighter screen with ProMotion technology, plus a dedicated HDMI port and an SDXC card slot. It will cost you a little more though, but it's worth it for the right user.