Apple has announced two new MacBook Air models that use the latest M3 CPUs introduced last year.
When the powerful M3 CPU was debuted, new MacBook Pros were also announced, but the more cheap MacBook Air was noticeably absent.
That changed on Monday, when Apple announced the 13-inch MacBook Air and 15-inch MacBook Air, both of which are now available for pre-order with the M3 chip.
The MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) starts at $1,099 / ₹115715.36, while the MacBook Air 15-inch (M3) begins at $1,299 / ₹136773.66.
Pre-orders went live at the announcement, and it will be available in stores on Friday, March 8.
Hello, and farewell
While Apple’s announcement came as a surprise, it was not entirely unexpected, as reports had circulated that the company was set to reveal several new MacBooks, with the two MacBook Air models appearing to be the most likely.
With the introduction of the new M3 variants, we also bid farewell to a few models. Apple no longer sells the original M1 MacBook Air, which was formerly at the top of our best laptops list. It’s a shame because it was still a good and affordable laptop.
In its place, Apple will continue to sell the MacBook Air 13-inch with the M2 CPU, now priced at $999 / ₹105186.21. This is the cheapest MacBook model, and it’s Now even greater value.
Apple will continue to sell the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air, while the 15-inch MacBook Air with the M2 CPU appears to be discontinued. Given that it only went on sale in the middle of last year, that’s a relatively short shelf life for a laptop.
Also, while Apple has not made an official announcement, it appears that the 13-inch MacBook Pro will be discontinued. That iteration of the laptop has yet to receive an M3 model or a facelift. It was the only model still equipped with a Touch Bar, and it was quickly becoming the outlier among MacBooks.
M3 performance bump
According to Apple, the new M3 MacBook Air is up to 60% faster than the M1 MacBook Air and 13 times faster than the Intel-based MacBook Air. To be honest, given that the model was released four years ago, we aren’t shocked that there is such a significant performance discrepancy.
We’ve seen what the M3 chip can achieve in the MacBook Pro 14-inch, which debuted last year, so seeing that level of speed in the more inexpensive (and lighter and thinner) MacBook Air is really intriguing. We hope to get our hands on the new models soon so we can thoroughly test them, but until then, we’ll have to rely on Apple’s claims.
According to Apple, games like No Man’s Sky will be up to 60% faster than on the M1. While the M1 MacBook Air was never designed for gaming, we’d want to see a MacBook Air with a decent gaming experience by 2024. It appears that video editing in Final Cut Pro is also up to 60% faster. This is especially interesting given how well the M1 MacBook Air performed when it comes to video editing.
Apple also claims that the MacBook Air M3 is twice as fast as a Windows laptop with an Intel Core i7 processor, with up to 50% faster web browsing and up to 40% longer battery life. We will undoubtedly make those assertions to the test when we compare the two models.
No new look
The latest MacBook Airs appear to contain just internal changes. This implies they are more powerful and can accommodate up to two external monitors, but there is no new design.
So we anticipate that the next 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models will look identical to the M2 variants. This isn’t a terrible thing; the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air introduced a modern design upgrade that we adored, and the 15-inch model carried on the same design language in a larger form.
Given that the previous redesign was such a huge change, and it’s only been a little over a year since that came in, we’re more than thrilled to have two new MacBook Airs that look the same, especially if Apple’s predictions of a significant performance increase come true.
