Apple’s updated MacBook Air M4 is nicely powerful, ever so slightly less expensive, and optionally blue – and that’s about all.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| M4 Processor is nicely powerful | Cluster of USB ports remains an annoying design choice |
| Slight price drop is welcome | M3 and M2 models cut, so there’s no “budget” MacBook Air this year |
| Dual monitor support – finally! | Not upgradeable (or easily repairable) |
Score: 4/5
 |
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Ethical disclaimer: The MacBook Air M4 used in this review was loaned to me by Apple Australia, but it remains Cupertino’s property.
That gets them a review, nothing more, nothing less, no editorial oversight.
Yes, I’m putting this in every review now, but then I feel strongly that ethical disclosure and transparency is something that’s sorely lacking in a lot of online reviews right now. And now, on with the review…
In this review
MacBook Air M4 Specifications
MacBook Air M4 Design
MacBook Air M4 Performance
MacBook Air M4 Conclusion
Apple’s latest update to its MacBook Air line – which is technically just the “MacBook Air” like they all are, but I’m going to refer to it as the MacBook Air M4 for clarity’s sake – is very much a specifications bump and not a whole lot else.
When I reviewed the MacBook Air M3 last year I noted that it was a lovely machine that had more than enough power for most everyday users; it’s clearly Apple’s more “everyday” MacBook model for most consumers – but being Apple, it wasn’t an inexpensive laptop option by any reasonable measure.
Now there’s a new one with an even more powerful processor, and while it’s commendable that the entry level price of the MacBook Air has dipped a little year on year, that’s also at the cost of there being any cheaper models in the lineup.
The MacBook Air M4 is an excellent laptop, but it’s now your only choice at the bottom rung of Apple’s lineup of laptops, which means that for some, the Mac Mini M4 is going to be a much better bet.
Design
What can I say about the MacBook Air M4 design that’s new and exciting?
It now comes in Sky Blue as a finish, which is the exact hue of MacBook Air M4 that Apple loaned me.
It is a rather subtle blue, mostly a silver blue that in some lighting conditions just looks plain silver. I do have something of a preference for blue technology gadgets – it’s a personal quirk for sure – but if you’re not keen on Sky Blue, you’ve still got stalwart colours Starlight, Silver or Midnight to pick from.
The thing about the MacBook Air M4 is that the Sky Blue colour is the only design change this year.
Apple’s MacBook Air design has only really lightly changed over the years, but this year’s iteration would, outside that colour choice be indistinguishable from prior models. You get options for 13 or 15 inch displays, but none of the fancy nano coating choices you get with MacBook Pro models.
Here’s 75% of all the ports on the MacBook Air M4. Count them.
You still, somewhat irritatingly get just two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports on the left hand side only, right next to the MagSafe charger, while the right hand side houses a 3.5mm headphone jack.
A lonely headphone jack. It needs company, Apple — give it more ports on this side!
It’s mostly functional as long as you don’t have chunky USB-C plugs on your peripherals, but I’d kill for a MacBook Air with ports on both sides.
Apple can clearly do this; it’s how the MacBook Pro lineup works, but it keeps that kind of feature firmly behind the Pro paywall.
Performance
The real story of the MacBook Air M4 isn’t what it’s wrapped in, which is perfectly functional if not exciting.
It’s in the changes that Apple’s made under the hood. For a start, 16GB of RAM is now the baseline for any MacBook – or indeed any Mac product at all – which raises a nice performance bar when and if you need it, whether that’s for high end work or just because you like keeping 257 Safari tabs open all at once.
Yeah, I see you there. No judgement, mind.
The MacBook Air M4 is the “M4” model because it brings into the fold the M4 processor now found across the entire Mac range; this is Apple’s fourth generation “Apple Silicon” processor built as a single SoC design, which means it incorporates storage, RAM, processor and GPU all in the one mighty silicon chip.
The M4 isn’t new – I’ve previously tested it on devices such as the Mac Mini M4 and MacBook Pro M4, and it is worth noting that the MacBook Air M4 only ships with the baseline M4 processor; if you want the M4 Pro or M4 Max processors then you’ll have to look to systems such as the MacBook Pro or Mac Studio lines.
There are still configuration choices to make, and as with any Apple Silicon laptop, it’s important to get your choices right at the time of purchase. The nature of this design means that it’s not upgradeable, and, as per iFixit, not terribly repairable either.
The model loaned to me by Apple Australia was essentially the baseline 16GB RAM/10-Core CPU/10-Core GPU 13 inch variant, but with the storage bumped up to 1TB from the stock 256GB.
That would run you $2,299, because Apple has always charged a lot for storage upgrades. For what it’s worth, a fully specced out 15 inch model with all the trimmings costs $3,899.
So how does all of that compare when using the MacBook Air M4?
As you might expect, it depends on what you compare it against. Here’s how the model loaned to me stacked up using some standard Mac-based benchmarks:
There’s never much of an argument for a year-on-year upgrade, but it’s a sign of just how powerful the MacBook Air M4 is that it sits so particularly close to systems that cost more than it did – and clearly, if you’re holding onto a much older Mac and especially an Intel-based model, then the upgrade argument makes a lot more sense.
While the design of the MacBook Air hasn’t changed, so there’s no extra ports, there is one additional trick that you can pull off with the MacBook Air M4 that wasn’t easily achievable with older models.
One of the ways that Apple delineated its Pro and Air lines was in the number of external monitors they supported. For older MacBook Air models that was limited to just one, but the MacBook Air M4 can run two external displays at up to 4K/144Hz via its two Thunderbolt ports.
Apple’s reasoning for why older models couldn’t manage that even though similarly specced out MacBook Pro models always struck me as rather spurious – basically a way to sell Pro laptops more than anything else – but at least you can get your dual monitor fix on if that’s important to you.
On the battery life side of the equation, Apple’s contention is that the MacBook Air M4 can run for up to 18 hours of wireless video streaming.
That’s not the highest figure I’ve seen for an ultraportable laptop, but it is a highly suitable one for everyday users, presuming they want to sleep at some point. In my own testing, all-day battery life isn’t hard to achieve, which is impressive when you consider how powerful the M4 processor running the whole show actually is.
While iPhones no longer get chargers in the box, you do get one with the MacBook Air M4, with one of Apple’s “Magsafe” connectors on the other end.
This works well, but it’s worth noting that either Thunderbolt 4 port will also do double duty as a charging port if you’ve got a suitable high load USB-PD compliant charger to hand.
In all honesty, the Magsafe charger for the MacBook Air M4 that Apple loaned me has been returned to its box after testing; I find it much easier to just use USB-C to charge just about everything these days.
Apple MacBook Air M4: Alex’s Verdict
The MacBook Air M4 has pricing starting at $1,699 AUD, and that’s significant simply because the entry level model of last year’s MacBook Air M3 started at $1,799.
Apple still prices itself as a premium brand – nobody sane would call the MacBook Air M4 “cheap” – but it is pleasing to see a level of price drop here.
However, there’s a slight catch with that pricing.
When I was comparing last year’s MacBook Air M3, I noted that because the MacBook Air M2 was still available, that model might have made more sense for everyday users looking for a macOS machine, because it was older and cheaper as a result.
You might have expected Apple to slot the MacBook Air M3 model into that “lower price” MacBook Air space, bumping off the MacBook Air M2 entirely, but instead, and seemingly in return for that price cut, it’s sliced away any non M4 MacBook Air model at all.
The cheapest Mac laptop you can get is the $1,699 MacBook Air, because there isn’t any other model available at all.
That still leaves the Mac Mini as a fine computing option if you want M4 power and don’t need the portability of a laptop to cover off your needs; it’s significant too that this is the only new Mac you can buy that will run you less than $1,000.
The MacBook Air M4 is a fine machine and a good upgrade along the way, but I can’t help but feel a little annoyed that Apple didn’t keep the MacBook Air M3 around for the true bargain buyer crowd.
Apple MacBook Air M4:
Pricing and availability
|
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