M4 MacBook Air: everything we know about Apple’s new laptop

Apple MacBook Air — one of the best MacBooks you can buy, and one of the most affordable ways to enter the Mac ecosystem. If you’ve been thinking about deciding to buy one, you’re in luck: a new model equipped with the M4 chip is coming soon.

Apple MacBook Air — one of the best MacBooks you can buy, and one of the most affordable ways to enter the Mac ecosystem.

Here we’ve compiled all the information we can find about the MacBook Air M4. Whatever you want to know about Apple’s next laptop, you’ve come to the right place.

Price and release date

Spring 2025 is currently considered the most likely release date for the next MacBook Air. In April 2024, Mark Gurman said he expects the laptop to be released “by spring.” Apple has a “tradition” — after all, the MacBook Air M3 was announced in March 2024.

Apple has a “tradition” — after all, the MacBook Air M3 was announced in March 2024.

Officially, “spring” means any period between March 20 and June 20. However, don’t expect a June launch if the laptop is released in the spring — that month coincides with Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which is considered a summer event.

We’re not expecting a June launch, however.

It’s worth noting that Gurman has clarified his position somewhat in recent months. In his post, the journalist said that the MacBook Air is “now scheduled for the first calendar quarter,” which covers January through March. If true, that means a new laptop could arrive at any moment.

A new laptop could arrive at any time.

Whatever the exact date, we can be almost certain that a new MacBook Air will arrive in 2025 — and Apple itself has a lot of credit for that. When the company released macOS 15.2, it accidentally included references to “MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025)” and “MacBook Air (15-inch, M4, 2025).”

Accidentally, the MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025) will be available in 2025.

As for pricing, Apple is expected to keep the same $1,099 starting price for the M4 model as it did for the MacBook Air M3. As we’ll see later, that’s mainly because the M4 version is widely expected to be a minor upgrade.

What’s expected is that the M4 version will be a minor upgrade.

The main cost-related question is what Apple will do with its lower-priced model. The company currently sells the MacBook Air M3 and has kept the M2 model as a more affordable alternative, which sells for $999. Gurman said it’s possible Apple will leave the M2 model in place rather than replace it with the M3, blaming the “manufacturing difficulties” the M3 chip has encountered.

Apple’s M2 model is the only one that’s still available.

Design

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Don’t expect any major design changes to the MacBook Air M4. This version will probably feature a new chip and little else new, with design updates saved for a later date.

It’s true that Apple last redesigned the MacBook Air in 2022, giving it flat edges that brought it closer to the MacBook Pro. But when you consider that the refresh cycle is roughly 3-4 years, you shouldn’t get your hopes up for a much newer design.

And it’s not a good idea to get your hopes up.

The lack of a design refresh also means that the MacBook Air will remain in two sizes. Specifically, a 13.6-inch model and a 15.3-inch version.

An update to the design also means that the MacBook Air will remain in two sizes.

Performance and Features

We can be sure that the next MacBook Air will only come with the M4 chip. This is because the device is aimed at the average consumer, not the professional user, so nothing more powerful is needed for its target audience. Chips like the M4 Pro, M4 Max, and M4 Ultra simply don’t need the MacBook Air, and given the passive cooling system in this lineup, they’re going to get too hot anyway.

So, if we’re only getting an M4 chip, what can we expect from it? A look at the MacBook Pro M4 gives us some clues. In this device, the M4 has a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU. We can probably expect something similar in the MacBook Air, perhaps in a cheaper version. This has been the case in previous years and may be the case again in this one.

The M4 has a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU.

An otherwise 16-core neural processor will feature more efficient cores compared to the M3, as was the case with the M4 in the MacBook Pro. Memory bandwidth may increase from 100GB/s to 120GB/s, and the maximum memory and storage capacities will be 24GB and 2TB, respectively.

With the M3 and the M4, the MacBook Pro will have more efficient cores than the M3.

Note that since both M3 and M4 are manufactured on a 3nm process, the transition to M4 will be less significant than the transition from M2 to M3 (M2 was manufactured on the less efficient 5nm process). As a result, we should expect modest performance gains, not something revolutionary.

And as a result, we should expect modest performance gains, not something revolutionary.

There’s good news for those who use multiple screens on their laptops. The MacBook Air M3 can only connect to two external displays when the lid is closed, but that limitation may be lifted in the M4 version, claims 9to5Mac. This is because the MacBook Pro M4 can support two displays at a higher resolution and frame rate than the M3, suggesting that the M4 chip has improved bandwidth. And with improved bandwidth, there’s a good chance that the MacBook Air M4 will be able to run its own display and two external displays at the same time, without having to close the lid.

MacBook Air M4 can support its own display and two external displays at the same time, without having to close the lid.

Rumors have finally surfaced that Apple plans to equip all of its laptops with OLED displays, including the MacBook Air. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anytime soon: the latest rumors point to 2029. That’s a delay compared to the previously announced release date of 2027.

And that’s a delay from the previously announced 2027 release date.