The entry-model M4 Airs will be $100 cheaper than their M3 equivalents. I got an early look at these stronger, cheaper MacBooks, plus a Mac Studio juiced with M4 Max and M3 Ultra.
As sure as the Earth’s endless journey around the Sun, Apple has launched its MacBook Air laptops for 2025, replete with its latest silicon, the M4 processor, inside. The new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models gain a helpful power bump in the upgrade, but come with two surprises: They retain the Air’s fanless cooling design despite the peppier chip, and the starting prices are a cool $100 off the previous generation. Who expected that?
This means the new 13-inch MacBook Air with M4 starts at just $999, the same as the outgoing M2 MacBook Air, while the 15-inch model with M4 is $1,199, versus $1,299 for last year’s version.
This level-up should see the M4 MacBook Air laptops perform faster and more efficiently than last year’s models, but Apple’s current MacBook Pro laptops will likely still hold a performance advantage. These pro-grade MacBooks have enjoyed fan-cooled M4 processing for months now.
Not stopping there, Apple also introduced a Mac Studio three-quel with options for an M4 Max processor or a brand-new M3 Ultra chip. The latter connects two M3 Max processors using a high-speed interconnect to create what looks to be the company’s most potent Apple Silicon chip to date. These new desktops start at $1,999 and $3,999, respectively, just like before.
I got the opportunity to see the new MacBook Air laptops and Mac Studio briefly before their unveiling. Here’s everything I learned about Apple’s latest ultraportable laptops and high-power desktops for 2025 so you can confidently decide whether to preorder one of these new Macs before their March 12 launch date—preorders are live now.Apple Gives the MacBook Air a 2025 Glow-Up
The MacBook Air has settled into its latest chassis design with few complaints, so what do you give a MacBook that (nearly) has it all? New colors and features, of course. With everything else unchanged in terms of thickness and weight, the new MacBook Air has a new color that Apple calls „Sky Blue.“
The Sky Blue hue actually appears to be two-tone as lighting conditions around it change. This color is one of the standard options alongside the existing ones; no need to pay extra to get the new look. On a related note, Apple’s Midnight (black) colorway now has the same fingerprint-resistant anodization on its aluminum as the black MacBook Pro to better resist oily smudges.
In addition to inheriting the M4 chip from the MacBook Pro laptops, which I’ll return to in a moment, the new MacBook Air models gain the Pros‘ 12-megapixel Center Stage camera with Desk View, which is an ultra-wide lens. Center Stage and Desk View leverage the M4 chip’s Neural Engine to follow subjects as they move around within the lens‘ viewing area.
What else do the M4 chips bring to the MacBook Air? Of course, they introduce higher power and efficiency. Apple brags that the M4 MacBook Air is twice as fast as the Apple Silicon-debut M1 model. Reading between the lines, that means a smaller performance gain over the outgoing M3 MacBook Air laptops.
