MacBook Air M4 Review

Tom's Guide

Mark's MacBook Air M4 review is here, and although it's not the biggest upgrade, Apple reminds us all why the MacBook Air is the best laptop for a lot of people. In this video, Mark will go over the key specs and our tested benchmarks to give more context as to whether it's the best laptop *for you*, as well as show off the new Sky Blue color and talk about the lower starting price for the MacBook Air 13 and MacBook Air 15 in 2025.

Transcript

00:00I think it's fair to wonder if Apple is coasting a bit with the new MacBook Air M4.

00:03Yes, it's been the best laptop on our list for a long time,

00:07but other than a new chip and fancy new color, there's not a ton of upgrades here.

00:11But Apple has also reduced the price by $100 versus the MacBook Air M3,

00:15making this a tempting upgrade for those with an older Air.

00:18So is this still one of the best laptops to buy?

00:21And even if it is, is this the right laptop for you?

00:24I'll break it all down in this episode of Buy or Skip.

00:26As Tony mentioned in his unboxing, which I'll link here in case you haven't checked out that video yet in our channel,

00:33the design of the MacBook Air hasn't changed in years,

00:35although I'm inclined to disagree with him that this is a good thing.

00:38I do wish Apple would make a few tweaks to the 13-inch Air design, though.

00:41The bezels are starting to look a bit thick after a few generations,

00:44and I also wouldn't mind a smaller notch at the top of the display, or no notch at all.

00:50And while the Touch ID button works well, I'd like to see Apple bring Face ID to the Mac.

00:54That said, I appreciate how thin and light the MacBook Air continues to be.

00:59I barely notice this laptop in my bag versus the heavier MacBook Pro 14-inch that I carry all the time.

01:04The one noticeable change, however, is the new color Sky Blue, and I'm a big fan.

01:09This metallic light blue shade is subtle yet eye-catching,

01:12and I like how the color shifts depending on how the light hits the chassis.

01:15The Air remains extremely minimalist when it comes to ports,

01:19with just two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a MagSafe 3 charging port on the left side,

01:24with the right side housing the headphone jack.

01:29The MacBook Air M4's display is great for the price.

01:32While working and watching movies,

01:34the 13-inch MacBook Air's liquid retina display is bright, colorful, and accurate.

01:38This panel is brighter than the Snapdragon version of the Dell XPS 13,

01:43but not as luminous as the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i.

01:46My only complaint with the MacBook Air M4 screen

01:48is that Apple doesn't offer the nano-texture option it does with the MacBook Pro.

01:52This has a huge difference when it comes to minimizing glare,

01:55and makes it much easier to get work done outside.

01:58I can see myself using the MacBook Air M4 as my everyday laptop,

02:04as it had no issues keeping up with my typical workload.

02:07I bounced between Slack, over two dozen tabs in Google Chrome,

02:10and the Photos app, all while playing Spotify in the background.

02:13And I didn't notice any slowdown as I switched from one app to the next.

02:17In Geekbench, the MacBook Air M4 scores 21% higher

02:20than the MacBook Air M3 on single-core,

02:23and the dual-core number is 23% higher.

02:25This continues to leave Intel machines in the dust.

02:28Those who edit video will be pleased to know

02:30that the 13-inch MacBook Air M4 is a minute and a half faster

02:33than the M3 model in our handbrake test.

02:36The MacBook Pro is faster still, even with the same chip,

02:39but that makes sense because it offers sustained performance

02:42due to its active cooling.

02:43The MacBook Air uses a fanless design.

02:46When it comes to photo and video editing,

02:48the MacBook Air M4 can more than hold its own.

02:50The 13-inch MacBook Air M4 notched a higher score

02:52than its Windows counterparts on the Adobe Premiere Pro video editing test.

02:56While I have no real-world complaints about the SSD speed

02:59on our MacBook Air review unit,

03:01the write-and-read speeds from the 256 gigs of flash storage

03:04are lower than I was expecting.

03:06We've also tested the 512-gig model, and that's faster.

03:09I'm also a little bummed that the MacBook Air M4 only supports Wi-Fi 6E,

03:12which is not the latest standard.

03:14It would have been nice if Apple offered Wi-Fi 7,

03:16as it does on the iPhone 16 series.

03:19I know I just went through a bunch of benchmarks,

03:20but just a reminder that these are standard

03:22across laptop and tablet reviews on this channel.

03:25If those are the things that you like to know before buying your tech,

03:28consider subscribing and turning on those notifications

03:30so you never miss another Tom's Guide review.

03:34So what can you do with that performance?

03:36Every MacBook Air going back to the M1 supports Apple Intelligence,

03:39but if you haven't experienced Apple's AI on a laptop,

03:42there are some handy and fun features on board.

03:44For example, with writing tools,

03:46you can let Apple Intelligence help proofread your copy

03:48or rewrite it using a different tone.

03:50I find this summary feature most helpful,

03:52especially when reviewing longer documents.

03:55I also like that you can use natural language to describe your change.

03:58And then in the Photos app, I find photo cleanup useful.

04:01However, it still works best when there's not a lot going on in the frame.

04:05Siri is now also smarter and more conversational.

04:08If you don't feel like having an out loud conversation with a robot,

04:11type to Siri in the upper right-hand corner is a super great option.

04:15Being able to learn things like how to record your screen

04:18with step-by-step instructions is invaluable to new Mac users.

04:22Obviously, there's still a dearth of games on Mac compared to Windows.

04:25However, Apple is committed to gaming,

04:28and on the 13-inch MacBook Air M4, I had a lot of fun.

04:31I really got sucked in while playing Lies of P on the MacBook Air M4.

04:34With the action remaining fluid, the graphics are pretty solid too.

04:38Everything from the pools of blood to the fabric has a fair amount of detail.

04:43I'm doing it.

04:44However, when it comes to demanding titles, don't expect fast frame rates.

04:50The 13-inch MacBook Air M4 stayed below 30 frames per second on Borderlands 3 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider,

04:56though it notched a better 38 FPS on Civ 6.

05:00Now, when it comes to battery life,

05:01Apple says the 13-inch MacBook Air M4 can last up to 15 hours of wireless web surfing.

05:07And they weren't lying.

05:08However, the runtime that we got is lower than last year's MacBook Air M3,

05:12which is a little disappointing.

05:13While impressive, the MacBook Air M4 is definitely falling behind in the top Windows competition

05:17when it comes to battery life.

05:19Using it all week, though, I thought the MacBook Air offered plenty of staying power.

05:23Getting through a full workday ran the battery down to 38% from a full charge.

05:28And so how much does this all cost?

05:30Both the new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air M4s are available now,

05:33and incredibly for Apple, the price has come down.

05:36The MacBook Air 13-inch M4 now starts at $999.

05:39That's $100 off the previous Air M3, which, given the landscape, feels like a steal.

05:45Whereas the 15-inch starts at $1199 for a bigger screen and longer battery life.

05:49If you prefer macOS, the new 13-inch MacBook Air M4 is a no-brainer

05:53and the best laptop for the money, in my opinion,

05:55especially if you own an Air M1 or older.

05:58If you're coming from an M1 Air, you're getting all the benefits of the latest design,

06:02including a thinner and lighter chassis, brighter display, and MagSafe charging.

06:06Plus, a much faster chip and higher-res camera.

06:09However, I think you can skip the new Air if you have a MacBook Air M3 or MacBook Air M2 model.

06:15That's because the design is identical,

06:16and I don't think the performance gains warrant the investment.

06:20Plus, you do get all the same Apple Intelligence features on the older Airs.

06:23Despite offering iterative upgrades, the MacBook Air M4 is the best MacBook for most people,

06:27and for me, the best laptop for most people, period.

06:30The $100 price cut seals the deal.

06:32Let us know in the comments if you agree that the price drop is enough

06:35to get you excited about the new MacBook Air,

06:38and if you're going for the 13- or 15-inch model.

06:41Make sure you go to Tom'sGuide.com to see my full review of the MacBook Air

06:44and follow us across all of our socials at Tom's Guide.

06:47For Tom's Guide, this is Mark Spoonhour.

06:49Watch this show.

07:06It's really intense.

07:07Yeah.

07:08Just wait for the point I'm going for it.

07:10Oh, yeah.

07:15Oh, yeah.

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