I absolutely love the MacBook Air. I’ve loved it since the original wedge design, but it feels like it’s become an entirely different product since the Apple Silicon version was introduced with the M1.
What was once a great laptop for most people is now the perfect laptop for even more people with absolutely no compromises, and that gets even better with the M3 version.
Design-wise, there’s not a lot of newness from the M2 version. It still comes in 13-inch and 15-inch with the 13-inch version coming in at a shocking 1.1cm in thickness and weighing just 1.24kg. It is a remarkable design that feels even more ridiculous with the performance that the M3 chip provides.
As far as ports go, you’ve still got the MagSafe charging port, as well as two Thunderbolt ports on the left hand size as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack on the right. I’d still absolutely love just one more Thunderbolt port or at the very least one on the right side.
I tested the Midnight version which was criticised for attracting fingerprints on the M2 version, but it now has that same anodisation seal seen on the Space Black M3 Pro for less fingerprints. It’s definitely better, particularly on the inside where I found the shell picking up far less finger prints. It’s not totally finger print free though, which is just the nature of the darker material.
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I still absolutely love the Midnight colour though, and it wasn’t enough to deter me last year, and absolutely won’t be enough this year either. it’s so stunning and gives the laptop and even more premium feel.
LEFT: M2 & M2 Midnight Compared / Right: Space Black & Midnight comparedThe M3 MacBook Air has that same 2560×1664 60hz Liqiuid Retina display that is fine for everyday use, but something new to the M3 chip is the ability to finally display to two external displays. This is a big deal as many people (myself included) use the Air as a daily driver in the office, but then place it at a workstation with two monitors which wasn’t possible with the M1/M2.
It’s now possible, but with one caveat. You need to have your laptop closed, so it’s effectively still using two screens, but it’s a great solution and allows for that flexibility.
Another reason to potentially go for the MacBook Pro over the Air was the Wi-Fi capability which was limited on the Air, but Apple has now introduced Wi-Fi 6E connectivity on the Air as well which helps with wireless speeds tremendously. You can read my review of the Google Nest Pro 6E Wi-Fi router here for why Wi-FI 6E is such a big deal.
@shannongrixti The new M3 MacBook Air is up to 60% faster than the M1 version, can output to two external displays, has faster Wi-Fi and the Midnight colour shows less fingerprints #M3MacBookAir #MacBookAirM3 #MacBookAir #AppleSIlicon #Tech #MacBook #Apple #Tech @
The M1 chip was a breakthrough chip for Apple, but just a few years later, it’s amazing how much more they’re getting out of Apple Silicon with the M3 chip. It represents roughly a 20% increase on the incredible M2 chip and somewhere between 40-50% of an increase from the M1 Chip. If you’re still using an Intel laptop, you honestly will not know yourself moving to the M3 chip.
It wasn’t really an issue on the M2 version of the MacBook Air, but I can now confidently edit a 4K video, with Photoshop open as well as a bunch of tabs and it never missed a beat, and that’s without doubt my favourite thing about the Air.
With older Intel models, you really had to think about what you were going to be doing on it, or it’d start slowing down, but that’s just not a problem, even with the still fanless design of the MacBook Air it’s just an absolute beast.
It’s been no secret that Apple has been investing more in the gaming space, over the years, and it’s still incredible to me that the MacBook Air can now play the latest AAA games. I ran through the likes of Death Stranding, Lies of P, Resident Evil Village and Stray and was able to play them all at 1080P between 30-60FPS thanks to MetalFX upscaling.
If I haven’t sold you on the M3 MacBook Air yet, let me talk about the battery life. Again, on Intel MacBooks, they were always better than Intel Windows PCs, but it’s still unbelievable how far you can push these devices and still have them last a work day.
I can comfortable remote work in the office or fly to Sydney and back, and whilst I still take my charger with my just in case, I’ve never had to pull it out and actually use it unless I’ve spent multiple days away from home. It’s just that good, and there’s no compromise with the increased power of the M3 chip.
The reality is that there’s very few people that I’d recommend make the jump from a MacBook Air to a MacBook Pro. Unless you’re a hardcore gamer and want the best performance or have an absolute need for the 120hz display (which I’d love to see here) or the SD card reader/HDMi ports, the M3 MacBook Air is going to be more than fine for most people.
