MacBook Air 15-inch

Apple’s big-screen MacBook Air still looks and feels great, and it’s faster thanks to an M3 chip.

M3 MacBook Air vs the M2 MacBook Air

“While maintaining their familiar appearance, the latest M3 MacBook Air models boast several new functionalities. Notably, they now facilitate dual external displays, a feature previously absent even in the M3-powered 14-inch MacBook Pro upon its initial release. Apple has assured users that this capability will be introduced to the latter through a forthcoming software update. ​ However, if the requirement includes simultaneous use of the laptop display alongside two or more external monitors, opting for a MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro or Max chip becomes necessary.

Additionally, both iterations of the new MacBook Air support Wi-Fi 6E, an advancement over the preceding Wi-Fi 6 standard, offering accelerated speeds and significantly reduced latency. To fully capitalize on these enhancements, users will require a Wi-Fi 6E router. Intel explains that Wi-Fi 6E’s utilization of seven 160MHz channels facilitates the avoidance of congested Wi-Fi 6 spectrum, potentially leading to more frequent instances of gigabit speeds. Personal testing with an AT&T gigabit fiber connection and Wi-Fi 6 gateway demonstrated download speeds averaging around 350 Mbps and uploads ranging between 220 Mbps and 320 Mbps from a basement office. Notably, both upload and download speeds surged to 700 Mbps when tested on the same floor as the gateway.”

Design and weight

Two years after the introduction of the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air, its M3 successor maintains the same level of sleekness and allure. Remarkably slender at just 0.44 inches thick and weighing a modest 2.7 pounds, it continues to impress with its compact design. While other ultraportables such as LG’s Gram and the ZenBook S13 OLED may surpass it in terms of weight and thickness, the MacBook Air still exudes a sense of premium quality. Crafted from a single piece of aluminum, its unibody construction boasts a smoothness akin to river stone yet a resilience comparable to a boulder.

The 15-inch M3 MacBook Air maintains a similar level of thinness, yet it weighs half a pound more at 3.2 pounds. While still lightweight considering its dimensions, this added weight contributes to a slightly more cumbersome feel compared to its 13-inch counterpart. While both models fit effortlessly into my tote bag when dashing to pick up my kids from school, the increased length of the larger model makes it a bit more cumbersome to carry around.

The larger MacBook Air boasts a generous 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display, featuring a crisp 2,880 by 1,864 resolution (equating to 224 pixels per inch).   This observation rings true from my experience when assisting my parents and other elderly relatives in selecting computers, as 13-inch laptops tend to present readability challenges, especially for those without bifocals.

Despite Apple’s introduction of a larger consumer-focused laptop to its lineup, my preference still leans towards the 13-inch MacBook Air. As someone who spends the majority of their day writing, collaborating via Slack, editing photos, and participating in video conferencing, these tasks are effortlessly manageable on a smaller screen. However, if my responsibilities included more direct involvement in editing episodes of the Engadget Podcast or video production, I would opt for the 14-inch MacBook Pro equipped with an M3 Pro chip. Nonetheless, even in such scenarios, I wouldn’t find much necessity for a significantly larger display.

Hardware

In our evaluation, Apple provided us with the “midnight” 13-inch MacBook Air, characterized by its near jet-black hue and a fingerprint-resistant coating that proves effective. Additionally, we received the silver 15-inch model for testing purposes. Both laptops were equipped with an M3 chip boasting a 10-core GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. While the starting prices for these MacBooks are ,099 and ,299, respectively, the configurations we tested were 0 more expensive. It’s important to note this price difference as it may impact the benchmark results you observe, especially when comparing them to the base models. (For instance, the most affordable 13-inch variant features only 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and an 8-core GPU, whereas the entry-level 15-inch version shares the same RAM and storage but offers a 10-core GPU.)

M3 chip performance

I was pleasantly surprised by the performance gains observed in both MacBook Air models during our benchmark tests. Notably, in the Cinebench R23 single-core test, both laptops scored approximately 300 points higher compared to their M2 predecessors. Moving to the more demanding multi-core CPU test, the 13-inch M3 Air exhibited a speed improvement of around 1,700 points, while the 15-inch model showcased an impressive gain of about 2,400 points. (Considering both devices lack fans, it’s plausible that the larger chassis of the 15-inch Air contributes to slightly superior performance under heavy loads.)

In Geekbench 6, we observed a more substantial difference, with the M3 models boasting speeds approximately 40 percent faster than their predecessors. While Apple highlights more modest enhancements over the M2 chips — 17 percent faster single-core performance, 21 percent swifter multi-core workloads, and a 15 percent improvement in GPU tasks — it’s encouraging to witness areas where the performance exceeds expectations. However, it’s essential to recognize that these devices aren’t intended to replace M2 systems; rather, they should be compared against nearly four-year-old M1 Macs or even older Intel models. Despite Apple’s claim that the M3 chip offers up to a 60 percent boost over the M1, our testing revealed a more conservative 35 percent increase in the Cinebench R23 multi-core test.

Gaming and productivity work

I must commend the M3 MacBook Airs for their noticeable improvement in gaming performance. Running Lies of P at 1080p+ (1,920 by 1,200) with high graphics settings resulted in a consistently smooth 60fps experience, with occasional dips into the low-50fps range, which did not significantly impact gameplay. Similarly, the director’s cut of Death Stranding played smoothly at that resolution, provided I kept the graphics settings at a reasonable level. ​Moreover, for those seeking a wider range of gaming options, streaming high-end games through Xbox’s cloud streaming or NVIDIA’s GeForce Now is also available.

In addition to the performance boost, both the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Airs offer a delightful user experience. Their 500-nit screens support HDR and are sufficiently bright for outdoor use in sunlight. While they may not match the ProMotion MiniLED displays found on MacBook Pros, they still meet the needs of most users.

Battery

Regrettably, due to the tight timeframe of this review, I wasn’t able to conduct a comprehensive battery test for these laptops. However, I can report that during my initial testing, both machines consumed only 40 percent of their battery life while continuously playing a 4K fullscreen video at maximum brightness for over 10 hours. According to Apple’s claims, they should provide up to 18 hours of playback for Apple TV videos and up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing. ​ (In my experience with the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air, I often went three days without needing to recharge. Given this, I anticipate similar endurance from the M3 models based on their performance so far.)