Apple announced the release of new MacBook Airs equipped with the M3 chip. The most popular gaming laptop doesn’t change externally, we stay with the current range consisting of two models, a 13-inch entry-level and a 15-inch high-end. The next-generation chip will give them better performance while offering improved features, most notably a move to Wi-Fi 6E. Without all the price increases, we stay at the original price of €1,299.
The Apple M3 is carved at 3 nanometers and maintains the same general characteristics as its predecessor, including four cores, four efficient and four economical, and a GPU with up to 10 cores and all major new functional features (ray – tracing, dynamic caching…). The neural engine also stays on 16 cores, even if it’s a newer generation. Enough to improve the performance of the new MacBook Air.
As it is wont to do, Apple does not compare the M3 MacBook Airs to the M2s and advertises a 60% gain over the M1 MacBook Airs. Which, by the way, will no longer be marketed, are the previous models with their M2 chip that remain listed as the first price. The company is also touting MacBook Airs that are 13 times faster than Intel models, but we wonder how long that comparison will last…
Either way, these MacBook Airs will be faster, as we already know thanks to the first Macs on the market with the M3 chip. Not that performance was a sticking point for the M2 models, obviously. Like the old models, this new generation will not be cooled by a fan and the official autonomy will be maintained at 18 hours.
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In addition to the performance boost, the M3 chip brings two significant new features. The Wi-Fi chip, first of all, goes to the 6E standard, which will allow for faster speeds, of course if you are equipped with a Wi-Fi router that also meets this standard. Older MacBook Airs were “stuck” on Wi-Fi 6 and we’ll apparently have to wait another generation to move on to Wi-Fi 7, which is now establishing itself in the landscape.
Another big new feature concerns support for external screens. For the first time since Apple’s transition to silicon, the MacBook Air is no longer limited to an external display, at least not without tinkering. You can connect two… but there is still one very important asterisk: you have to deactivate the internal screen to do this, for example by turning off the computer. That’s the only new thing, the M3 chip can still manage a maximum of two screens, except you can now choose to have two externally as long as you have zero internally. To have three or more screens, MacBook Pros with M3 Pro or M3 Max chips will be mandatory.
To complete the new features chapter, the treatment designed for the Space Black MacBook Pro M3 has been used to better protect the Midnight MacBook Air M3 from fingerprints. The real downside to this color was when you took it out of the box it was quickly covered in fingerprints that were hard to remove. The new anodizing process that was so effective on the MacBook Pros is making its debut in the Air range with this generation.
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Apple also indicates that the MacBook Air M3 is its first product to be made from more than 50% recycled materials. Aluminum was already 100% recycled, as were so-called rare metals for magnets, but for copper on motherboards it is new. It is also now fully recycled, the first to push the product past the very symbolic 50% mark.
For the rest, the MacBook Air is not developed, which undoubtedly justifies this publication only through a press release. Apple details all the advantages of its ultra-thin computer, available in four colors, and its chips, with a heavy emphasis on the capabilities of the M3 and its neural engine in the field of artificial intelligence. The MacBook Air M3 will thus be “the world’s best consumer laptop for AI,” only: 2024 is indeed becoming the year of artificial intelligence, if we judge from this press release alone.
You can order a copy now from the Apple Online Store and delivery is expected by March 8, which is this Friday. The basic 13-inch model, selling for €1,299, is stuck with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage in particular, while its M3 chip is a bit restrictive. The CPU retains its eight cores (4 efficient and 4 economical), while the GPU has “only” eight of the ten cores it could have with the M3 chip. Great news, the top model, with 8 GB of RAM but the highest 512 GB SSD as well as the full M3 chip, drops in price to €1,529, €120 less than before.
If that’s too expensive for you, the MacBook Air M2 remains in the catalog, even if the price drop is very small. The entry level thus sells for €1,199, which is a hundred euros less than the new chip, not sure if that’s very interesting. It’s the same price as the M3 at an educational price, while students and teachers can buy the older generation for €1,079.
Finally, the 15-inch still starts at €1,599 with the same RAM and SSD as the 13-inch and the only minor advantage of integrating a full GPU from the base model. Note that there is no longer a 15-inch MacBook Air M2, the latest generation remains available only if you want a larger screen.
