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Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4): Two-minute review
The MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) is the latest edition of Apple’s large-screen thin and light laptop, launched alongside the smaller MacBook Air 13-inch (M4). Many of us have been waiting for Apple’s most popular laptops to get the powerful M4 chip since it debuted last year with the iPad Pro.
Since then, we’ve had M4 versions of the MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac mini, which has left MacBook Air fans (and there are a lot of them, with the MacBook Air being the most popular Mac product) waiting for their turn.
It’s perhaps understandable that some people might feel like the M4 MacBook Airs are an afterthought, with Apple taking so long to bring its latest chip to its most affordable laptops, but it seems Apple has settled into this release schedule. After all, the M3 MacBook Air (in both 13-inch and 15-inch configurations) launched pretty much exactly a year ago, in March 2024.
It seems Apple doesn’t want to get into another controversy by releasing a new MacBook model less than a year after the previous one. It did that with the MacBook Pro M3, which launched around nine months after the MacBook Pro M2, and it got a lot of flak for that.
By spacing the launches out for a year, it’s less likely to annoy people who have bought the previous model, and I get the feeling that Apple’s made the calculation that because the MacBook Air is aimed at a more casual, mainstream audience, there’s less clamor to get the latest and greatest hardware.
To be fair, that’s probably the right call, and no one who has an M3 MacBook Air should feel the need to upgrade to the M4 model. We go into more depth about what the M4 brings to the MacBook Air in our MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) review, but this release is more of a refinement than a complete reimagining.
When a laptop is as good as the MacBook Air (in either size), then that’s no bad thing at all, and if you’re looking for a new laptop, especially coming from a much older MacBook or Windows laptop, then there’s a very good chance that you’ll absolutely love the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4).
With a starting price of $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,099, Apple gave us all a pleasant surprise, as like the 13-inch model, the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) has actually had a price cut, as the base model of the 15-inch MacBook Air with M3 started at $1,299 / £1,399 / AU$2,199.
A better model for less money is fantastic to see, especially these days where things seem to be getting ever more expensive, and I’ve got to give Apple credit for this. One of the best things about the MacBook Air is its affordability compared to laptops of a similar spec, and it’s great to see that Apple understands this.
This lower price does come at some cost, however, as unlike with previous generations, Apple is no longer officially selling any of the older MacBook Airs. When the MacBook Air M2 came out, for example, Apple reduced the price of the M1 model and sold it as a more affordable option, and the same thing happened with the M3 model (the M2 model got a price cut).
Instead, Apple is only selling the M4 models of the new MacBook Airs, so if you want to buy direct from the company, there’s no cheaper option available. However, third party retailers will continue to sell older MacBook Airs as they clear their inventory, and we’ve already seen some impressive MacBook Air deals since the announcement of the M4 model.
The base model of the 15-inch MacBook Air comes with the M4 chip with a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB of unified memory and 256GB of SSD storage – the same as the base model of the new 13-inch MacBook Air.
In fact, in many ways, the M4 MacBook Air 15-inch is the same as the 13-inch model, but with a larger screen, and therefore larger overall size. Even the sharpness of the two screens are essentially the same, due to the larger 15.3-inch screen coming with a higher resolution of 2880 x 1864 which works out at 224 pixels per inch, compared to the 13.6-inch screen’s 2560 x 1664 resolution, which also offers 224 pixels per inch.
This means the screens offer the same level of sharpness, and with the other similarities of the hardware, it really boils down to which screen size you’d prefer. The 15-inch MacBook Air offers a larger screen that some people will find more comfortable to work on, while the 13-inch model’s smaller size will appeal more to people who want a laptop they can rely on while traveling.
One big difference between the 13-inch and 15-inch M4 MacBook Airs is that the larger MacBook comes with six built-in speakers with force-cancelling woofers, while the smaller laptop makes do with four speakers, and no force-cancelling.
So, the 15-inch MacBook Air with M4 offers a much richer and more immersive sound experience, while the woofers offer deeper bass without shaking or vibrating the MacBook. The sound is certainly impressive considering the thin and light design of the 15-inch MacBook Air – it’s certainly one of the best sounding laptops you can buy, and if audio quality is of the utmost importance to you, then you will likely be better off buying the 15-inch model rather than the 13-inch.
There have also been some slight design tweaks since the last generation of MacBook Airs. The MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) (as with the 13-inch model) now comes with a 12MP Center Stage webcam. When broadcasting, you can move around and the Center Stage camera will keep you in frame (within reason – you can’t move too far). It does a decent job, and the video quality is clean and crisp.
The new webcam also supports Desk View, which cleverly keeps you in shot, while also showing your desk in another shot. This can be useful if you’re demonstrating something to an audience, and previously you’d need two cameras to achieve the same effect – one to shoot you from the front, the second angled to shoot your hands.
While not everyone is going to make use of this feature, it’s pretty clever, and works well. The new webcam also uses the M4 chip to offer machine learning-enhanced video effects such as Studio Light, which adjusts the lighting, brightness and contrast of your footage to give you a more professional look. It’s similar to the Windows Studio Effects tool found in Windows 11 laptops which come with AI-capable processors.
The new M4-powered MacBook Airs also come with a new color choice: Sky Blue. Don’t go thinking this is a vibrant, iMac-like hue, however. It’s a more subtle, metallic color with a hint of blue, and while understated, I do like it (Apple was kind enough to send me a review unit in the new color). The MagSafe charge cable comes in a color that matches the color of the MacBook Air, which is a nice touch.
Overall, the new MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) is an excellent thin and light laptop, and one of the best 15-inch laptops you can currently buy. However, if you have an M3, or even M2, version, there’s not much different that will make you feel the need to upgrade. That’s no particular slight on the M4 chip, but rather a testament to how good the M2 and M3 remain.
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) review: Price and availability
In a very welcome move, Apple has released the new MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) at a lower price than the M3 model launched at, beginning at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,099, which gives you an M4 chip with a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB of unified memory and 256GB of SSD storage.
After getting an increasing amount of flak for launching modern MacBook Airs with 8GB of memory and 128GB SSDs, which isn’t enough these days, Apple – to its credit – doubled the base amount of memory and storage without increasing the price of the M3 model, and I’m pleased to see that it has continued to offer 16GB and 256GB as its minimum configuration.
If you’re a student, then you can get a further price cut which makes the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) much better value, and even without that discount, you’ll be hard pushed to find a 15-inch laptop that offers the same level of performance, design and build quality for a similar price. A recent model of the Dell XPS 15, for example, launched at $1,499 / £1,499 / AU$2,498.
In fact, the only competition the 15-inch MacBook Air with M4 has is… the 13-inch model, which offers the same level of performance, but with a smaller screen and fewer built-in speakers, and starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699. As impressed as I am with the price of the 15-inch MacBook Air, I’m not sure the larger screen and better sound justify the extra $200 / £200 / AU$400.
Unlike with previous generations, where Apple continued selling an earlier model as a more affordable option, it’s no longer selling M2 or M3 MacBook Airs, and while third party retailers will continue selling those models whilst stock lasts, the M4 models are now the only option available to buy direct from Apple, which means you have less choice if you want to get a cheaper MacBook.
The good news is that since the launch of the M4 MacBook Airs, we’ve seen some fantastic deals on the older models already.
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) review: Specs
Here are the specs for the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) at a glance.
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
Base Model |
Review Unit |
Top Configuration |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Price |
$1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,099 |
$1,399 / £1,399 / AU$2,399 |
$2,399 / £2,399 / AU$3,899 |
|
CPU |
M4 10-core |
M4 10-core |
M4 10-core |
|
GPU |
10-core |
10-core |
10-core |
|
RAM |
16GB unified memory |
16GB unified memory |
32GB unified memory |
|
Storage |
256GB SSD |
512GB SSD |
2TB SSD |
|
Ports |
MagSafe 3 charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack, 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) |
MagSafe 3 charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack, 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) |
MagSafe 3 charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack, 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) |
|
Wireless |
Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3 |
Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3 |
Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3 |
|
Weight |
2.7lbs / 1.24kg |
2.7lbs / 1.24kg |
2.7lbs / 1.24kg |
|
Dimensions |
0.45 x 13.4 x 9.35 inches / 1.15 x 34.04 x 23.76 cm |
0.45 x 13.4 x 9.35 inches / 1.15 x 34.04 x 23.76 cm |
0.45 x 13.4 x 9.35 inches / 1.15 x 34.04 x 23.76 cm |
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) review: Design
- New Sky Blue color
- Upgraded webcam
- Otherwise same design
Since getting a major design overhaul with the M2 model back in 2022, Apple has pretty much stuck to the same design for its MacBook Air releases, with the 15-inch model essentially looking identical to the 13-inch model – just larger.
This is pretty much true with the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4), which largely keeps the look of the M3 model, but with a few welcome tweaks. The lack of a major new look isn’t too much of an issue, as the design remains stylish and modern.
With dimensions of 0.45 x 13.40 x 9.35 inches (1.15 x 34.04 x 23.76cm) and a weight of 3.3lbs (1.51kg), it remains an impressively slim and light 15-inch laptop, though the smaller dimensions of the 13-inch MacBook Air mean that’s the laptop I’d recommend to people who want the most portable machine.
While some rival laptop makers are putting out stylish and incredibly light laptops, especially LG with its ‘gram’ lineup of laptops, the 15-inch MacBook Air is unmistakably a premium Apple product with a stylish design and solid build quality.
On the left-hand side are two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a MagSafe 3 charging port (which contains magnets which makes plugging and unplugging the power connector convenient – and protects the MacBook from damage should the cable be yanked out by accident), and on the right-hand side is a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The Thunderbolt 4 ports offer speeds of up to 40Gb/s, and while it would have been nice to have faster Thunderbolt 5 ports, for most people this will be plenty fast enough for transferring large files to and from an external hard drive.
It’s not the best selection of ports, and we’ve seen rival thin and light laptops feature a greater array of ports, such as HDMI, without sacrificing their svelte looks, but at least the inclusion of the MagSafe 3 port means you don’t have to give up one of the Thunderbolt 4 ports when charging (though you can still use a USB-C charger to top up the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4)’s battery if you leave your MagSafe charger at home.
There have been a few changes to the design, however. For a start, the webcam is now a 12MP Center Stage camera which also offers the Desk View feature, which effectively splits your footage into two – a front-on portrait shot, and a wide angled view of your hands and desk. The image quality is excellent (boosted by the M4 chip), though the divisive ‘notch’ that surrounds the webcam and dips down into the screen remains.
This has been a part of the MacBook Air’s design for three years now, so most people who had a problem with this have likely made peace with its inclusion, and I’ve never had an issue with it, but it’s worth pointing out, especially as there are rival Windows 11 laptops that include just as good a webcam into thin bezels without needing a notch.
Another very minor design change is with the keyboard. It remains backlit, with a Touch ID button for quickly logging into macOS or confirming Apple Pay payments using a fingerprint, and is comfortable to use (and no longer plagued by stuck keys, which older MacBooks sometimes suffered from). What’s changed, however, is the mute icon on the F10 key, which has changed from a symbol of a speaker to a symbol of a speaker with a line through it.
This might seem like a minor change, but it’s actually one I welcome, as it means the symbol now matches the icon that appears on screen when you mute the sound of the laptop. It also matches what most other devices use as a mute symbol, and also means the mute button and the volume down button (which also has a speaker icon) are less easily confused, as they now look more distinct.
The biggest design change, however, is the new Sky Blue color. Apple sent me the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) in this color, and you’ll be able to see what it looks like in the photos that accompany this review. It’s a subtle, metallic color that means it doesn’t look out of place next to the existing Midnight, Starlight and Silver colors, and while it’s not as vibrant as the iMac colors, it does mean it looks professional, while offering a hint of personality. It’s always nice to see the braided MagSafe cable that’s included in the package match the color of the MacBook Air you choose as well.
Overall, the design of the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) remains stylish, thin and portable. If you’re looking for a 15-inch laptop with a premium look, then you’ll be very happy with the design of this machine.
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) review: Performance
- Very good performance
- M4 remains impressive
- Big leap over Intel Macs
While the design of the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) feels like an iterative update over the previous model, the hardware and performance of the new MacBook Air… also feels like a limited leap rather than a generational one.
In some ways this is to be expected due to Apple’s yearly release schedule for its M-class chips. There’s only so many improvements and refinements you can make, and unlike with an iPhone, you’re unlikely to want to upgrade your laptop every year or so.
What this means is that if you already own an M3-powered MacBook Air, the performance upgrade you’re going to get by moving to the M4 isn’t going to be huge.
This is why in most of Apple’s marketing and documentation for the new MacBook Air 15-inch (M4), the company highlights the performance gains over the 13-inch MacBook Air with an Intel Core i7 processor from around 2020.
According to Apple, the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) offers around 20 times the performance of the Intel MacBook Air in certain tasks. Meanwhile, the difference between the M3 and M4 MacBook Air, according to Apple’s own figures, is much more modest (I’m talking single digit increases).
Having used both the M2 and M3 MacBook Airs extensively, as well as my time testing the M4 MacBook Air, I have to say that there was little noticeable performance difference. Pretty much every app, and the macOS operating system itself, ran smoothly, and almost every major application now supports the Arm-based M4 chip natively, which meant I didn’t need to rely on the Rosetta 2 tool which allows apps designed for Intel Macs to run (which comes with a slight hit to performance).
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) benchmarks
Here’s how the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) performed in our suite of industry-standard benchmarks and game tests.
Geekbench 6.4:
Single – 3,799
Multi – 14,921
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test:
Read: 3,012.5MB/s
Write: 3,335.1MB/s
Cinebench:
Single-core – x
Multi-core – 904
GPU – 3,860
Battery life test:
15 hours 14 minutes
More intensive tasks, such as editing 4K raw footage in Premiere Pro, saw a bigger improvement, but, again, not enough to warrant upgrading from the M3. Most people looking to buy a MacBook Air won’t be performing heavy duty tasks with it, but for day-to-day use, the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) is truly excellent. The efficiency of the M4 chip means that it is also once again fanless, so the MacBook Air remains silent throughout use – a lovely change from many Windows 11 laptops that like to whirr up their fans seemingly at the drop of a hat.
The screen remains excellent, with bright, vivid colors, though an increasing number of competitors, such as the Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ threaten to beat Apple here with support for OLED screen technology which makes a huge difference to image quality. We’re also seeing an increasing number of 4K laptops that offer sharper resolutions as well.
That’s not to say that the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4)’s screen is bad – far from it – but rivals are catching up fast at this price point. A new feature with the M4 chip is that the MacBook Air can now support two external displays at once, while also powering its built-in screen as well – a welcome tweak that people who like to use multiple monitors at once will be very pleased with.
Where the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) remains a leader in its class is with the audio. Watching shows and movies in Apple TV+ looked good, but sounded even better thanks to the six-speaker sound system offers a depth and clarity that other thin and light laptops can’t match. In movies especially, the six speakers offer a wide soundstage, with sound effects coming from either side of the screen. Apple also talks up the spatial audio abilities of the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4)’s speakers, and while it doesn’t compare to my physical Dolby Atmos home theatre setup, there are still moments of impressive immersion as the sound envelops you. Considering the slimline design of the 15-inch MacBook Air, this is very impressive.
What does disappoint, slightly, is that Apple has stuck with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless networking and peripheral connections, two last-gen technologies that lack some of the features and performance that Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 offer.
Overall, the performance of the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) is superb for the price, and if you’re coming from an Intel-based MacBook, or even a traditional Windows 11 laptop, then you’re going to be very impressed with what the new MacBook Air offers.
However, if you already have an M2 or M3 MacBook Air, I don’t think there’s enough of a performance leap to justify upgrading just yet – and I’d recommend holding out for the (almost) inevitable M5-powered MacBook Air which could land sometime next year.
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) review: Battery life
- Apple promises 18 hours
- We found it lasted over 15 hours
- Slightly longer battery life than the 13-inch model
Ever since Apple switched from Intel hardware to its own Arm-based M-series chips, I’ve been incredibly impressed with the power efficiency of the MacBook Air. Even when performing complex tasks, the performance of the new MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) didn’t drop when on battery power (some laptops will throttle performance to prolong battery life), and in our battery life benchmark tests, it easily cleared 15 hours of continuous use.
This means you can confidently use the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) for several work days without worrying about plugging it in – something I did myself while testing.
Because of the bigger body, Apple has added a larger battery to the 15-inch MacBook Air compared to the 13-inch model, and this resulted in a slightly longer battery life for the 15-inch MacBook Air, though the extra energy needed to power the larger screen means there’s not a huge amount in it.
Should you buy the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4)?
|
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
|
Price |
Now with a new, lower price, the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) offers excellent value for money. |
4.5 / 5 |
|
Design |
The design remains the same, but that’s not a bad thing – this is a stylish thin and light 15-inch laptop. However, competitors are beginning to catch up. |
4 / 5 |
|
Performance |
The MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) is a solid performer that can handle any day to day task you throw at it. It’s not a major leap from the M3 model, however. |
4 / 5 |
|
Average rating |
The MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) is the best 15-inch laptop you can buy, especially due to its new lower price, which makes it better value than ever. |
4.5 / 5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4): Also consider
How I tested the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4)
- I used the new MacBook Air for around a week
- I ran multiple benchmarks
- I used it as my daily work laptop
I’ve used the MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) over the past week as my main work laptop, writing most of this review on it, as well as browsing the web, attending meetings via video call and running our suite of benchmarks. I also played around with video and photo editing during my time with the laptop. I’ve been reviewing MacBooks for TechRadar for well over a decade, and have extensively used and tested all models of Apple’s M-series chips.
- First reviewed: March 2025
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matthew.hanson@futurenet.com (Matt Hanson)
