Apple’s very own “laptop for everyone” gets a jolt of power with the infusion of the M3 chip. Moreover, the MacBook Air now comes with faster Wi-Fi, and support for up to two external displays, and a promise of up to 18 hours of battery life.

Faster than ever with M3

The new MacBook Air is up to 60 percent faster than the M1 model and up to 13x faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Air. Users will feel the blazing speed of M3 in everything they do, from everyday productivity, to demanding tasks like photo and video editing, and software development.

With M3 also comes some gaming capabilities previously unheard of for the MacBook Air. Game titles like No Man’s Sky run up to 60 percent faster than the 13-inch MacBook Air with the M1 chip.

These bump up speeds can also be felt when working in Excel (35 percent faster vs M1) and video editing with Final Cut Pro (60 percent faster vs M1).

AI ready

Much like most laptops coming out in 2024, the M3 chip has a neural engine making it AI-capable. Enhancing an image with AI using Photomator’s Super Resolution feature is up to 40 percent faster than the 13-inch model with the M1 chip, and up to 15x faster for customers who haven’t upgraded to a Mac with Apple silicon.

With a broad ecosystem of apps that deliver advanced AI features, users can do everything from checking their homework with AI Math Assistance in Goodnotes 6, to automatically enhancing photos in Pixelmator Pro, to removing background noise from a video using CapCut. Combined with the unified memory architecture of Apple silicon, MacBook Air can also run optimized AI models, including large language models (LLMs) and diffusion models for image generation locally with great performance.

It also supports cloud-basedAI solutions such as Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365, Canva, and Adobe Firefly.

The MacBook Air you know and love

Despite the performance boosts, it’s still the same MacBook Air you know and love. It comes in either 13-inch or 15-inch models with the ever eye-friendly Liquid Retina Display. It has support for two external displays even when the laptop lid is closed.

For connectivity, you get Wi-Fi 6E, MagSafe charging, two Thunderbolt ports, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The cameras, mics, and speakers are the same high quality that Apple has offered for a couple of years now and of course, you still get the Magic Keyboard and Touch ID.

Price and availability

The MacBook Air M3 will begin arriving to customers, and will be in Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers, starting Friday, March 8.

In the US, pre-orders begin on March 4.

The 13-inch MacBook Air with M3 starts at $1,099 (U.S.) and $999 (U.S.) for education, and the 15‑inch MacBook Air with M3 starts at $1,299 (U.S.) and $1,199 (U.S.) for education. Both are available in midnight, starlight, silver, and space gray.

In Singapore, pre-orders begin on March 6 at 9AM, SGT.

The 13-inch MacBook Air with M3 starts at SGD 1,599 and SGD 1,449 for education, and the 15‑inch MacBook Air with M3 starts at SGD 1,899 and SGD 1,749 for education. Both are available in midnight, starlight, silver, and space grey.

In the Philippines, the 13-inch model starts at PhP 69,990 while the 15-inch model starts at 82,990.