MacBook Air M4 Review: Faster, Cheaper, Still the Best Ultraportable
The MacBook Air M4 keeps Apple’s ultraportable crown with a faster chip, a lower price, and the same premium build that outshines Windows rivals. Both the 13-inch and 15-inch models remain sleek at 0.44 inches thick, weighing 2.7 and 3.2 pounds. The unibody aluminum design, crisp keyboard, and best-in-class trackpad set the standard.
Key upgrades
- M4 chip with 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU (base 13-inch starts with 8-core GPU)
- New 12 MP Center Stage webcam
- Optional Sky Blue finish
- Starting price: $999 (down from $1,099)
Display and performance
- 13.6-inch or 15.3-inch Liquid Retina Display, 500 nits brightness, P3 color support
- Still 60Hz refresh rate, a drawback compared to some PC laptops
- Geekbench 6 shows ~20% faster CPU and up to 16% better GPU than M3
The MacBook Air M4 breezes through heavy multitasking, from browsers with many tabs to photo editing. It transcodes 4K video to 1080p in 27 seconds on CPU and 17 seconds on GPU. Gaming is not the focus, but titles like Lies of P can hit 60 fps at 1080p.
Pros
- Thin, light, durable build
- Strong battery life
- Excellent keyboard and trackpad
- Lower starting price
Cons
- Limited ports
- 60Hz display
