Apple MacBook Air Apple 13" MacBook Air (M4, Silver) Review

The 13-inch MacBook Air with the M4 chip is a weirdly powerful featherweight. It weighs just 1.24kg, landing it in the 91st percentile for compactness, but it packs a 2TB SSD and 24GB of RAM, specs that put it in the 93rd and 60th percentiles respectively. That's a lot of headroom for a machine this small. Apple's calling card here is reliability, which scores in the 96th percentile. For business and student tasks, it's rated over 92/100, but for gaming, it's a non-starter at a dismal 19.7 out of 100.

The M4's 10-core CPU lands in the 66th percentile. That's solid, but not chart-topping. It means you'll breeze through office apps, video calls, and even some light photo editing without a hiccup. The real story is efficiency and integration. With 24GB of unified memory, multitasking is smooth, and that 2TB NVMe storage is blisteringly fast. The GPU, however, is the clear trade-off for the thin-and-light design, sitting at the 18th percentile. This isn't a machine for rendering or modern games. The 13.6-inch Retina display is bright at 500 nits and sharp, scoring in the 81st percentile for screen quality.

At $1999, you're paying a premium for the Apple ecosystem, the unmatched portability, and that top-tier reliability score. You get a ton of fast storage and a good chunk of RAM for the money. But you have to be honest: the CPU is only in the 66th percentile, and the GPU is near the bottom. For pure specs-per-dollar, a Windows ultrabook or even Apple's own base 14-inch MacBook Pro might offer more raw power. The value is in the total package—lightweight, reliable, and with enough storage to never worry again.

Compared to the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 Max, you're giving up a huge amount of GPU and CPU power for a lighter, more portable form factor and a lower price. The Pro is a workstation; this Air is a supremely capable daily driver. Against a Windows machine like the ASUS Zenbook Duo, you lose the innovative dual-screen functionality and likely get more ports, but you gain macOS and Apple's legendary battery life and build quality. Next to gaming laptops like the Lenovo Legion or MSI Vector, there's no comparison in GPU performance—they're in a different universe—but they're also heavier, louder, and have worse battery life. The Air carves its niche by being the most reliable and portable option.

If you need a dead-reliable, incredibly portable laptop for work, school, or general use, and you're invested in the Apple ecosystem, this M4 Air with 24GB RAM and 2TB storage is a fantastic, future-proofed choice. Just know what you're buying: stellar battery life and build quality, not gaming prowess or the absolute fastest CPU. For most people's daily needs, this configuration is overkill in the best way possible.