Apple MacBook Air Apple 13" MacBook Air (M4, Midnight) Review
The M4 MacBook Air packs serious specs into a tiny frame, but its weak GPU and high price make it a niche pick for the ultra-mobile crowd.
Overview
The M4 MacBook Air is Apple's latest ultraportable, and it's a lot of laptop in a very small package. You're getting a 10-core M4 chip, 24GB of RAM, and a massive 2TB SSD, all in a chassis that weighs just over two and a half pounds.
Performance
That M4 chip is quick for everyday tasks and creative work, landing in the 66th percentile for CPU performance. It'll handle photo editing and dozens of browser tabs without breaking a sweat. The 2TB SSD is blazing fast, sitting in the 93rd percentile. Just know the GPU is its weak spot, scoring in the 18th percentile. This isn't a machine for gaming or heavy 3D rendering.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Incredibly portable and well-built. 94th
- Screen is bright and sharp at 500 nits. 93th
- Massive and super-fast 2TB SSD. 88th
- Battery life is legendary for a full workday. 81th
Cons
- GPU performance is weak for anything beyond basics. 4th
- Only 60Hz refresh rate on the display. 18th
- Port selection is still limited to two Thunderbolt ports.
- Not upgradeable after you buy it.
Specifications
Full Specifications
Processor
| CPU | Apple M4 |
| Cores | 10 |
Graphics
| GPU | Apple (10-Core) |
Memory & Storage
| RAM | 24 GB |
| Storage | 2 TB |
| Storage Type | NVMe SSD |
Display
| Size | 13.6" |
| Resolution | 2560 (QHD) |
| Panel | IPS |
| Refresh Rate | 60 Hz |
| Brightness | 500 nits |
Connectivity
| Thunderbolt | Thunderbolt |
| Wi-Fi | WiFi 6E |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.3 |
Physical
| Weight | 1.2 kg / 2.7 lbs |
| Battery | 53 Wh |
| OS | macOS |
Value & Pricing
At $1999, you're paying a premium for the portability, build quality, and Apple ecosystem. You get a ton of fast storage and enough RAM to future-proof it, which helps justify the cost. But you're definitely not getting raw performance value compared to a Windows laptop at this price.
Price History
vs Competition
Compared to the 14-inch MacBook Pro, you lose the ProMotion display, more ports, and a lot of GPU power, but you gain portability and save serious cash. Next to something like the ASUS Zenbook Duo, you get a simpler, more reliable single-screen experience but miss out on dual-screen multitasking. And against gaming laptops like the MSI Vector, there's no contest for gaming, but the MacBook Air will last twice as long on battery and weigh half as much.
| Spec | Apple MacBook Air Apple 13" MacBook Air (M4, Midnight) | Apple MacBook Pro Apple 14" MacBook Pro (M5, Silver) | ASUS ROG Flow ASUS 13.4" Republic of Gamers Flow Z13 2-in-1 | Lenovo Legion Lenovo 16" Legion Pro 7i Gaming Laptop | MSI Stealth MSI Stealth A16 - 16.0" OLED 240 Hz - GeForce RTX | Microsoft Surface Laptop Microsoft 13.8" Surface Laptop Copilot+ PC (7th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Apple M4 | Apple M5 | AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 | Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX | AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 | Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100 |
| RAM (GB) | 24 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| Storage (GB) | 2048 | 4096 | 1024 | 2048 | 2048 | 1024 |
| Screen | 13.6" 2560x1664 | 14.2" 3024x1964 | 13.4" 2560x1600 | 16" 2560x1600 | 16" 2560x1600 | 13.8" 2304x1536 |
| GPU | Apple (10-Core) | Apple (10-Core) | AMD Radeon 8060 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | Qualcomm X1 |
| OS | macOS | macOS | Windows 11 Pro | Windows 11 Home | Windows 11 Pro | Windows 11 Home |
| Weight (kg) | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 2.1 | 1.3 |
| Battery (Wh) | 53 | 72 | 70 | 99 | - | 54 |
Verdict
Buy this if you're a student, business traveler, or anyone who needs a supremely portable, reliable, and long-lasting laptop for general productivity and light creative work. Don't buy it if you game, do heavy video editing, or need to connect to multiple external monitors.