The new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air laptops are here, but are they for you? These updates share the same design as the MacBook Air M2 models, but feature the latest Apple M3 processor. These notebooks are not only the most powerful MacBook Airs to date, but also the cheapest M3 MacBooks.
As ever, every laptop features bright and colorful displays, a thin and light, ultra-portable design, exceptional battery life and blazing-fast performance. The M3 chip improves the visual effects of video games, while the updated Neural Engine makes AI tasks easier on the device. You can find our impressions and test results in our test report for the MacBook Air 13-inch M3 and the MacBook Air 15-inch. I think both laptops will inevitably find a place in our best laptops and MacBooks lists.
The MacBook Air M3 laptops are undoubtedly impressive and easy to recommend for people who are new to MacBooks or need to upgrade from an older Apple laptop. As great as these devices are, you may not need one – especially if you own the previous M2 models. Let’s look at three reasons to buy the MacBook Air M3 and one reason to skip it.
MacBook Air M3: reasons to buy
Excellent M3 performance
The first main reason to buy a MacBook Air M3 is its impressive performance.
The MacBook Air 13-inch M3 has improved performance across the board compared to its predecessor. It performed better in Geekbench’s CPU test, compressed a 4K video faster in Handbrake, and was faster in Photoshop and Premiere Pro. During my qualitative testing of the 13-inch Air M3, I had over 30 windows open while YouTube was running in the background. The little notebook didn’t even bat an eyelash.
| Header cell – column 0 | MacBook Air 13 inch M3 | MacBook Air 15 inch M2 | Dell XPS 14 (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 (single core) | 3,082 | 2,613 | 2,398 |
| Geekbench 6 (multi-core) | 12,087 | 9,993 | 12,939 |
| Handbrake | 6:32 | 7:46 | 6:20 |
| Photoshop | 8,550 / 12.4 mins | 7,465 / 13.9 mins | 6,045 / 21.6 mins |
| Premiere Pro | 3,603 / 7.8 mins | 3,170 / 8.7 mins | 4,918 / 7.3 mins |
Like the MacBook Pro 14-inch M3 and other M3 MacBooks, the Air M3 supports hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing. This ensures more accurate lighting, reflections and shadows in video games. Dynamic caching allocates the use of local memory in the hardware in real time, using only the exact amount of memory needed for specific tasks. All of this makes games look and run better on MacBooks with M3.
I tested Lies of P on the 13-inch MacBook Air M3 and was impressed with the game’s performance. Lies of P has an option to enable/disable MetalFX, which is Apple’s answer to Nvidia and AMD’s upscaling technologies. When MetalFX was set to Highest Performance, the game ran at a constant 60 frames per second (fps) at 1200p resolution. Frame rates fluctuated between 45 and 50 fps with MetalFX disabled, which isn’t great, but better than 30 fps.
The MacBook Air M3 won’t let you down during daily work and even gaming.
Amazing battery life
Apple M-series laptops have amazing battery life compared to the best Windows laptops, and the MacBook Air M3 is no exception. Even if the Air M3 doesn’t last 18 hours as Apple claims, you still get a notebook with incredible endurance.
In our battery test, the MacBook Air 13-inch M3 lasted a whopping 15 hours and 13 minutes. That’s 40 minutes longer than the Air M2, which took 14:33. 40 extra minutes may not be a lot, but it can be crucial when you’re trying to complete a project or other important task.
| Header cell – column 0 | Time (min:sec) |
|---|---|
| MacBook Air 13 inch M3 | 15:13 |
| Acer Swift Go 14 | 9:50 |
| Dell XPS 14 | 6:26 |
The new Air M3 outperforms Windows laptops like the Acer Swift Go 14 (9:50) and the Dell XPS 14 (6:26) in terms of battery life. That’s true for most M-series MacBooks, but comparing the Air M3’s battery life to that of a Windows laptop is almost unfair. Except it’s not.
The cheapest M3 MacBook
The 13-inch MacBook Air M3 starts at $1,099. That’s more expensive than its M1 and M2-powered predecessors, but it’s still the cheapest M3 MacBook you can buy right now.
The 15-inch MacBook Air M3 starts at $1,299, while the MacBook Pro 14-inch M3 starts at $1,599. At the high end, there’s the MacBook Pro 14-inch M3 Pro for $1,999 and the MacBook Pro 16-inch M3 Max for $2,499.
If you want the power and features of the M3 without breaking the bank, the 13-inch MacBook Air M3 is a phenomenal option. The $1,299 MacBook Air 15-inch M3 is also a pretty good deal for what it offers, including a larger screen and better speakers than its smaller sibling.
MacBook Air M3: Reason to Skip
The MacBook Air M2 exists
The MacBook Air M3 is a great laptop, but the 13-inch MacBook Air M2 could arguably be a better option for those on a budget. In fact, it’s now the MacBook that I recommend to most people.
The MacBook Air M1 It used to be the cheapest MacBook at $999. Since Apple no longer sells this laptop in its online store, the Air M2 has adopted this price and is the cheapest MacBook. $999 is a great value for students or casual users who just want a reliable laptop for working or watching videos.
While the M3 chip is more powerful than the M2, it doesn’t offer much more performance. Unless you need more power for video editing and better gaming performance, the Air M2 is ideal for your everyday computing needs. Of course, if you really need the most powerful MacBook, you can opt for the beefy 14- and 16-inch M3 Pro/Max MacBook Pros.
The main differences between the Air M3 and Air M2, aside from the chip, are the addition of faster Wi-Fi 6E, which is beneficial when downloading large files, as well as the ability to support two external displays at the same time. The Air M2 can only do one thing.
Finally, the MacBook Air M2 has the same design as its M3 successor. This means you have a slim and stylish ultraportable that is easy to transport. And like the latest model, the Air M2 is available in four different colors – although Midnight doesn’t offer the same fingerprint resistance. Regardless, the Air M2 still looks great thanks to its modern design.
