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How do you make a Sky Blue MacBook Air “…or is it a cold shade of Grey,” and still make it stand out as the best ultraportable in the market? Well, that’s the Apple MacBook Air with the M4 chip. While a redesign would just work wonders with fans, Apple made the smart move of making small changes, especially under-the-hood, and the strategy clearly succeeds.
The Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) looks strikingly similar to the M3 model from last year; Apple carries along the exquisite keyboard and responsive touchpad, the brilliant Liquid Retina display is here, the 2.7lbs weight remains unchanged, and even the two Thunderbolt 4 ports are untouched.
Visually, the only thing Apple has introduced is a new color scheme, and the Sky Blue is a rather dazzling hue that, depending on the light, looks almost gray, but a deep glance affirms the pleasant azure. It’s a color that will run head, but above everything else, we’ve not seen this on a laptop – it’s a color that will certainly sell out fast.
Beyond the look, Apple made significant changes to the hardware: replacing the FaceTime camera with a new 12MP Center Stage Camera. Ot’s an ultra-wide lens that’s kept in a screen notch that will keep you in focus during video calls; nice to have feature, but not a major update.
The new MacBook Air also gets Apple’s flagship M4 chip, which brings more cores and elevated performance over the M3 Apple silicon it replaces. Like the efficient M3, this newer 3-nanometer chip is fast, efficient, with lots of headroom for AAA gaming, video editing, productivity, and, as expected, Apple Intelligence.
No matter your perspective, the biggest upgrade on the newer Air is in the value space. Apple manages to double the base memory from 8GB unified memory to 16GB, and subsequently reduced the price to $999 / £999 / AU$1,699 (sometimes it goes even lower on a sale). That’s a win on all fronts, and the best MacBook has bounced back to its pre-MacBook Air M3 price, making it a fantastic overall value.
Although there are still a few tweaks I expected on this next-gen version (a nano-texture glass option being top of the list), it’s still hard to find any faults with the Apple 2025 MacBook Air M4 model. It continues to reign in its reputation as a reliable, lightweight ultraportable, and of course, the best MacBook for most people. The fact that it’s as affordable as it used to be makes it even more appealing to us all.
Apple M4 MacBook Air specs
- Processor: Apple M4
- RAM (as Tested): 16 GB
- Boot Drive Type SSD
- Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested): 512 GB SSD
- Screen Size: 13.3 inches, 2560 by 1664, 60Hz
- Graphics Processor: Apple M4 (10-core)
- Wireless Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
- Dimensions (HWD): 0.44 by 11.97 by 8.46 inches
- Weight: 2.7 lbs
- Operating System: Apple macOS Sequoia
Design & Build Quality
As with the previous generations, the M4 MacBook Air rocks a aquare chassis with a crisp 13.6-inch LCD panel (60 Hz refresh rate), a four-speaker sound system, and a three-mic array. It weighs 2.7 pounds, is still portable, and is super lightweight for a daily commute. The newer 13-inch Air gets the same port selection, including two USB 4/Thunderbolt ports, a MagSafe charging port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
While a more extensive port selection would be ideal for most users, especially professional creatives, like what you get on the MacBook Pro, the USB 4 ports are still sufficient for everyday use. I still feel Apple would’ve added at least one extra USB-C port here, considering that you can now connect the MacBook Air to up to two external monitors. For now, if you need extra ports, you’ll have to make do with an additional USB-C hub like our Editors’ Choice, which is another accessory you’ll need to buy and carry around.
The Apple 2025 MacBook Air (M4) comes equipped with more power, a new color scheme, and a more affordable price.
Also, I’d wished to see Apple offer the option of nano-textured glass, which works to reduce glare in bright environments. This display tech is available on high-end products like the Studio Display and Apple MacBook Pro; Apple offers it in the M4-powered iMac. It would’ve been an extra ~$150 to $200, depending on the device of choice, but the cost is pretty justified. Having interacted with the nano-texture glass on the 14-inch MacBook Pro, I find it worth every coin you spend over standard displays.
The webcam on the Apple 2025 MacBook Air is now updated from 1080p to 12 megapixels, with support for Center Stage that automatically keeps you in the frame during video calls. This feature was initially available on iPads and has since expanded to both Macs and MacBooks. While I’m a fan of higher-res webcams, I often turn Center Stage off as I find it rather too sensitive – it sometimes pans and zooms at the slightest hint of movement.
Finally, the MacBook Air is available in a new Sky Blue color option; it adds on to Midnight, Starlight, and Silver color options – initially, we were all used to the Space Grey color. It’s a unique, yet pleasant shade that sends hues depending on how the light hits – sometimes it skews faded grey, minimalist silver, and anything in between; but for the most part, you can tell it’s blue. It seems like Apple is finally reverting the subtle shades to the Pro line and realizing that the Air should be fun. Hopefully, this is a signal of more colors in the future.
Productivity Performance
The 2025 Apple MacBook Air features an Apple M4 silicon, the same chip that is present on the latest 14-inch MacBook Pro, Apple Mac Mini, and the 24-inch Apple iMac; this is the last of the Mac family to receive M4 firepower. The Apple M4 is an entry-level chip built on a second-gen, 3-nanometer architecture, delivering enhancements to both power efficiency and speed that are critical for CPU functions, machine learning, and graphics processing.
This chip also features ray tracing, mesh shading, and dynamic caching that’s useful when handling graphics-intensive tasks like video or photo editing and gaming. Its predecessor, the Apple M3, was built on a first-gen nanometer process, but it essentially packs the same features, so you’ll only see a major performance shift if you’re upgrading from the M1 or an older Intel MacBook.
The Apple M4 chip is at the core of Apple Intelligence – the company’s artificial intelligence features. As with all M-series MacBooks, you have access to a wide suite of capabilities that come with macOS Ventura 15.1 and later. This includes Writing Tools, Clean Up tool, a refreshed Siri with ChatGPT integration, and more.
Each model comes with a 10-core CPU, but you have the option of between an 8-core or a 10-core GPU. The 8-core GPU has 16GB of unified memory (Apple doubled the memory as of October with the M3 MacBook Air) and 256GB of storage; the 10-core base model comes with 16GB of storage. Both models can be upgraded to 32GB of unified memory and 2TB of storage for an additional price. However, you’ll be upgraded to the 10-core GPU if you settle for the higher memory and storage options. Our review model is the Apple MacBook Air M4 with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, along with 16GB of memory and 256GB of storage.
Ever since Apple moved from Intel to Apple silicon, all machines across the range have experienced significant gains in performance and efficiency. The power of these lightweight ultraportables and the M-class chips appears limitless, and all-day battery life is now a guarantee. Of course, competition is also unwavering. Windows laptops are now packed with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, and these laptops nearly match Apple silicon for performance and battery life.
However, the M4 10-core CPU and 8-core GPU alongside 16GB of unified memory inside our review system generally outperform the X Elite on single-core tasks but now appear matched for multi-core performance.
In real-world use, the Apple MacBook Air M4 handles most tasks thrown at it fluently. It’s not easy to stress how efficiently this machine runs, but you can play AAA games at maximum settings, and it runs smoothly, thanks in part to the new Game Mode that optimizes performance for gaming. Productivity performance is stellar; on a typical day, you can keep between 30 to 50 Google Chrome tabs across three to four different windows, with apps like Slack, Spotify, Telegram, and Messages running in the background.
As mentioned earlier, you can use the MacBook Air with two external displays (including support for one display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz and 5K resolution at 60Hz). Unlike its predecessor with an M3 chip, one of the displays will automatically go dark when you open the MacBook. With the M4 version, you can technically have three displays at your disposal – it does wonders for productivity.
Battery life is now excellent. Apple is promising up to 18 hours of battery life from the MacBook Air 13-inch (M4), which is mostly a measure of how long it can play 1080p video for; for comparison, Microsoft promises 20 hours from the Surface Laptop 7 on a similar task. In real-world use, however, the MacBook Air 13 M4 battery numbers will vary depending on the tasks you’ll be running, but in most scenarios, it manages over 14 hours, 55 minutes. With the efficient M4 chip, you’re assured of good, all-day battery life, but your experience will vary based on the tasks you perform.
Apple 2025 MacBook Air Review: Bottom line
The Apple 2025 MacBook Air (M4) is simply lovable. Ot brings along everything we loved about the Apple MacBook Air M3, while polishing almost all the critiques. It’s the complete package for most people, and if you want a better screen or options of a more powerful chip, then the Apple MacBook Pro M4 is a better choice.
The lower price, combined with the bump in memory to 16GB, crosses the range, making this a fantastic buy – how often can that be said about Apple products? If I had any criticism, it’s that there are a few good-to-have features that Apple has reserved for its Pro laptops. A display with a higher-than-60-Hz refresh rate and a nano-texture display option would take the MacBook Air to the next level, even if sold as a separate add-on.
But beyond pointing out things the Air could also have, there’s just nothing here to complain about. For the majority of MacBook Air users, this is a good value, dropping at a time when many people could be convinced to spend on a new MacBook. It’s powerful, the new “Sky Blue” color is elegant, and it lasts almost all day on a single charge. Whatever you’re looking for in an ultraportable, there’s rarely been a better time to be considering an Apple MacBook Air.
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