Update: Our 13-inch MacBook Air M4 review is now live.
The M4 MacBook Air is here, and it looks…well it looks very similar to last year’s M3 Air — the current best laptop you can buy (not for long, though).
But beyond the new M4 chipset, the upgraded 12-megapixel webcam, native support for two external monitors and that new lower starting price of $999/£999 (for 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage), one big change is clear after going hands-on with it.
Two words: sky blue. I’m obsessed with this new color.
The truest blue
Previously, my favorite color was the midnight blue option. It was great, but it did leave it susceptible to fingerprint smudges and even some scuffs around the ports. But I’m confident that by going with a lighter sky blue (replacing space gray), this could be averted.
And I mean just look at it. This is a gorgeous finish. It’s also an interesting color as well, as its semi-reflective aluminum unibody does pick up the color from where it’s placed too.
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In the brighter surroundings here, that color really sings, but you could see this becoming more silver in nature in darker settings when held up.
It feels both perfectly timed, as we start to see the sun again (rarely for me in dear old Blighty), and rather timeless too. This could just be my own bias with blue being my favorite color, but there’s something special about it.
What else is new?
There are some additional niceties going on here — all fueled by that M4 chip. To start with, the M4 Air is up to 2x faster than the M1 in Adobe Photoshop editing.
And for those looking towards a laptop sporting Intel Core Ultra 7 200 series, the Cupertino crew is also boasting 60% faster web browsing and 2x faster performance in more demanding tasks.
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On top of that, Apple is touting an 18-hour battery life, which we’ll put to the test when we review these new systems. But put simply, this could be the combo breaker of premium quality, top performance and value for money that pops it at the top of our recommendations (even more so with that blue).
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