REVIEW: 15-INCH MACBOOK AIR (M3) SIMPLY THE BEST, BUT BETTER

THE M3 UPDATE TO APPLE'S MOST POPULAR LAPTOP LINE IMPROVES ON GREATNESS.

- ROMAN LOYOLA

Over the years, we've touted the MacBook Air as the laptop for just about anyone-it's an ideal combination of performance, features, and price. It became even more compelling when Apple redesigned it and upgraded to the M2 chip in 2022 (fave.co/3zbn711) and released a 15-inch M2 model in 2023 (fave.co/41ss03E).

The MacBook Air now joins the M3 party that Apple started last fall (fave.co/3MZyVey). It's practically the same laptop as before-besides the chip upgrade, there are only two other new features in the new M3 MacBook Air. A lot has not changed with the Air, and neither has our perception of the laptop: The MacBook Air continues to be the best laptop choice for just about anyone.

SPECIFICATIONS

The MacBook Air gets an upgrade from the M2 to the M3 chip. It does not have options for the M3 Pro or Max chips; for that, you need to look at the MacBook Pro. Our guide to the M3 chip series (fave. co/3MZyVey) provides more insight into the differences between the different M3 chips.

The 15-inch MacBook Air in this review is the most expensive standard configuration in Apple's lineup. It can be customized with more memory and a larger SSD, which raises the price.

Here are the specifications of the laptop in this review:

CPU: M3 with an 8-core CPU (4 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores), 16-core Neural Engine 

GPU: 10-core GPU

Memory: 16GB unified memory (100GBps memory bandwidth) 

Storage: 512GB SSD

Display: 15.3-inch Liquid Retina LED backlit display with IPS; 2880×1864 native resolution at 224 pixels per inch; 500 nits brightness; P3 color; True Tone

Ports: 2 Thunderbolt 4/USB-C; MagSafe 3; 3.5mm audio Networking: Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax); Bluetooth 5.3 Weight: 3.3 pounds (1.51 kg)