Updated Air. The most affordable model in Apple’s laptop range received an increase in power and a couple of updates.
Apple has introduced updated versions of its MacBook Air laptops. The 13 and 15-inch Air models are now available with the powerful Apple M3 system chip, which was introduced in October 2023.
The M3 chip provides increased performance and at the same time, the updated models received a couple of other noteworthy updates. Wireless local area connections now support Wi-Fi 6e, which means a new frequency band alongside previous ones and higher theoretical data transfer speeds.
External displays can now be connected to two Airs, but there is a small detail associated with this. The use of two external displays is only possible if the laptop lid is closed and the device’s own display is dark. In this respect, laptops equipped with Apple’s own chips still lose out to old Intel-based versions. However, this is not due to performance as there is enough power for two 5k resolution screens at a refresh rate of 60 hertz.
At the same time, the last wedge-shaped MacBook Air dropped out of the range. The MacBook Air M1 released in 2020 was among the first Mac machines to use Apple’s own processors and was also the last model in the range to use an M1 chip.
One aspect of launching new MacBook Air M3 machines has caught sharp-eyed attention. The press release announcing it had an entire section dedicated to stating that “the MacBook Air is the world’s best consumer laptop for artificial intelligence.”
For example, as recently as summer 2023 many people noticed how Apple did not hype or even mention artificial intelligence or “AI” directly at its WWDC developer conference when around that time Google and Microsoft were frequently mentioning AI.
Artificial intelligence has become a fashion phenomenon largely thanks to generative artificial intelligence and ChatGPT for example, but Apple hasn’t used that term much as such. This doesn’t mean that similar things haven’t been worked on within company walls though. For instance machine learning and neural network processors or Neural Engine processors in Apple language have been discussed during device launches for years already.
However changes in terminology have been noticeable this year. In early February during earnings announcements CEO Tim Cook mentioned generative artificial intelligence several times and now with MacBook Air launch AI buzz is also being brought to consumers.
Prices for new MacBook Air M3 models start from €1349 while those for 15-inch versions start from €1649.
