Apple has officially introduced the new MacBook Air with the latest silicon processor. It retains the same design, but is now more powerful than the previous generation model. In addition, the latest models also have some minor improvements.
Apple continues to offer MacBook Air M3 with 13 and 15-inch screen diagonals. This time, the Cupertino giant announced the latest generation in two versions at once, unlike the M2 Air. The new products retain the same design with a flat body and a display cutout.
The 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air M3 models can now connect two external displays instead of just one, as in previous models. However, there is a small caveat here, as this can only work when the lid is closed. If the Air screen is turned on, it can only connect to one external display. Both models still have Liquid Retina screens and a peak brightness of 500 nits.
Under the hood of the new MacBook Air is the proprietary M3 processor, which consists of an 8-core central processing unit and up to a 10-core graphics processor. There is also a faster 16-core Neural Engine. Apple is positioning the new MacBook Air as “the world’s best consumer laptop with artificial intelligence.” It is claimed that the latest innovation provides 60% more performance than the M1 model, which is almost four years old. It is also 13 times faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBooks. The Air M3 also delivers a realistic gaming experience with hardware accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing. It also supports AV1 decoding.
In addition to the chipset upgrade, the new MacBook Air also features a WiFi-6E module that is said to deliver twice the speed of the previous generation. There is a voice isolation feature and wide-range microphone modes that enhance voice clarity during audio and video calls. The laptops are equipped with a 1080p Facetime camera, three microphones, and support for Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos.
MacBook Air M3 is available in Midnight, Starlight, Space Gray, and Silver. The midnight variant now has an anodized finish to reduce the visibility of fingerprints that were visible on the M2 Air.
Apple MacBook Air M3 starts at $1,099 for the 13-inch variant, while the 15-inch model costs $1,299. Pre-orders are being accepted starting today, and deliveries will begin on March 8.
