What we know so far

In 2025, Apple will launch the highly anticipated MacBook Air laptop powered by an M4 engine. The M4 chip debuted in the summer of 2024 on the iPad Pro and on macOS MacBook Pro laptops in the fall, with the consumer-focused Air left until last. What features is the community looking forward to and when can they expect their new laptop to launch?

MacBook Air performance

This chip already exists and powers the entry-level MacBook Pro, a laptop rather poorly placed in Apple’s portfolio, given its high price and relatively low performance compared to the rest of the MacBook Pro range). . Through online benchmarking and real experience, we know that the M4 chip has up to 25% higher performance than the equivalent M3 chipset.

The MacBook Air should see a comparable improvement in performance, although because it relies on passive cooling without the fan that’s part of the MacBook Pro, thermal throttling will come into effect a little sooner. However, the excess power that the MacBook Air already has will increase.

The higher performance means the M4 will consume less power when used for less demanding tasks, which should increase battery life.

MacBook Air, Generative AI and Apple Intelligence

Apple has historically been reluctant to increase storage and memory in the lower parts of its portfolio, only increasing base specs when there is a significant advantage. After many years, the decision was made to increase the base model’s 8GB of RAM to 16GB, and the reason is generative AI.

Apple Intelligence, with its clumsy backronym, although heavily promoted for the iPhone, required 16 GB of RAM to function effectively. Apple bumped the iPhone 16 from 6GB of RAM in the entry-level model to 8GB. The same principle was true for the M4 MacBook Pro compared to the M3 MacBook Pro specs. Signs are that the MacBook Air M4 will receive the same increase from 8GB to 16GB, which will benefit the entire system, not just the AI ​​component.

MacBook Air and video chat

The rise of remote working and increased use of video calls have made a laptop’s front-facing camera a key specification. Apple is expected to increase the MacBook Air’s camera specs to a 12-megapixel unit. It should also support Apple’s Center Stage software which uses the machine learning branch of AI to keep you centered in the frame.

Other MacBook Air specifications

While updating the MacBook Air M3 to M4 isn’t expected to change the design or make any drastic changes to the hardware, some minor feature improvements will be as welcome as the move to 16GB of RAM on the entry laptop of range. These include an additional Thunderbolt 4 port compared to the current two, the ability to support two external displays simultaneously with the laptop’s own display, and the addition of a nano-texture display to reduce glare .

When will the MacBook Air be released?

Apple doesn’t have a set time for an event in March like September for the iPhone launch. That said, late March and early April have been a popular cadence for releasing updates for iPad and Mac. This is also the expected launch window for the next-generation iPhone SE.

Oddly enough, the latest report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman indicates that Apple will detach the MacBook Air from other hardware launches, choosing to opt for a more low-key release via press release rather than a marquee event. This opens up various options for Apple. The current thinking is that the Air will launch as a precursor to more impactful launches, pushing the Air into a wide window from mid-January to mid-March.

Now read the latest news on MacBook Air, iPhone SE and Vision Pro headphones in Forbes’ weekly Apple Loop news roundup…