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M2 vs. M3 vs. M4 MacBook Air Buyer's Guide: 25+ Differences Compared
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M4 is still up to 10 Cores GPU… the base model has 8 cores GPU why are you saying it includes 10 cores GPU????
Apple just announced a new MacBook Air, introducing its latest chip, an enhanced camera, and a striking new color option. Simultaneously, it discontinued the two previous generations. So how does the new model compare?
Before the introduction of the latest model, the 13-inch M3 MacBook Air started at $1,099 and the 15-inch model started at $1,299. The 13.6-inch MacBook Air with the M2 chip from 2022 remained in the lineup at a price of $999. Now, the 13-inch M4 model starts at $999. It is also worth remembering that it is possible to shave at least $100 off the price of a new MacBook Air directly from Apple with education pricing.
The main upgrade offered by the three MacBook Air models are their chips. In benchmark tests, the M3 outperforms the M2 by about 17% in single-core tasks and approximately 21% in multi-core tasks. In GPU performance measured by Metal benchmarks, the M3 exhibits a notable improvement of around 15% over the M2. The M4 outperforms the M3 by about 25% in single-core tasks and 30% in multi-core tasks. In GPU performance, the M4 offers improvement of around 21% over the M3.
There are a number of other notable differences between the three MacBook Air generations beyond their chips. While these upgrades are fairly small, they are worth bearing in mind when contemplating whether to get the latest model, or a used or refurbished unit for a lower price.
Read on to find out about all of the differences between the M2, M3, and M4 MacBook Air models to help you decide which model will suffice for you, as well as if it may be worth upgrading.
MacBook Air (2022 and 2023) MacBook Air (2024) MacBook Air (2025) 1080p FaceTime HD camera 1080p FaceTime HD camera 12MP camera Support for Center Stage and Desk View Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum microphone modes Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum microphone modes Enhanced voice clarity in audio and video calls Enhanced voice clarity in audio and video calls Apple M2 chip
(based on A15 Bionic chip from 2021's iPhone 13)Apple M3 chip
(based on A17 Pro chip from 2023's iPhone 15 Pro)Apple M4 chip
(based on A18 chip from 2024's iPhone 16)Made with TSMC's enhanced 5nm node (N5P) Made with TSMC's first 3nm node (N3B) Made with TSMC's enhanced 3nm node (N3E) 20 billion transistors 25 billion transistors 28 billion transistors 3.49 GHz CPU clock speed 4.05 GHz CPU clock speed 4.3 GHz CPU clock speed 8-core CPU
(4 performance + 4 efficiency cores)8-core CPU
(4 performance + 4 efficiency cores)10 CPU cores
(4 performance + 6 efficiency cores)Up to 10-core GPU Up to 10-core GPU 10-core GPU Same GPU architecture as M1 Redesigned GPU architecture with improved efficiency Same GPU architecture as M3 Dynamic Caching Dynamic Caching Hardware-accelerated ray tracing Hardware-accelerated ray tracing Hardware-accelerated mesh shading Hardware-accelerated mesh shading LPDDR5 memory LPDDR5 memory LPDDR5X memory 100 GB/s memory bandwidth 100 GB/s memory bandwidth 120 GB/s memory bandwidth 8GB, 16GB, or 24GB memory (8GB discontinued in 2024) 8GB, 16GB, or 24GB memory (8GB discontinued in 2024) 16GB, 24GB, or 32GB memory 16-core Neural Engine, 15.8 trillion operations per second 16-core Neural Engine, 18 trillion operations per second 16-core Neural Engine, 38 trillion operations per second Dedicated display engine Dedicated display engine Support for one external display Support for up to two external displays when the lid is closed Support for up to two external displays when the lid is open Support for AV1 decode Support for AV1 decode Wi-Fi 6 connectivity Wi-Fi 6E connectivity Wi-Fi 6E connectivity Anodization seal to reduce fingerprints (Midnight finish only) Anodization seal to reduce fingerprints (Midnight finish only) Available in Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and Space Gray Available in Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and Space Gray Available in Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and Sky Blue Introduced in June 2022 (13-inch) and June 2023 (15-inch) Introduced in March 2024 Introduced in March 2025 Started at $1,099, dropped to $999 in 2024 Started at $1,099 Starts at $999
Overall, the M3 and M4 MacBook Airs represent minor upgrades over their predecessors, largely focusing on enhanced performance rather than new capabilities. Their main target audiences are those who have an older MacBook Air, such as an M1 or Intel-based model, or no MacBook Air at all.
Unless you can leverage the specific advantages of the M4 chip and require maximum performance from its highly portable form factor, it is likely not worth buying the M4 MacBook Air over the previous MacBook Air for most users, providing you can get it for a good enough price.
However, if future-proofing is a major priority because you tend to keep your computer for many years, the extra cash to get the latest model will probably be warranted. The M4 model's significantly improved camera and enhanced support for two external displays may also justifiably swing your buying decision if you make a lot of video calls or have multiple monitors.
It is certainly not worth upgrading from the M2 or M3 to the M4 MacBook Air for the overwhelming majority of customers. Upgrading from an M2 13-inch MacBook Air to an M4 15-inch MacBook Air may be more justifiable owing to the display size increase, but there is little that the latest generation meaningfully offers over its predecessor. The two older machines are still highly capable.
Article Link: M2 vs. M3 vs. M4 MacBook Air Buyer's Guide: 25+ Differences Compared
At least the chip swap gets you two additional CPU cores - a lot of us thought Apple would go with 8 like the base iMac.
The base M4 MacBook Air is 8-core GPU though.
M4 is believed to incorporate basically the same cores as A18. Indeed, single-core performance of M4 and A18 are very similar, and both are much faster than A17.
I skimmed haha. I working and read some it. Edit. It doesI guess you didn't read the article.
#humblebrag
I’m trading in my M1 MBP 16/512 for $445 credit!
They used my registered device to auto-enter the trade-in info, however, they mislabeled the machine as 1TB even though they have correct S/N, so I’m getting $100 more.
Just to check, I manually entered the info, answering questions like year, storage, and condition, and it calculated only $345 for my model.
Reminds me of getting the Community Chest card “Bank Error in Your Favor. Collect $100.”
I’m trading in my M1 MBP 16/512 for $445 credit!
They used my registered device to auto-enter the trade-in info, however, they mislabeled the machine as 1TB even though they have correct S/N, so I’m getting $100 more.
Just to check, I manually entered the info, answering questions like year, storage, and condition, and it calculated only $345 for my model.
Reminds me of getting the Community Chest card “Bank Error in Your Favor. Collect $100.”
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Ah, I see it. Yeah, it would have been nice to see the base model be 10/10, but half a surprise is better than no surprise at all, I suppose.
I'm sorry, I thought I was reading Mac Rumors where information like this may be readily available.
I bought the M2 13" a few weeks ago when the sale had them for $699. I'm in the return window still, but I'm going to keep it. Not worth the $300 for me, although it is tempting with the new color. I have an M4 iMac I will use for more intensive work.
Yup. I pre-ordered one with 24GB ram because it automatically upgrades to the 10/10 chip. Course in Canada that upgrade was $300 rather than $200 but I was always going to go 10/10 anyway. Don’t care about SSD capacity cause that’s what my M4 Mini is for.
I see you are in California.
Is that the M2 16/256? Cuz the M4 16/256 is $899 on the edu store (and Apple USA does not check for edu credentials for online orders). While it may not be worth the extra $300, would it be worth an extra $200 to you?
If you need the 24 GB RAM then great, but you can get the GPU upgrade for CA$135 edu or $150 retail.
Personally I haven't decided whether to get 16/256 or 16/512 yet. Going to 16/512 automatically upgrades the power adapter
which I was going to get anyway (for CA$30 more) if we went with the 16/256. This is for my wife, and 512 may be overkill for her, since she currently uses only about 110 GB.Do we know if the "advanced LCD panel" is confirmed with the M4 MBA, or was it just a false rumor? There is no difference in the panel descriptions on Apple.com and I am trying to decide between an M3 15" MBA or the new M4 15" MBA.
This is the rumor I am referring to: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/02/11/macbook-air-advanced-lcd-panel-adoption-2027/
This is the rumor I am referring to: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/02/11/macbook-air-advanced-lcd-panel-adoption-2027/
I don’t anyone expected anything more than that. Did you expect something different?
So you cannot say : the m4 MacBook Air is cheaper than the MacBook Air m3 lol…
Small correction: the starting price of the MBA with M2 was 1199 initially, not 1099.
Reference: the 2nd bullet point in the Pricing and Availability section of https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022...-macbook-air-supercharged-by-the-new-m2-chip/.
It’s really nice that the M4 Air got back to 999 starting price like the M1 one and others before it.
Reference: the 2nd bullet point in the Pricing and Availability section of https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022...-macbook-air-supercharged-by-the-new-m2-chip/.
It’s really nice that the M4 Air got back to 999 starting price like the M1 one and others before it.
I'm going on the rumors we have read here and other places, that an M5 release could come as early as June/July.
It could be, but I bet the Airs won’t get them until this time next year.