M4 MacBook Air Reviews Are Now Out, Plus Sky Blue Unboxing Videos

[MacRumors]

The new MacBook Air with the M4 chip launches this Wednesday. Ahead of time, the first reviews of the laptop have been shared by selected publications and YouTube channels, offering a closer look at new features and changes.

While it is a minor spec-bump year for the MacBook Air, the new model does offer a few upgrades beyond the M4 chip. There is an improved 12-megapixel camera with support for Center Stage, support for two external displays even when the MacBook Air's lid is open, Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a new Sky Blue color option. And in the U.S., the latest-generation 13-inch MacBook Air now starts at $999, down from $1,099 previously.

Since the M4 chip existed prior to the new MacBook Air, we already know that it offers up to 30% faster multi-core CPU performance compared to the M3 chip in the previous model. Geekbench 6 results for the new MacBook Air already confirmed this 30% performance increase, before Apple's review embargo lifted.

Highlights

Center Stage Camera

Engadget's Devindra Hardawar said the Center Stage camera offers a small but noticeable quality-of-life improvement during video calls:

The leap to a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera isn't exactly Earth-shattering, but I appreciated having a slightly better picture during video calls. I typically turn off the actual Center Stage feature on Macs, but I'm sure some will appreciate its ability to track you around a room. The new camera also supports Desk View, which projects a slightly skewed view of the area directly in front of the MacBook Air.

$999 Value

Jason Snell of Six Colors said it is "generous" for Apple to offer 16GB of RAM in the MacBook Air at the base $999 price point:

That's why perhaps the most important change in the M4 MacBook Air is its base configuration, which starts at $999. When Apple introduced a winning new flat-with-rounded-corners Air design in 2022, it had to keep selling older models in order to get down under a thousand dollars. Three years later, Apple is finally able to sell a brand-new Air—with a generous 16GB of unified memory—at that important price.

Sky Blue

Ars Technica's Andrew Cunningham likes Sky Blue, but he wishes the color was more saturated:

The laptop comes in four finishes—the traditional silver, the gold-ish Starlight, Midnight (still a bit smudge-prone), and a new Sky Blue option that replaces Space Gray. I like Sky Blue, and it's probably my favorite of the three light-colored options, though I do wish it was more saturated. It's similar in hue to the blue finish Microsoft offers for its Surface devices, but I prefer Microsoft's version because it's more noticeably blue.

Reviews and Unboxings

More Articles

• The Verge
• CNET
• WIRED
• TechRadar
• CNN Underscored

Videos

Article Link: M4 MacBook Air Reviews Are Now Out, Plus Sky Blue Unboxing Videos

 

[Takeo Apple]

Beautiful Mac. I always liked the air.

 

[neuropsychguy]

My wife's 15" sky blue Air (24 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD) just shipped from Hanoi, Viet Nam (to Hong Kong and onward). It looks like it's on track for a Thursday delivery.

This should be a considerable upgrade from her base 13" M1 Air (which will go to a child for schoolwork).

We wouldn’t have normally upgraded so soon but our child needed a computer and this was a good time to pass the computer on to him and get my wife a new one.

Edit: Out for delivery today after being in Hong Kong yesterday. That's quite impressive!

 

[zedsdead]

Excellent update for most people.

Miss the wedge design however.

 

[PsykX]

There's not much to hate on this computer.
For the price, and considering this is nothing more than an entry model, I cannot even name a single thing.

Edit : I found something. All the options regarding memory and storage, they're downright robbery. People need to purchase the base model, or limit themselves to just ONE of those crazy expensive upgrades.

 

[iBluetooth]

There's not much to hate on this computer.
For the price, and considering this is nothing more than an entry model, I cannot even name a single thing.

Edit : I found something. All the options regarding memory and storage, they're downright robbery. People need to purchase the base model, or limit themselves to just ONE of those crazy expensive upgrades.

Memory and storage has always been costly upgrades. But I love the sky blue color, but I prefer the pro as I need usb on both sides for both monitors.

 

[CausticSoda]

Excellent update for most people.

Miss the wedge design however.

But is it? I'm sure it's a great machine, but I don't see why it is an "excellent update for most people" when it is a minor spec bump. It's good that you can now connect two monitors, but most people don't need that.

I agree totally about the wedge design, which is why I chose to buy the M1 after I looked at it side-by-side with the M2 when that came out and I have absolutely no need to change it yet, nor any desire. It still works flawlessly. And that is another reason I would question if the M4 is really an excellent update for most people.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

These do look nice. Feeling a bit regretful about buying the M4 MBP instead of waiting on this, but I wanted to get in before the tariffs which, in this case, looks like Apple is eating. I didn't except that.

Might end up selling and going for a 1tb 13".

 

[Peterrocks!]

There's not much to hate on this computer.
For the price, and considering this is nothing more than an entry model, I cannot even name a single thing.

Edit : I found something. All the options regarding memory and storage, they're downright robbery. People need to purchase the base model, or limit themselves to just ONE of those crazy expensive upgrades.

When you upgrade the base model from 16GB Ram to 24GBs it automatically upgrades the chip from the 8-core GPU model to the 10 core one, so there’s that.

 

[CausticSoda]

Excellent update for most people.

Miss the wedge design however.

But is it? I'm sure it's a great machine, but I don't see why it is an "excellent update for most people" when it is a minor spec bump. It's good that you can now connect two monitors, but most people don't need that.

I agree totally about the wedge design, which is why I chose to buy the M1 after I looked at it side-by-side with the M2 when that came out and I have absolutely no need to change it yet, nor any desire. It still works flawlessly. And that is another reason I would question if the M4 is really an excellent update for most people.

 

[Big_D]

Memory and storage has always been costly upgrades. But I love the sky blue color, but I prefer the pro as I need usb on both sides for both monitors.

Yeah, I went with the Pro at home last month, looking at upgrading my M1 Air to an M4 at work... Blue looks nice.

I use a TB4 dock for both the Air and Pro at work and home and plug the monitors into the dock...

 

[brofkand]

Wake me up when they get rid of the notch.

 

[theLedger]

My wife's 15" sky blue Air just shipped from Hong Kong (with UPS label created in Viet Nam). It looks like it's on track for a Thursday delivery.

This should be a considerable upgrade from her base M1 Air (which will go to a child for schoolwork).

My 13” sky blue Air just shipped too with a delivery date of tomorrow (Wednesday). I was hoping for an early receipt which sometimes happens but I’ve waited for months to get a new Air (almost bought a Midnight M3 Air) so one more day isn’t going to kill me - I hope.

 

[theLedger]

Wake me up when they get rid of the notch.

There is a freeware hack that makes the notch disappear by making the entire band of the menu bar black. That’s when your realized that by using the notch, Apple provided a little extra screen real estate rather than putting the camera in the bezel.

 

[turbineseaplane]

These colors are just so disappointing and "nothing" in terms of color

From Jason Snell

I really don’t meant to give Apple a hard time, but I had to double-check my shipping manifest because I was convinced the company had sent me a silver laptop to review. But when I placed the MacBook Air next to other modern Apple silver products, it’s clearly a different shade, and at certain viewing angles the blue undertone becomes more pronounced. If you want to think of Starlight as silver with a yellow undertone, and silver as neutral, Sky Blue is silver with a blue undertone. They are basically three slight variations on one another.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

But is it? I'm sure it's a great machine, but I don't see why it is an "excellent update for most people" when it is a minor spec bump. It's good that you can now connect two monitors, but most people don't need that.

I agree totally about the wedge design, which is why I chose to buy the M1 after I looked at it side-by-side with the M2 when that came out and I have absolutely no need to change it yet, nor any desire. It still works flawlessly. And that is another reason I would question if the M4 is really an excellent update for most people.

It's a good upgrade for those still on intel, otherwise keep what you have.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

I'm guessing the Sky Blue Air isn't very different from the Blue iPad mini, if so this is how I described that when I got it:

It's a very muted blue. Almost grey, at least in indoor lighting.

Very nice!

Still don't see any reason to upgrade my MacBook Air M1.

At some point the temptation to upgrade (to a 15" Air or 14" Pro) will be overwhelming...but hopefully not for another year or two...

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Some real cringe-worthy reviewers -- do influencers that wear a matching color sweater as a sky blue MBA get more followers than someone wearing normal clothes?

 

[andiwm2003]

There's not much to hate on this computer.
For the price, and considering this is nothing more than an entry model, I cannot even name a single thing.

Edit : I found something. All the options regarding memory and storage, they're downright robbery. People need to purchase the base model, or limit themselves to just ONE of those crazy expensive upgrades.

The price for the upgrades feel like robbery. I still went for the 24GB and the 1TB version. I think the price is not only for the actual memory and SSD, it's also for the additional logistics to have different assembly, warehousing, shipping. Still doesn't justify the upgrade prices but in the end the market decides what will be paid........Just look what car dealerships charge for dealer installed options on popular models

 

[acblue94]

Apple sheep in full force. Especially iJustine.

 

[PsykX]

When you upgrade the base model from 16GB Ram to 24GBs it automatically upgrades the chip from the 8-core GPU model to the 10 core one, so there’s that.

I hadn't noticed. This is a nice perk !
It's also true if you upgrade to 512 GB.
Usually they force you to buy the other upgrade (i.e. on the Mac Studio), now it's included.
So it means 150 CAD for the better chip, and 150 CAD for 8 GB of memory OR 150 CAD for 256 additional GB. That makes much more sense.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Apple sheep in full force. Especially iJustine.

Pretty sure the mailbox money they get has checks written by Apple.

 

[Fuzzball84]

There's not much to hate on this computer.
For the price, and considering this is nothing more than an entry model, I cannot even name a single thing.

Edit : I found something. All the options regarding memory and storage, they're downright robbery. People need to purchase the base model, or limit themselves to just ONE of those crazy expensive upgrades.

Nothing more than an entry model?

Are you sure? This is a powerful notebook for any consumer.

It’s a premium laptop with a cutting edge SoC with extremely powerful ML capabilities and 16 GB RAM.

This is way more than an entry level model. It may be Apples lowest priced laptop. But no way is it entry level.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

The price for the upgrades feel like robbery. I still went for the 24GB and the 1TB version. I think the price is not only for the actual memory and SSD, it's also for the additional logistics to have different assembly, warehousing, shipping. Still doesn't justify the upgrade prices but in the end the market decides what will be paid........Just look what car dealerships charge for dealer installed options on popular models

The difference is with cars, you can get aftermarket tint or audio or tires or alarm, etc. Apple -- not so much (or at all, actually).

 

[redmac]

But is it? I'm sure it's a great machine, but I don't see why it is an "excellent update for most people" when it is a minor spec bump. It's good that you can now connect two monitors, but most people don't need that.

I agree totally about the wedge design, which is why I chose to buy the M1 after I looked at it side-by-side with the M2 when that came out and I have absolutely no need to change it yet, nor any desire. It still works flawlessly. And that is another reason I would question if the M4 is really an excellent update for most people.

M4 is really an excellent upgrade for most people including some M1 owners. If you prefer the wedge design, or if you’re still happy with M1’s performance, you’re not one of them.