How to pre-order the new Apple MacBook Air M4

Among the slew of Apple announced news from the previous few weeks is a refreshed MacBook Air. The laptop still comes in 13- and 15-inch sizes, starts with 16GB of RAM and offers up to 18 hours of battery life. The big spec bump here is the new M4 chipset, and that's paired with a $100 price cut; the base model starts at $999. MacBook Air pre-orders are open now, and the notebook will be widely available starting March 12. Here's everything you need to know about the M4 MacBook Air.

Apart from the new pricing, the marquee upgrade is the M4 chip. Although it isn't a massive leap over the M3, it still makes the 2025 MacBook Air up to twice as fast as the M1 model. (You know it's less than a generational breakthrough if Apple's comparing it to its first in-house silicon from 2020.) The M4 silicon in this model has a 10-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU.

The MacBook Air still starts with 16GB of RAM, but the top-tier configurations support up to 32GB — an increase from a maximum of 24GB in the M3 model. When combined with the faster processor, you should see a noticeable speed boost when upgrading from an M1 or (especially) an older Intel MacBook.

In a welcome change for those whose laptop does double duty as a desktop PC, you can now connect it to two external displays while still using the built-in one. Last year's model only supported two with the MacBook lid closed or one with it open.

The new MacBook Air also adds Center Stage, Apple's auto-centering camera feature, for the first time in the lineup. It's paired with a 12MP camera, which should make your video calls and selfies look much sharper.

The last big upgrade is a cosmetic one. It now ships in sky blue, a light metallic color also found in the iPad Air and AirPods Max. It joins the carryovers midnight, starlight and silver.

Elsewhere, it still supports Apple Intelligence (if you're into that), runs macOS Sequoia and has a pair of Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports.

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