Apple unveils M3 MacBook Air, M2 MacBook Air gets $100 cheaper

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The thin and light MacBook Air is the most budget-friendly laptop from Apple, and it has recently exploded in popularity due to its unparalleled portability, sublime processing power, and the ability to last longer than anything else in the market. 

Now, Apple has finally taken the wraps off the new 13- and 15-inch M3 MacBook Air. The announcement comes soon after the rumors of Apple announcing new products soon.

Apple claims the new MacBook Air is up to 60 percent faster than the M1 model and sports up to 18 hours of battery life. 

New M3 MacBook Air with dual external display support 

Unlike the M2 models, Apple has launched both the 13 and 15-inch variants of the M3 MacBook Air at the same time, and they look similar to its predecessor in every aspect. 

While the design remains the same, Apple has replaced the M2 processor with the new M3 processor under the hood. 

Apple claims up to a 60% performance bump over the M1 processor. Interestingly, it hasn’t made any comparison with the M2 processor, which led us to believe the performance boost isn’t that significant.

Either way, Apple’s M3 silicon is a 3nm chip with an eight-core CPU, up to ten-core GPU and support for up to 24GB of RAM.

In addition, the Cupertino firm has included a 16-core Neural Engine for on-device machine learning and AI applications. 

Both 13 and 15-inch M3 MacBook Air models come with Wi-Fi 6E support.

Besides the M3 chip, Apple also boasts the MacBook Air’s newly added feature. The M3-powered thin and light MacBooks now support up to two external displays. 

However, there’s a twist in Apple’s claim. In order to use two external displays with the M3 MacBook Air, the laptop’s lid needs to be closed completely. 

Meanwhile, its predecessor only supported one external display, but there was no need to close the laptop’s lid, i.e., you had two displays to work with. 

So, the new M3 MacBook Air isn’t so different from its predecessor unless you use your MacBook in a docked condition with two external displays.

M3 MacBook Air price and availability 

The new 13 and 15-inch MacBook Air models are similar in design and colors. Apple hasn’t included a new color this year. So, both laptops are available in midnight, starlight, silver, and space gray colorways. 

The 13-inch M3 MacBook Air starts at $1,099 for 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. You can opt for more RAM and storage, up to 24GB and 2TB, respectively.

Meanwhile, the 15-inch M3 MacBook Air starts at $1,299 for 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, with more RAM and storage variations available.

Pre-orders for the M3 MacBook Air have already started. You can order them today from Apple.com. The deliveries will begin from March 8. 

In addition, Apple has discontinued the M1 MacBook Air, as well as the 15-inch M2 version but will continue to sell the M2 variant at $999 for the 8GB/256GB model, now $100 cheaper than before.

If you don’t need a higher processing power or two external displays, stick to the M2 MacBook Air, as it’s a better deal.

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