The arrival of the new MacBook Air with the M3 chip means the disappearance of an iconic design, because the MacBooK Air with M1 still maintained the wedge shape that, with several changes, it inherited from the original MacBook Air, the one that Steve Jobs presented in 2008 taking it out of an envelope. Now we only have the flat surface design, similar to that of the MacBook Pro, but much thinner, which debuted with the M2 chip. The new model gains (even more) power and a couple of additional features compared to its predecessors.
The differences between the MacBook Air with M2 and M3 are few. One of them, the possibility of the latter to connect two monitors simultaneously, can be a changing factor for certain activities. The other additional change is an anti-fingerprint layer, which in the darker model, Midnight, is appreciated. Otherwise, all the improvements are in the in-house M3 chip, which Apple notes gets up to 20% faster CPU performance than the M2 and 35% faster than the M1. The graphics processor (GPU) allows you to achieve up to 20% more graphics performance than M2.
The unit tested in 24 hours is the 13.6-inch one, with 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage. The operating system loaded is macOS Sonoma 14.4, an update that has not yet reached users. Subjected to testing software, the M3 responds as was already known in other models. It is at a very high point, even compared to chips from other brands used for demanding professional tasks. The first in single-core tasks of any computer chip, according to the CineBench 2024 test.
The results indicate that in single-core the M3 of the MacBook Air obtains 141 points, above three other Apple chips, the M1 Max (113), the M1 Ultra (113) and the M1 (112). In monocore, it is in seventh position, with 538 points. The leader is the M1 Ultra (1,625. In the graphics section, the M3 is in sixth position with 3,156 points, of a ranking led by AMD Radeon Pro W6800 (9,643).
Whenever the MacBook Air is analyzed from the point of view of its processor performance, it must be taken into account that it does not have a fan, as is the case with the iPad Pro, so it needs to lower its demands when it reaches high temperatures, as happens when it is subject to testing software. In real life it is a situation that the average user may encounter very rarely, perhaps with certain tasks such as video editing or some graphically demanding video games.
The arrival of the MacBook Air M3 will raise questions for more than one user, because the entry model in the MacBook Pro range, with M3, differs little in terms of performance. In this latest model, the screen is slightly larger (0.4 inches), it has several more connection ports and the speakers are superior. In favor of the MacBook Air is its lightness. It is true that, if you tighten it, as the Pro model has a fan, you can get more out of it, but the power of the M chips means that the fan rarely has to start, so it is not such a big difference. The entry-level MacBook Air M3 costs 1,299 euros and the most basic MacBook Pro M3 starts at 2,029 euros. The difference makes the first one very competitive.
As far as the design is concerned, it is the same as the previous generation. The anti-fingerprint layer is an improvement that can be noticed on a daily basis. It is a pleasant machine to use and powerful in a way that MacBook Airs have never been. In more than one backpack it can replace the MacBook Pro perfectly for many tasks, since the performance point is extraordinary. The power is in a small package, but it can be deceiving.
