It’s only a matter of time before we see the M4 MacBook Air.
As pointed out by MacRumors, a private account on X claims that both a 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air will be outfitted with the “T8132” chip, aka the Apple M4. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also speculated that, since the stock of M3 MacBook Air models is diminishing, Apple is gearing up for a launch.
Rumors aside, I think the M4 MacBook Air may be one of the most impactful launches we’ve seen in a while. There are plenty of factors at play here, which I’ll dive into, but the most important aspect to make the M4 MacBook Air stand out is exactly what you might think.
How much is the M4 MacBook Air going to cost?
The MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) launched at $1,099 and you can currently find it for $999 or less, if you’re lucky. That’s not exactly cheap, but that’s as close to the budget category a MacBook has gotten in recent memory. One of my favorite budget laptops is the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED, and at $800, that’s not too far off from the MacBook Air.
Even at $200 more, the MacBook Air has a lot to offer. The M3 MacBook Air featured incredible performance, outstanding battery life, and a bright display. Not many laptops hit those same notes close to $1K.
If Apple wants to compete in the budget space, that price needs to remain the same. Or, if we’re lucky, get even lower. I don’t see that happening, unfortunately. In fact, I’m worried that we may see a major increase in price, considering our political climate.
Recently, President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. And has threatened a “25, 50, or even a 100% tax" on chip production, via semiconductors imported by TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.). To top it off, Apple’s factories are all across the world, including Taiwan and China.
Of course, we don’t know how tariffs will affect the price of consumer products yet, but it’s just another thing weighing against the M4 MacBook Air being a leader in the budget space. Apple products are already on the pricey end and that’s not going to change, but being more expensive will absolutely reduce consumption.
However, if the M4 MacBook Air maintains its price, or close to it, we could see an incredible new notebook. The jump from the M3 MacBook Pro to the M4 MacBook Pro was sweet. We saw a 26.3% increase in overall performance (via Geekbench) and an additional hour of battery life. (It would’ve been nice to see a bigger increase in graphics performance, but that’s just me.)
Right now, the M3 MacBook Air sits at the top of our best laptops list. We recommend it as the best laptop for most people, and that’s because of its strong price-to-performance ratio. The M4 MacBook Air may just be a refresh with little-to-no changes, but I don’t see it climbing to the top without an alluring price point.
If you do find yourself worried about the price, now may be the best time to get an M3 MacBook Air. After all, according to Gurman, the inventory is “dwindling” at Apple stores, so it’ll likely be officially discontinued sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, the 15-inch MacBook Air M4 gets a “meh” for anticipation from me — especially if it’s going to cost $1,299 again.
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