Apple quietly discontinues these MacBooks following the M4 MacBook Air reveal

The M4 MacBook Air launches on March 12. (Image credit: Laptop Mag, Apple)

After weeks of speculation, Apple made the big reveal of its M4 MacBook Air on Wednesday. The newest laptop featuring the latest Apple Silicon also has one of the lowest starting prices of just $999.

As with previous Apple hardware launches, older models are phased out.

Apple discontinued the M2 and M3 MacBook Air from its website not long after the reveal of the M4 MacBook Air. The company's site does still have the older laptops available to compare with each other, but there is no longer a buy button for them.

Now, this doesn't mean that the M2 and M3 MacBook Air have blinked out of existence. Retail stores such as Walmart, Amazon, and Best Buy are getting rid of their inventory and selling the laptops for the lowest prices ever.

The MacBook Air M4 seen from the side in front of a white background — The M4 MacBook Air continue the tradition of ultra-thin laptops from Apple. (Image credit: Apple)

Out with the old, in with the new

Apple's M4 MacBook Air appears to be one of the best-value laptops the company has released. The MacBook Airs with the M chips were already some of the best laptops around. Starting at less than $1,000—$100 less than the M3 MacBook Air at launch—the new laptop model offers an even better value.

Although the M4 MacBook Air isn't out yet, the specs of the laptop are already available. There are two variants of the new MacBook Air, one 13.6-inch and the other 15.3-inch, and they come in a new Sky Blue color as well as the standard color options.

Powering the laptop is the M4 chip with its 10-core CPU and up to 10-core GPU. Apple says the M4 MacBook Air will be twice as powerful as the M1 MacBook Air. A leaked benchmark for the new MacBook Air showed a score higher than the M3 MacBook Air, approaching performance levels of the M4 MacBook Pro.

The M4 MacBook Air starts off with 16GB of unified RAM and 256GB of storage, with options to go up to 32GB and a 2TB SSD. It also comes with a 12MP Center Stage camera, which is an upgrade from the M3 MacBook Air's 1080p FaceTime HD camera. One other new change with the M4 MacBook Air is the support for two external displays.

Pre-orders for the M4 MacBook Air are available on Apple's site. The laptop officially launches on March 12. More details about the overall performance, battery life, and other improvements will likely emerge after the laptop’s release and some testing can be done.

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