Apple MacBook Air M4 review: a little more for a little less
The best laptop for most people is slightly better - and slightly bluer.Apple rarely offers you more for less, especially in its most popular products with the broadest appeal. It has perfected the measured, iterative year-over-year product cycle. But for the 13- and 15-inch M4 MacBook Airs, Apple has put new chips in its established design while shoring up the deviceas biggest flaws and dropping the price by $100.
The MacBook Air is an even better value than before, even against increased tariffs, further cementing it as the no-brainer, no-fuss recommendation for most people who need a basic laptop for around $1,000. And it anchors the MacBook lineup with a much clearer upgrade path for those with higher demands.
Now starting at $999 once again, the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air comes with a 10-core CPU and 8-core GPU, 16GB of unified memory, and 256GB SSD. The 15-inch M4 starts at $1,199 with a 10-core CPU / 10-core GPU and similar 16GB / 256GB base configuration. Our review samples from Apple include the base $999 13-inch and a stepped-up $1,399 15-inch, which has a 512GB SSD, offering twice the storage and faster read / write speeds. The Air pair may start at $999, but I strongly suggest spending the extra $200 for the extra GPU cores and expanded st …