New 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with M3 chips launch this Friday. Ahead of time, the first review and unboxing videos for the laptop have been shared by some media outlets and YouTube channels.
Key new features added to both MacBook Air models include Apple’s M3 chip for faster performance, Wi-Fi 6E support, increased external display support, an anodization seal that reduces fingerprints in the Midnight Finish, and microphone improvements.
review
M3 chip
Both the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air are now available with the M3 chip for faster performance and improved power efficiency.
As expected, an early benchmark result revealed that the M3 chip is up to 20% faster in terms of CPU performance than the M2 chip in previous MacBook Air models. These results are consistent with the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 chip.
Jason Snell shared the benchmark results in his review six colors:
Along with the M3 chip, the MacBook Air also gains hardware-accelerated ray tracing for improved graphics rendering in games, along with AV1 video decoding.
Two external displays
While previous MacBook Air models with Apple Silicon officially supported only one external display, the new model supports two external displays. However, a second display can only be used when the MacBook Air’s lid is closed.
When the lid is open, the new model supports an external display with a resolution of up to 6K at 60Hz. When the lid is closed, a second display can be connected with a resolution of up to 5K at 60Hz, according to Apple’s specifications.
CNETBy Joshua Goldman:
With the M3 MacBook Airs you can connect two external displays directly to the Thunderbolt USB-C port, which will also power the MacBook.
However, doing so comes at the expense of the MacBook Air’s display; The lid must be closed to operate both external monitors. On the surface, this doesn’t seem like much of a problem, unless you usually work on an external display while using your laptop’s keyboard and trackpad. For me, the big hiccup is the loss of Touch ID on the Air Keyboard. You can just open and close the lid to use Touch ID, but I use it so much during the day that it would get old really fast. A better option is to get Apple’s Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, and pick up a Magic Trackpad or Mouse to complete the package while you’re at it.
More displays can be connected to the MacBook Air using DisplayLink adapters.
Fingerprint Seal for Midnight Color
Like the Space Black MacBook Pro, the Midnight MacBook Air now has an “anodization seal to reduce fingerprints,” according to Apple.
roadJacob Kroll of:
So far, it’s clear that the anodization blocks most fingerprint smudges, and the M3 looks better than an M2 in Midnight Color. However, Midnight is a tough color to block them all out, as I can still see some, especially in the case of the 15-inch top and bottom. That being said, it does a really good job of stopping them, around the keyboard and in or out of the trackpad.
Wi-Fi 6E
According to Apple, the new MacBook Airs support Wi-Fi 6 for “up to twice as fast” wireless download speeds compared to previous models with Wi-Fi 6.
Wi-Fi 6E extends the capabilities of Wi-Fi 6 to the 6 GHz band, enabling faster wireless speeds and reducing signal interference with a compatible device and router. The entire current generation Mac lineup now supports Wi-Fi 6E.
Microphone upgrade
Apple says the microphones on the new MacBook Air models offer “enhanced voice clarity in audio and video calls” compared to previous models. The microphones have also gained support for “Voice Isolation” and “Wide Spectrum” modes.
