Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 (2024) Review

About the Apple MacBook Air 13 M3

The Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 is an update on the MacBook Air 13 M2 laptop. You can configure the M3 model with 8, 16, or 24GB of RAM; 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB of storage; and an 8-core or 10-core GPU on the M3 processor. The chassis finish comes in silver, starlight gold, space gray, and midnight.

The base MacBook Air 13 M3 costs $1,099 and comes with 8GB of memory, 256GB of storage, and an 8-core graphics processor.

Apple MacBook Air M3 specs

• Price as configured: $1,500
• Processor: Apple Silicon M3 processor with 8 CPU cores, 10 GPU cores, and 16 neural engine AI cores.
• Graphics: Integrated graphics, 10 core GPU
• Memory: 16GB unified memory
• Storage: 512GB integrated SSD
• Display: 13.6-inch, 2560 x 1644 resolution, 500 nits max (rated), 518 nits max (measured), 100% DCI-P3, LED display
• Ports: 2 x Thunderbolt 4, 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack, MagSafe 3 charging port
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• Battery: 52.6Wh lithium-polymer battery
• Weight: 2.7 In pounds
• Dimensions: 11.97 x 8.46 x 2.7 inches
• Warranty: 1-year limited hardware warranty
• Special features: Fingerprint reader, media keys, 70W fast-charging

What we like

Its processing performance is better than ever

The Apple M3 processor has some notable gains over the M2 processor, with scores about 20% higher across our benchmark tests, keeping pace with other top-performers like the Dell XPS 14 or Framework Laptop 13 AMD Edition.

Where the Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 truly shines is in its single core performance. With scores of 11977 points in Geekbench 6 and 1907 in Cinebench R23, the Air M3 is a speedster for tasks like web browsing or Photoshop editing. Its performance lands it among other top performers like the MSI Modern 15 or Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max.

The MacBook Air 13 M3 won’t outperform an Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max or a gaming laptop like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with multicore performance, but it’s powerful enough for smaller video editing tasks. It has no issue running thirty tabs of Google Chrome, Spotify, Photoshop, and messaging apps simultaneously.

Its body remains unchanged from last gen’s model

For those on the fence between an M2 and M3 MacBook Air 13, the only factor to consider is whether that extra 20% of performance is worth a couple hundred bucks. The M3 MacBook Air 13 has the same body and design as the M2 model.

Like the M2 model, the M3 is just 0.44 inches thick, weighs under 3 pounds, and is made of solid aluminum alloy. It fits most backpacks, and is sturdy enough to throw in with the rest of your stuff.

The MacBook Air 13 is still a standout for keyboard and trackpad usability, as well. The trackpad is larger than a postcard, has flawless feedback, and feels buttery smooth to glide across. The keyboard, while not as sumptuous of an experience as a separate mechanical keyboard, does the job with its well-spaced, responsive chiclet keys.

The MacBook Air is great for media playback

Apple has historically knocked it out of the park when it comes to the multimedia experience, and the MacBook Air 13 M3 is no different. Its media keys cover a range of functions (from play/pause to volume to launchboard), and its speakers carry sound across a small room crisply and clearly.

With a peak brightness of 518 nits (18 nits brighter than its spec), the display on the MacBook Air 13 M3 is bright enough to work outside on a sunny day. The contrast and vibrance on the display come across beautifully. It also covers the entire DCI-P3 color gamut, and its excellent color accuracy surpasses the Dell XPS 14’s OLED display. But if you need the best accuracy possible in a MacBook, you should look at the MacBook Pro 14 M3 instead.

The MacBook Air 13’s webcam cut-out may look a little goofy, but the 1080p webcam is great at its job. The image is bright without being oversaturated or blown out, and voices are picked up cleanly.

What we don’t like

Its battery life isn’t as long as other MacBooks

Last year’s Apple MacBook Air 13 M2 has a 17-hour battery life—only the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s and the Apple MacBook Pro 14 and 16 models beat it. The MacBook Air 13 M3’s battery life isn’t as impressive as the M2 model’s, clocking in at 10 hours and 24 minutes. Meanwhile, the MacBook Pro 14 M3 clocks in at 14 hours and the MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max has a whopping 18 hours of battery life.

For most people though, 10 hours is still plenty of battery life to get through nearly two days of use before you need to plug it back into the outlet.

No changes beyond processing power

While there is the saying of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” we’d like to see Apple experiment more with its newer-model laptops. The only thing setting the M3 MacBook Air apart from the M2 MacBook Air is its processor. That performance boost isn’t enough to justify buying the M3 over a less-expensive M2, or replacing an M2 Air you already own.

The M3 model also has some of the same flaws as the M2 model—notably, its SSD read and write speeds. At about 3500 MB/s read speeds and 3200 MB/s write speeds, the MacBook Air 13 M3 is slow compared to the Dell XPS 16, Lenovo Slim 7, and the Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max, all of which have read/write speeds of 5000 MB/s or better.

For most people, the slow SSD won’t be a deal breaker. It’s hardly noticeable in most productivity applications with one major exception: creative work. Those who regularly copy and reference large files like 4K video footage might feel constrained by the MacBook Air 13 M3’s SSD performance.

Its graphics performance trails behind its processing performance

Apple’s game support continually improves—you can play games like Lies of P and Baldur’s Gate 3 directly on a MacBook these days. However, just because you can play these games doesn’t mean you should. The M3 processor doesn’t struggle with the CPU-intensive side of things, but its integrated GPU is not quite up to par with discrete graphics processors from AMD, Intel, or Nvidia.

Among productivity laptops, the Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max reigns supreme. In the 3D Mark Wildlife benchmark, the MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max scored over 31000 points, almost four times more than the MacBook Air 13 M3’s score of 8300 points.

There are so many gaming laptops out there with a small footprint and great battery life like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, if graphics are a priority, the MacBook Air M3 is a tough recommendation.

Should you buy the Apple MacBook Air 13 M3?

Yes, it’s a stellar laptop for everyday use

The Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 won’t win any innovation awards, but it still excels in just about every area that matters for an everyday laptop. Its 10 and a half hour battery life is enough for a long day of work or school, and its solid metal chassis is both durable and lightweight enough to survive a rough commute to work or class.

The Apple Silicon M3 processor gives the MacBook Air 13 a power boost over last gen’s Air 13 M2, but its graphics power still lags behind comparable laptops like the Dell XPS 16 or Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. If you want to stay in the MacBook family, both the MacBook Pro 14/16 M3 Pro and M3 Max offer better central and graphics performance—albeit at a premium. On the other end, you can save a couple hundred dollars if you opt for the Apple MacBook Air 13 M2, which is almost identical to the Air 13 M3.

Regardless, the Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 is easy to recommend to those that want a premium-feeling device that’s both powerful and simple to use. Even though it’s one of Apple’s cheapest laptops, it nails usability, portability, and aesthetics as well as its MacBook Pro siblings.