Is the new 2024 Appel MacBook M3 worth it? The M3 silicon is incredibly efficient, and the screen size is sufficient. Rather than having tapered edges like prior MacBook Airs, the laptop has a more squared-off, boxy appearance. It’s a solidly constructed, high-end device with a roomy full-sized keyboard and a sizable trackpad with robust haptics. Discover more in Apple 2024 MacBook Air 15-inch laptop with M3 chip 15.3-inch liquid retina display review.
The laptop’s hinge-covered section conceals six additional speakers with subwoofers, and the sound quality is amazing for such a stylish item.
The M3 chip, which was developed with the use of 3-nanometer technology, gives the MacBook Air significantly faster speed and more features. With a potent 8-core CPU, a 10-core GPU, and support for up to 24GB of unified memory, the new MacBook Air can perform up to 60% quicker than the M1 model and up to 13 times faster than the fastest MacBook Air with an Intel processor.Its battery lasts up to eighteen hours. We have more in Apple 2024 MacBook Air 15-inch laptop with M3 chip 15.3-inch liquid retina display review.
Apple 2024 MacBook Air 15-inch laptop with M3 chip 15.3-inch liquid retina display YouTube review
Pros & Cons
Pros
- More powerful M3 chip
- All-day battery life
- Faster Wi-Fi 6E
- 256GB storage option is faster than the Air M2
- Supports two external displays
Cons
- Just two Thunderbolt / USB-C ports
- No changes to design
- Port options are still limited
Apple 2024 MacBook Air 15-inch laptop Specs
- Class Desktop Replacement
- Processor Apple M3
- RAM (as Tested) 16 GB
- Boot Drive Type SSD
- Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) 512 GB
- Screen Size 15.3 inches
- Native Display Resolution 2880 by 1864
- Touch Screen No
- Panel Technology IPS
- Variable Refresh Support None
- Screen Refresh Rate 60 Hz
- Graphics Processor Apple M3 (10-core)
- Wireless Networking Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth
- Dimensions (HWD) 0.45 by 13.4 by 9.4 inches
- Weight 3.3 lbs
- Operating System Apple macOS
Apple 2024 MacBook Air Price
Orders for the MacBook Air 15-inch with M3 may now be placed, and it will go on sale on March 8. At $1,299, it is $200 more expensive than the 13-inch model. That premium gets you a bigger screen and stronger speakers, but the real question is how much you desire that extra space.
The device we tested costs $1,699 and includes 16GB of memory and a 512GB SSD, although the entry-level 15-inch Air configuration comes with 8GB of unified memory and 256GB of storage. You will pay $1,499 for a 512GB SSD and 8GB of memory. For the best deals, visit our website dedicated to MacBooks.
Compare Apple 2024 MacBook Air 15-inch laptop with M3 chip 15.3-inch liquid retina display
| MacBook Air 15-inch M3 (2024) 256GB | MacBook Air 15-inch M3 (2024) 512GB | MacBook Air 15-inch M3 (2024) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price: | $1,299 / £1,399 / AU$2,199 | $1,499 / £1,599 / AU$2,499 | $1,699 / £1,699 / AU$2,799 |
| CPU: | Apple M3 (8-core) | Apple M3 (8-core) | Apple M3 (8-core) |
| Graphics: | Integrated 10-core GPU | Integrated 10-core GPU | Integrated 10-core GPU |
| RAM: | 8GB unified memory | 8GB unified memory | 16GB unified memory |
| Screen: | 15.3-inch, 2880 x 1864 Liquid Retina display, 500 nits brightness, wide color P3 gamut | 15.3-inch, 2880 x 1864 Liquid Retina display, 500 nits brightness, wide color P3 gamut | 15.3-inch, 2880 x 1864 Liquid Retina display, 500 nits brightness, wide color P3 gamut |
| Storage: | 256GB SSD | 512GB SDD | 512GB SDD |
| Ports: | 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C), 3.5mm headphone jack, MagSafe 3 | 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C), 3.5mm headphone jack, MagSafe 3 | 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C), 3.5mm headphone jack, MagSafe 3 |
| Wireless: | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3 | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3 | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Camera: | 1080p FaceTime HD webcam | 1080p FaceTime HD webcam | 1080p FaceTime HD webcam |
| Weight: | 3.3 lbs (1.51kg) | 3.3 lbs (1.51kg) | 3.3 lbs (1.51kg) |
| Dimensions: | 13.40 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches (340 x 212 x 15.6mm) | 13.40 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches (340 x 212 x 15.6mm) | 13.40 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches (340 x 212 x 15.6mm) |
Apple 2024 MacBook Air 15-inch laptop with M3 chip 15.3-inch liquid retina display review
Design
The M3 15-inch MacBook Air is exactly the same in every way as the previous model—it’s the exact same chassis, but with a more powerful processor within.Compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro, the 15-inch variant weights 3.3 pounds, which is 1.6 pounds less. The thickness of the 13-inch model is 0.44 inches, while the 15-inch model is a sleek 0.45 inches. Measuring 12.3 x 8.67 x 0.59 inches and weighing 2.82 pounds, the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED is slightly heavier than the 13-inch Air.
Ports
By the way, the new MacBook Air models can simultaneously power two external screens through their dual Thunderbolt 4 connectors because of the M3 CPU. Nevertheless, this requires the laptop to be closed; this is a limitation absent from MacBook Pro models equipped with M3 Pro or M3 Max CPUs.
Apple 2024 MacBook Air 15-inch laptop with M3 chip Display
In addition to having incredibly fine resolution, the display is stunning, including great contrast and a ton of brightness. Whether it is a notch or not, this Air makes watching films much more enjoyable than any other device I’ve used. Having more screen real estate helps with multitasking while using an external display.
The large Liquid Retina display is one of the 15-inch MacBook Air’s selling qualities. While the resolution of the 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display on the 13-inch MacBook Air is 2560 x 1664 pixels, the 15.3-inch display on my 15-inch MacBook Air has a resolution of 2880 x 1864, which implies hundreds more pixels and a lot more screen real estate. The aspect ratio is still 224ppi.
Just over 77% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and more than 109% of the sRGB area were covered by both M3 MacBook Airs. With their OLED panels, the Zenbook and Spectre seemed a little more vibrant, but their true blacks are probably the most striking feature.
Apple 2024 MacBook Air M3 Brightness
When displaying HDR material, the MacBook Air 15-inch achieved an amazing maximum brightness of 503 nits. That is more than the Acer Swift Go 14 but less than the Dell XPS 14 OLED.
While somewhat lower than the Dell and Acer panels, Apple’s panel achieved a robust 77.5% of the DCI-P3 color space. Additionally, while not as good as the Swift Go 14, its color fidelity was comparable to that of the XPS 14.
Of course, the checkout menu also offers piecemeal model upgrades. Upgrades to memory in this manner come with a high price tag of $200 for 16GB and $400 for 24GB. Upgrades to storage are charged in the same $200 increments; 512GB of space starts at $200 and goes all the way up to $800 for 2TB. A fully equipped 15-inch MacBook Air costs $2,499 in total, so at this price range, you might want to think twice about whether a MacBook Pro would be a better fit for your needs.
M3 chip
The M3 chip in the MacBook Air 15-inch is up to 60% faster than the MacBook Air M1, according to Apple, and it employs the same 3-nanometer architecture as the MacBook Pro M3. The M3 processor includes a faster 16-core Neural Engine for machine learning workloads, an 8-core CPU, and a 10-core GPU.
The M3 chip is what distinguishes this laptop. Based on 3-nanometer processing, the M3 maintains the dominance of the M chips. It is far more efficient than Intel CPUs and has benchmark results that match theirs. It is also incredibly powerful.
The main problem with Intel processors is their extreme power consumption and tendency to overheat.
Face ID
On a bigger screen, the FaceTime camera notch is more obvious, especially while playing full-screen games and watching films. Surely there’s a better way to accomplish this without the Face ID hardware inside? Tech geeks are dreamers. In any case, I’m glad that 1080p webcams are finally being used.
webcam
While having a 1080p webcam over a 720p one is good, if given the option, I would always go for a screen without a notch that offers more useful space. (If you want the screen strips on either side of the notch to not be completely wasted when in full-screen mode, go to the Control Center section of the Settings and adjust “automatically hide and show the Menu Bar” to “Never”). The only thing that can really be displayed on these strips of screen is the macOS menu bar.
When it comes to gaming, the M3 15-inch MacBook Air clearly outperforms the M2 model, delivering passable frame rates in Rise of the Tomb Raider at low and medium quality settings. The MacBook Air’s passive cooling mechanism, however, started to interfere once more, causing noticeable thermal throttling across a number of trials. The statistics above are median outcomes, meaning they represent the GPU’s maximum sustained performance. Once more, the M3 MacBook Air’s passive cooling system is unable to handle prolonged, high workloads, like as gaming, without reducing performance in order to protect the hardware.
Apple 2024 MacBook Air 15-inch laptop with M3 chip 15.3-inch liquid retina display useful features
Speed
During the BlackMagic Disk Speed test, the 512GB SSD on this 15-inch MacBook Air M3 demonstrated remarkable read and write speeds. We observed 3,068 MBps and 3,050 MBps for read and write speeds. The M2 MacBook Air achieved a read speed of 3,793 MBps compared to a better write speed of 3145 MBps. Higher write and read speeds, over 4,500 MBps, were recorded by the XPS 14. Additionally, the MacBook Air 15-inch has Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, which according to Apple is twice as quick for streaming and downloads.
Keyboard & trackpad
A large multi-touch track pad and a roomy keyboard featuring a full-size function key row are included.Although the 15-inch laptop’s touchpad is larger, both are excellent. The haptics are superb, and the macOS gestures—such as swiping up with three fingers to view all of my programs in Mission Control or line-pinching to zoom—function flawlessly. I should really try the “natural” scroll direction in the options someday, but I usually turn it off because I just like to scroll in the opposite manner.
Audio
The MacBook Air 13-inch has four speakers, while the MacBook Air 15-inch has six speakers with force-cancelling woofers. You do receive more bass and loudness. The soundtrack for Dune 2 was really powerful, and Noah Kahan’s “Dial Drunk” featuring Post Malone sounded incredibly clear and undistorted, with a lot of twang from the guitar.
Battery life
According to Apple, the 15-inch MacBook Air’s battery life may last up to 15 hours when browsing the web or up to 18 hours when watching videos continuously on Apple TV. The 15-inch MacBook Air tested slightly shy of 18 hours, falling barely short of Apple’s guarantee. Naturally, these are distinct testing, but more often than not, we notice MacBooks far outperforming the stated numbers in our benchmark, even if our battery test results and Apple’s claims are often equal.
Even though it is ranked last in comparison, its placement makes sense, especially with the Intel Core Ultra laptops. The most recent 13-inch MacBook Air (not shown in the table above) has an M3 CPU that lasted over 22 hours, but it also had a smaller screen with less pixels. On the other hand, the 14-inch MacBook Pro’s lengthier result is justified because it uses a bigger battery to power a marginally smaller display.
Charging
Both of the USB-C ports and the MagSafe port can be used for charging. The laptop can charge up to 70W at a time. Former MacBook Airs with M-powered processors were not able to output to two external monitors, but now those two USB-C connections can.
AI
Since the beginning, Apple has included neural engines in their laptops, and many of their apps have some sort of AI. (The M3’s neural engine has 16 cores.) Some excellent examples of AI tools for image editing are available in Pixelmator Pro, one of my favorite alternatives to Photoshop (and Mac apps in general), and Freechat, which allows you to chat with big language models on your device. But in this AI cycle, we’re still quite early. While on-device AI appears to be gaining popularity, Apple’s emphasis on cloud AI—such as Copilot in Microsoft 365—is noteworthy.
AirDrop
The MacBook Air functions flawlessly with the iPhone and other Apple devices thanks to Continuity. Users can send and receive files, documents, and more between adjacent Apple devices with features like AirDrop. With the Universal Clipboard, users may copy text, photos, or videos from one Apple device app and paste them into another app on a nearby Mac. Users may quickly scan or snap a picture of something close with their iPhone and have it display on their Mac thanks to Continuity Camera. Additionally, Handoff enables users to begin a job on one Apple device—such as responding to an email—and simply continue it on another.
Heat
The MacBook Air’s unique feature is its lack of a fan. Even with the most intensive use, it remains silent. The 15-inch MacBook Air reached 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit (hot enough to feel), 88.3 degrees Fahrenheit on the trackpad, and 107.7 degrees Fahrenheit at the lowest position of the notebook. The 13-inch screen, meanwhile, registered 88.1 F on the touchpad, 98.1 F between the G and H keys, and 102.3 F at the bottom.
