The M3 MacBook Air made a splash when it launched, but is it still worth your attention? I’ve tested it out and here’s my take.

Back in early April, President Trump rolled out his “reciprocal tariffs.” Around that time, I needed a new laptop to replace my retiring Dell Inspiron. I knew I’d regret skipping the M3 MacBook Air while it was affordable. Now, a few months later, I’m happy to say Apple’s 2024 entry-level laptop still goes for just $999 (23% off). That’s pretty awesome, especially since the Dell XPS 13, a close Windows rival, costs even more. But the real question is, does Apple’s laptop fit what you want and need?

I’ve been testing the M3 MacBook Air every day, figuring out where it shines and where it doesn’t, so you won’t have to guess before buying. I also talked to colleagues who push their laptops hard for work. And honestly, I can’t wait to share my thoughts on the very first Apple laptop I’ve ever owned.

Design and display

So, I picked up the starlight MacBook, and it reminds me of a chameleon. The color shifts depending on where I am. In direct sunlight, it looks silver. In my room, which doesn’t get much light, it turns golden.

What I like most about my M3 MacBook Air is the design. After 2 months of use, it still looks clean. No scratches, no fingerprints. My coworker bought the silver one, and now she’s stressed over a few marks on the surface.

The aluminum body feels solid. It’s well-built. The keyboard feels great, better than what I had on my Dell Inspiron. Touch ID works right away. The trackpad is large and smooth, with zero issues.

With dimensions of 11.97″ L x 8.46″ W x 0.44″ H and a weight of 2.7 pounds, the 13-inch M3 MacBook Air slides right into my backpack. I take it with me to different spots around the city and work without any problem.

You can get the Air in both 13-inch and 15-inch models. Other than screen size, the rest is pretty similar. I watched a few episodes of Your Friends & Neighbors on Apple TV, and the image quality looked sharp. The colors and angles held up well.

That said, there’s a tradeoff. If you’re into gaming or video editing, the external display support maxes out at 6K at 60 Hz. The M4 MacBook Pro, with a 120 Hz refresh rate, handles visuals more smoothly. There’s more to why the Pro is a better fit for creative work—I’ll get into that in the performance section.

Performance

What puts the 2024 MacBook Air in a different league is the M3 chip. It packs an 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores that clock up to 4.06 GHz and 4 efficiency cores reaching up to 2.75 GHz. The result? Strong, smooth performance without draining power.

Intel processors, on the other hand, love to pull power and heat up fast. On my old Dell with a Core i3 (7th gen), the fan jumped into action every time I opened a few Chrome tabs. If I switched to battery power, the performance dropped fast. Everything slowed down. That made even light work feel like a chore.

While the MacBook Air doesn’t use a fan, the performance stays rock solid thanks to Apple Silicon. I’ve got the model with 16 GB Unified Memory, 512 GB SSD, an 8-core CPU, and a 10-core GPU. I can run Canva, stream music on Spotify, and open loads of Safari tabs without any hiccups. That memory and storage combo hits the sweet spot. Smooth performance without overspending. If money’s tight, you could go for the 256 GB SSD, but 16 GB Unified Memory should be your baseline.

Power users, this one’s for you

The 13-inch MacBook Air is ideal for web browsing, writing, coding, and light photo or video work. If you want a larger screen and beefier speakers, the 15-inch model with the newer M4 chip is worth considering.

The M4 Pro and M4 Max chips in the MacBook Pro models (14-inch and 16-inch) may offer serious power. But unless you’re editing video, building 3D models, or compiling large codebases, you don’t need that level of performance. A friend of mine edits video for a living, and he only sees a major gap between the Pro and non-Pro models when working with 4K footage. For everything else, the M3 MacBook Air covers all the bases.

Battery life

Apple says the 13-inch M3 MacBook Air can last up to 18 hours on a single charge. But we all know real battery life usually looks different from the numbers companies give.

For me, the MacBook Air gets through 2 full workdays. If you’re into video editing or gaming, though, expect the battery to run out faster, around 4 to 5 hours. Still, that’s way better than most Intel laptops out there.

You can power up your MacBook using either of the 2 USB-C ports or the MagSafe 3 port. It charges up to about 70 W. Plus, those USB-C ports now support 2 external monitors, something previous M-powered MacBook Airs couldn’t do. But that only works when the MacBook is closed and in Clamshell Mode.

Apple Intelligence

Apple calls the M3 MacBook Air an “AI laptop” because it features a 16-core Neural Engine built to run local AI models and generative AI apps. Sounds impressive, right? But here’s the catch—earlier M-series chips can already handle those features.

However, M3’s Neural Engine runs faster, so you’ll see results sooner. That’s nice to have. Still, I’ve had my M3 MacBook for 2 months and haven’t used Apple Intelligence once. Not because it’s broken—I just haven’t needed it. If you’re curious, go ahead and switch it on. There’s no known security risk, and it won’t eat up power or slow things down. It only takes a small chunk of storage when it’s idle.

M3 MacBook Air review (13-inch): Verdict

After using the M3 MacBook Air for a while, I can say it’s a solid laptop for work. It boasts a sleek design that still looks fresh, and the keyboard and trackpad make working on it a pleasure.

Performance is smooth—no annoying fan noise or slowdowns—and the battery keeps me going without stressing about chargers. It’s not for heavy-duty creative work, but for browsing, writing, and light multitasking, it’s perfect. Overall, Apple nailed the balance between power, portability, and price.