Apple updated the MacBook Pro series with M3 chips late last year, but the MacBook Air has yet to be updated with the new hardware. That could change as early as late March, with rumors suggesting an iPad and Mac-centric event is in the works.
We are expecting a new version of the “MacBook Air” and in this guide we highlight everything we know about the upcoming machine.
size and design
As of last year, the MacBook Air was available in not one, but two sizes. Apple makes his 13.6-inch MacBook Air and 15.3-inch MacBook Air, so consumers can choose whether they value portability or screen size.
Apple plans to update both versions of the MacBook Air. The MacBook Air’s appearance was last updated in June 2022, and there are no rumors of a design change this time around. Apple continues to use the same flat MacBook Pro-style body it introduced in 2022, with a full-size black Magic Keyboard, large Force Touch trackpad, dual USB-C ports, Touch ID, Thunderbolt charging, and slim Equipped with bezel display, aluminum. chassis.
The only difference in design between the two models is the display size.
MacBook Air is currently available in silver, space gray, starlight, and the new dark blue midnight color. We were able to see three standard colors and one special color, or a completely new color lineup.
Updated M3 chip
There are no plans for any design changes, and chip updates will be the main focus of the refresh. The current “MacBook Air” model uses the previous generation of his M2 chip, and Apple plans to upgrade the machine to his MacBook Pro with the M3 chip first introduced.
The M3 chip is built on Apple’s next-generation 3-nanometer process, which essentially means it offers better performance and power efficiency than the 5-nanometer “M2.” For comparison, the M3 chip has 25 billion transistors, up from 20 billion in the “M2.”
CPU benchmarks show that M3 is about 17 percent faster than M2 for single-core tasks and 21 percent faster for multi-core tasks. GPU performance has increased by about 15%, but there are other GPU improvements that bring noticeable improvements to the M3 chip.
The M3 chip features a new GPU architecture that uses dynamic cache. This basically means that tasks use the exact amount of memory they need and adapt in real time to get maximum utilization. The result is improved performance for GPU-intensive apps and games.
For games and 3D software, the M3 chip supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading. Hardware-based ray tracing is faster than software-based ray tracing, improving the performance of games and apps that use ray tracing. Complex lighting effects do not consume as many system resources, resulting in faster rendering times.
Please note that almost all Mac games do not support ray tracing. So for games, this is a feature that will be useful in the future, but not immediately. 3D tasks in apps like Blender will be faster.
The M3 chip has a new media engine that supports AV1 decoding. AV1 is a video codec used by streaming platforms for low bitrate, high quality video content. AV1 is becoming increasingly popular for his 4K and 8K videos, and AV1 decoding is a good feature to have for the future, even if you don’t need it right away.
Other upgrades
The next MacBook Air models will likely support Wi-Fi 6E, allowing them to connect to the 6 GHz Wi-Fi band provided by compatible 6 GHz routers. There’s a good chance battery life will improve thanks to the upgrade to M3 chip technology.
Is it worth updating?
If you have an M2 MacBook Air, it’s not worth updating to the M3 version as the improvements aren’t noticeable enough.No design changes seen, M3 is better, but not that Much better.
Most people who own an M1 chip may not want to update either, but there’s more to be gained in both performance and design by upgrading from “M1” to M3. The M1 machine used the design of his previous MacBook Air, so updating to the M3 gives it a sleek new look.
For anyone using an older Intel-based MacBook Air or another Intel-based machine, the M3 will be a fundamental improvement.
release date
The new M3 MacBook Air model is expected to be introduced sometime in March or April, with current indications for a late March launch. There are no details yet about a potential Apple event, but more details should be announced in the coming weeks.
