Apple revealed its latest laptop, a new version of the MacBook Air on Wednesday, March 5. It’s available for pre-orders now and goes on sale on Wednesday, March 12 at a lower price than before. I’ve been talking to Apple about the new laptop: here’s what’s coming.
MacBook Air 2025: Design
The overall design of the new MacBook Air is unchanged from last year, except for two updates: colour and camera.
Three of the current MacBook Air colours continue to be available, starlight, midnight and silver. But the fourth shade, space gray, has been ditched in favor of sky blue, a light, subtle, muted colour that looks intriguing at first meeting. Note that while Apple has previously launched colours with restrictions—the luscious space black colour on MacBook Pro debuted only on pricier models—sky blue is available on all versions of MacBook Air with the M4 processor.
MacBook Air 2025: Camera
Then there’s the camera, which sees the 1080p FaceTime HD camera of the last version replaced with what Apple calls a new Center Stage camera. It has 12-megapixel resolution and it means that if you’re on a video call, the camera can automatically frame you so you’re front-and-centre, and it offers Desk View so you can see a top-down view of your desk alongside a view of yourself.
MacBook Air 2025: M4 Processor
The M4 processor in the MacBook Air has a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU.
The upgrade to M4 is across the entire MacBook Air range, 13-inch and 15-inch. It’s up to twice as fast as the MacBook Air with M1 processor, Apple told me.
Oh, and one thing that some people will be delighted about: previously, support for external displays was limited. On the model with M2 chip, there was support for one external display. For the M3 versions, there was support for two external displays, so long as the laptop lid was closed. Now, with M4, there’s support for two displays and no need to close the lid.
MacBook Air 2025: Pricing
There’s been a significant price cut for these upgraded laptops. The M3 MacBook Air started at A$1,799 for the 13-inch model and A$2,199 for the 15-inch version.
The new M4 MacBook Air now starts at A$1,699 for the 13-inch model and A$2,099 for the 15-inch version.
Until Wednesday, March 5, you could buy a MacBook Air for A$1,699, but this was the model with the M2 processor. That model will still be available but only in select markets.
This article was originally published on forbes.com
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