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The MacBook Air has all the time been one of the best thin and light laptops on the market, and Apple’s migration from Intel chips to its personal silicon a number of years again has additional enhanced its attract. The M-series chips have constantly delivered top-notch efficiency with spectacular battery life. In addition to the strong efficiency, the MacBook Air sports activities a good looking design, a sturdy metallic chassis, and a vibrant show — making it a prime choice for most individuals. So, in the event you’re considering of shopping for one, it is onerous to go flawed.
Nevertheless, it is nonetheless a good suggestion to contemplate a number of issues earlier than you pull the set off to make sure you get the best choice in your wants. There are two sizes, a number of storage configurations, and a number of other generations to select from. One flawed choice proper now can affect the lifespan of your buy and may drive you to improve early. So, listed here are a number of the most essential issues to know earlier than ordering a MacBook Air.
Which chip technology to get: M4, M3, or M2?
Though the newest technology – the M4 MacBook Air was unveiled in March 2025, it is not the one MacBook Air mannequin you will discover within the shops. Relying on the place you look, you will discover M2 and M3 chip fashions as nicely. Whereas we cannot suggest getting these older fashions until you obtain vital reductions, these might be legitimate purchases for somebody on a tighter finances. Should you aren’t too involved about pricing, although, it’s best to go with the M4 MacBook Air. In addition to the quicker efficiency and assist for the AV1 decode engine, your MacBook could have an extended lifespan and assist for 2 exterior displays – a function that is not obtainable on older MacBook Air variations.
Nevertheless, when you’ve got a barely decrease finances, the M3 MacBook Air remains to be a strong choice as it is not too previous and may prevent about $150, as per a listing on Best Buy. It additionally helps as much as two exterior shows, offered you shut the lid of your MacBook. M2 fashions aren’t as frequent anymore, however in the event you spot one with a serious low cost, it may be a value-for-money buy. It is nonetheless a good machine for on a regular basis computing.
Get the proper RAM and storage configuration
Apple is infamous for providing costly RAM and storage upgrades. Nevertheless, since you’ll be able to’t improve the RAM or SSD after you buy the laptop computer, it turns into essential to choose the configuration that may deal with your wants, not simply within the current but in addition within the close to future. So, stability is the important thing when choosing a MacBook Air configuration. Luckily, Apple ditched the 8 GB RAM MacBook Air variants in 2024, and the M4 MacBook Air begins with 16 GB of RAM — sufficient for most individuals requiring a MacBook for on a regular basis computing. Nevertheless, in the event you plan to make use of it closely for memory-intensive duties, comparable to content material creation, digital machines, video games, and vital multitasking, it is best to improve the RAM on the time of buy.
Equally, low onboard storage can shortly turn out to be a bottleneck in your MacBook Air expertise. So whereas the bottom M4 mannequin’s 256 GB storage is affordable for folk who do not set up too many apps or have too many downloads, and primarily use their machine for net looking, social media, and multimedia playback, the 512 GB SSD improve might be a good suggestion. Nevertheless, if these upgrades are going past your finances, choose a RAM improve, as you’ll be able to all the time use a USB drive or external hard disk to increase the storage later.
You possibly can select betwen two display screen sizes
Whereas the MacBook Air remained a 13-inch laptop computer for a few years, it obtained a 15-inch model in 2023. So, you’ve gotten two dimension choices whereas shopping for a MacBook Air in 2025: 13-inch and 15-inch. The 13-inch variant is a wonderful selection for most individuals, as it is not solely extra inexpensive than the 15-inch mannequin but it surely’s additionally extra transportable and lighter. So, in the event you do not actually need a much bigger display screen, that is the one to go for.
Nevertheless, in the event you plan to make use of your MacBook Air for video enhancing or different such duties that may profit from the additional actual property, the 15-inch mannequin might be definitely worth the improve. Whereas it will not offer you any profit when it comes to options or efficiency, it may assist with improved productiveness whereas letting you get pleasure from video content material on a barely greater display screen. Nevertheless, you may must weigh whether or not the extra $200 that you just pay for the 15-inch MacBook Air is definitely worth the bigger display screen dimension. By choosing the smaller variant, you’ll be able to as an alternative spend that cash on some accessories to protect your MacBook.
Take note the dearth of ports
The MacBook Air has lengthy been fairly mild when it comes to port choice, and that is one thing you’ve gotten to bear in mind whereas shopping for it. You may probably must reside in a world of USB hubs and docking stations in the event you use a number of peripherals or USB units. In addition to the MagSafe charging port, the M4 MacBook Air comes with two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack – nothing else. It is the identical for the M3 MacBook Air, besides it has Thunderbolt 3 ports as an alternative of the newest technology. That is, sadly, a trade-off for the skinny design. Whereas the Thunderbolt ports are fairly versatile, you’ll be able to solely join one machine to them at a time, until, in fact, you join a docking station.
Utilizing a dock or hub is not an enormous situation in the event you primarily use your Mac at residence or the workplace. Nevertheless, in the event you journey together with your laptop computer incessantly, you may have to recollect to hold your dock with you and deal with no matter further bulk it provides. Should you want extra ports, like HDMI and an SD card reader, you can contemplate upgrading to the MacBook Professional fashions if finances will not be a difficulty. There are many different advantages of getting the Professional mannequin, too, together with higher efficiency, extra storage within the base mannequin, and a quicker bundled charger.
It has a fanless design
One notable facet of the MacBook Air is its fanless design, which helps you get a very silent operation even when pushed. Nevertheless, this additionally means the MacBook Air can throttle its efficiency barely to handle warmth throughout lengthy, sustained, high-intensity operations. Whereas it is not a difficulty for on a regular basis computing and you may hardly discover this, it may turn out to be an issue if you need a high-performance laptop computer that constantly delivers its finest.
One other different is to use exterior cooling options, comparable to this laptop cooling pad from TeckNet or the clamshell cooling stand from TCPoly, which will help with warmth dissipation to maintain the throttling at bay. Nevertheless, as these options are exterior, they’re efficient solely to a sure extent, and usually are not a substitute for lively inside cooling options. For such customers, it is a good suggestion to contemplate upgrading to one of many MacBook Professional fashions, as they embody a fan that kicks in to maintain the temperatures in examine and ship the absolute best efficiency.