2. Evaluating the Benefits of Switching to the Latest 202N M3 MacBook Air Model

Quick Links

• What’s New in the M3 MacBook Air?
• Should You Upgrade From an M2 MacBook Air?
• Should You Upgrade From an M1 MacBook Air?
• Should You Upgrade From an Intel MacBook Air?

Key Takeaways

• The M3 MacBook Air offers improved graphics performance, supports dual external monitors, and has a faster SSD than the M2 version.
• Upgrading from the M2 MacBook Air to the M3 model is not worth it due to only minor performance improvements.
• Upgrading from Intel to the M3 model is highly recommended for significantly faster performance, better battery life, and future software support.

The 2024 MacBook Air runs on Apple’s M3 chip and is the most powerful model in the range to date. Does that mean you should upgrade from your existing MacBook Air? Let’s take a look.

What’s New in the M3 MacBook Air?

The main selling point of the 2024 MacBook Air is that it brings Apple’s M3 system-on-a-chip (SoC) to the series for the first time.

Our comparison of the M3 with the M2 shows that it offers better—but not radically better—performance and battery life over its predecessor, with the main benefits being in graphics performance. There are three variants in the M3 range but, as before, only the baseline SoC is available in the MacBook Air series.

Apple

The M3 Air introduces a few other features. While the previous Apple Silicon Airs only supported one external monitor plus the display, you can connect two external displays to the M3 Air. You have to keep the lid closed, though. There’s still no option for a third display, but this is a handy upgrade for those who prefer a multi-monitor setup.

There’s also a dedicated chip to provide hardware decoding for the up-and-coming AV1 video codec , improved audio quality in FaceTime video calls, and support for Wi-Fi 6E .

What Hasn’t Changed?

The rest of the M3 MacBook Air is largely unchanged from the M2 model. The display, the size and weight, and even the colors are the same.

OtsAV TV Webcaster

Marcus Mears III / How-To Geek

Most importantly, the base model still only has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. 8GB is still likely to be enough for what we might call “general” use, but a Mac should last you for at least five years, and potentially a lot longer, and these will become limitations at some point.

The thing about Apple Silicon Macs is that the RAM and SSD are soldered to the motherboard, so you cannot upgrade them at a later date. You have to buy what you need. The upgrade options are the same as before, and quite pricey—doubling the storage adds $200 to the price, and doubling both storage and memory adds $400.

Should You Upgrade From an M2 MacBook Air?

If you bought a base M2 MacBook Air and immediately found that you needed more RAM or storage, then, sure, go for the upgrade. You’ll still get a great price selling your M2 Air to partly fund it. Otherwise, the differences are just too small to make it worthwhile.

There is one unadvertised improvement in the M3 base model compared to the M2, however: a faster SSD.

Apple originally equipped the M1 Air with two 128GB storage chips but switched to a single 256GB chip for the M2, and it delivered slower performance. As YouTube channel Max Tech discovered, the M3 model has reverted to the two-chip configuration, bringing 33% faster write speeds and 82% faster read speeds.

Is that enough to justify an upgrade? Not really. In truth, the speed difference is unlikely to be that noticeable in general use, and there’s not much wisdom in upgrading from one base model to another so soon.

Should You Upgrade From an M1 MacBook Air?

The differences between the M3 and M1 MacBook Air are much greater. The newer SoC gives you a faster processor, better graphics performance, and a much more powerful Neural Engine for AI work. Overall, Apple claims that it’s 60% faster than the M1.

Apple

And there are several smaller upgrades that collectively add up to quite a lot, like a MagSafe charging cable, a full HD webcam, and even the option of a 15-inch model (the M1 was limited to 13 inches). You also get a notch at the top of the display, which is not to everyone’s taste.

Yet the M1 MacBook Air is still going strong. The first generation of Apple Silicon was such a leap forward that it still delivers outstanding performance four years after its launch. Unless you have specific needs that the hardware can’t handle—mostly that you need a memory or storage upgrade, as with the M2 model—then it should have plenty more life in it yet.

Should You Upgrade From an Intel MacBook Air?

If you’re still using an Intel MacBook Air, then the question is easier. In fact, it’s likely that you’re a part of the target market for the M3 models.

Apple’s marketing is keen to emphasize the fact that a 2024 MacBook Air is up to 13 times faster than a 2020 Air with an Intel i7 and 16GB of RAM, and provides as much as six extra hours of battery life, too. And for once, the hype is justified—the performance difference is like night and day.

Throw in the Neural Engine for AI and machine learning, which will become increasingly important, the better screen, improved webcam, and so on, and that upgrade is starting to look pretty enticing.

Apple is looking to move beyond the Intel era and have all of its products powered by its own chips. Ars Technica ran the numbers and concluded that the Intel MacBooks might not be updated beyond macOS 15 in 2024, and certainly not much after 2025. The impending end of support definitely counts among the reasons to upgrade your Mac .

Is It Worth Buying an M2 MacBook Instead?

When moving from an Intel MacBook Air, you do have the option to buy the previous generation M2 model instead.

As we’ve discussed, the difference with the M3 isn’t all that great, so it’s an easy way to save $100 (or more if you buy a used Mac instead ). You’ll still get the benefit of most of the improvements that come with Apple Silicon, and Apple says it’s 12 times faster than an i7 MacBook Air.

The catch is that the 16GB upgrade is no longer available, and neither is the 15-inch model. You can add more storage, but you’re otherwise limited to just the base option.

With excellent performance and reliability, and years of software support, a MacBook Air can easily last you a good six or seven years. Unless you need more RAM or a bigger SSD, you shouldn’t even need to consider an upgrade within five years.

The exception is if you’re using an Intel model. Support for these machines will be ending sooner rather than later, so now might be the right time to make the leap to an Apple Silicon-powered MacBook Air.