MacBook Air M3 vs M2 MacBook Air — Price, performance, specs

15-inch MacBook Air

It has taken Apple four months to update the MacBook Air range after introducing the M3-equipped MacBook Pro lineup. Just like the more powerful models, the 13-inch MacBook Air and 15-inch MacBook Air get mostly internal changes, with a largely untouched physical design.

A spec-bump isn’t entirely unexpected for Apple, since it does tend to use the same enclosure designs and core technologies in place for multiple revisions before making major changes. The real question is working out how much of the insides Apple has actually changed.

The 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 measures 11.97 inches by 8.46 inches, with a thickness of 0.44 inches. The 15-inch version has a larger footprint at 13.40 by 9.35 inches, but it’s almost as thin at 0.45 inches.

Encased in aluminum, it uses the current flat slab and industrial aesthetic Apple has shifted to for its notebook lineup.

The new M3-equipped versions are exactly the same size. Since this is a spec-bump upgrade, the outside is going to look exactly the same and stay unchanged.

MacBook Air M2 versus M3 MacBook Air: visually identical

This also applies to the weight. Both the M2 and M3 13-inch MacBook Air models weigh 2.7 pounds, while the 15-inch versions are 3.3 pounds.

If all Apple changes are a few chipsets, it would hard to expect much weight variance between generations.

Apple’s Liquid Retina displays for the 13-inch MacBook Air M2 and 15-inch MacBook Air M2 measure 13.6 inches and 15.3 inches respectively. This, again, is the same for the M3 versions.

The support for Wide Color (P3) and True Tone are also present, as too the 500 nits of brightness in all of the screens. The resolutions of 2,560 by 1,664 for the 13-inch and 2,880 by 1,864 for the 15-inch models are similarly identical.

MacBook Air M2 versus M3 MacBook Air: The Liquid Retina displays are also identical

At the top is the notch, which reappears once again in the middle of the screen and holds the camera. This isn’t a big factor when using video apps in full-screen mode, for example, but it still irks some people.

The display is a core piece of the construction of the MacBook Air itself, so it’s hard to expect any real changes here.

Inside the respective M2 and M3 MacBook Air models are, as you would guess, M2 and M3 chips. These chips all have an 8-core CPU, with the same four-performance, four-efficiency core split.

However, you can certainly expect that the cores in the M3 have some performance improvement over the M2 counterparts.

The chips also benefit from 100GB/s memory bandwidth, as well as unified memory capacities starting at 8GB and configurable to 16GB and 24GB.

Both generational also have the Media Engine for hardware-accelerated video encoding and decoding, and a 16-core Neural Engine. However the M3 Media Engine also includes an AV1 decode engine.

Unusually for a chip change, Apple’s moved to offer the same GPU core counts for the M3 MacBook Airs as it did for the M2.

For the 13-inch MacBook Air M2, users could choose either an 8-core Apple-designed GPU or a 10-core version, while the 15-inch had just the 10-core edition. On M3, the same options are maintained.

Again, aside from general performance improvements, the GPU in the M3 also gains hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which will assist in playing games and some other graphical tasks.

One unexpected addition to the graphical capabilities of the M3 MacBook Air is the inclusion of clamshell mode.

The M2 and M3 both support two displays in total, which is typically the built-in one and another external display. However, the M3 can instead support two external displays when the notebook’s lid is closed.

The M3 MacBook Air can run two external displays with the lid closed.

This change is likely to be welcomed by power users who prefer using larger and higher-resolution displays, effectively using the MacBook Air as a desktop Mac.

In terms of how much of a performance difference you could expect to see, we can compare the M3 in the 14-inch MacBook Pro against the M2 15-inch MacBook Air. The results should be comparable due to the M3 being the same chip in both the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air ranges.

MacBook Air M2 versus M3 MacBook Air: Comparing Geekbench single-core test results

In our review, the 15-inch MacBook Air with M2 managed to achieve 2,623 points in Geekbench’s single-core benchmarks. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 manages 3,091 under the same test.

For multi-core performance, the M2 in the 15-inch MacBook Air reached 10,035, meanwhile the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 got to 11,850.

MacBook Air M2 versus M3 MacBook Air: Geekbench multi-core benchmarks

It’s safe to say that in general computing, M3 MacBook Air users will enjoy a 20% performance boost over the M2 equivalent.

Inside the notch for both generations is Apple’s 1080p FaceTime HD camera, a relatively recent upgrade for the line. There’s no notable difference here, as you’re getting the same imaging sensor and capabilities across the board.

The audio capabilities do have some improvement in the new models. The four-speaker and six-speaker sound systems return for the 13-inch and 15-inch models respectively, as do the three-mic array with directional beamforming, and Dolby Atmos support with Spatial Audio.

The headphone jack is still there, complete with high-impedance headphone support.

What’s different for 2024 is those microphones, as they gain the same Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum mic modes as seen in the iPhone 15 Pro line. This should greatly improve video calling with others.

On the wired side, nothing has changed between the generations, with Apple including two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports in each notebook. There’s also the return of MagSafe 3, so users can charge without occupying either of the aforementioned Thunderbolt ports.

For wireless connectivity, Bluetooth 5.3 is as standard, but Wi-Fi does get a small boost for the new generation.

The M2 MacBook Air uses Wi-Fi 6, but the M3 versions use Wi-Fi 6E

Rather than Wi-Fi 6, the M3 models get to use Wi-Fi 6E. This is a fairly limited improvement, as it’s very much based on having the right networking infrastructure support to benefit from the additional E, but those who have it will enjoy a bit more bandwidth.

The battery situation hasn’t changed between the M2 and M3 MacBook Airs. Apple’s still using a 52.6Wh lithium-polymer battery in the 13-inch models and a 66.5Wh version in the 15-inch editions.

In real-world usage, Apple says all of the batteries in all four size and chip variants will last fro up to 15 hours of wireless web access, or up to 18 hours of Apple TV app movie playback.

On getting charge into the battery, the 13-inch models ship with a 30W USB-C Power Adapter with models equipped with the 8-core GPU, with a 35W Dual USB-C Port Compact Power Adapter included with the 10-core GPU and 512GB of storage or higher.

Apple includes the 35G Dual USB-C Compact Power Adapter with the 15-inch by default.

Regardless of chip and size, all models can fast charge when used with chargers rated up to 70W.

All models use the Magic Keyboard, complete with a full-height function row and an inverted-T arrow key arrangement. The keyboards are backlit, with assistance from an ambient light sensor.

MacBook Air M2 versus M3 MacBook Air: Magic Keyboard in the MacBook Air

Touch ID is included within the keyboard for password-free sign-ins and authentication for Apple Pay purchases.

A Force Touch trackpad is also included in all models, complete with pressure sensitivity and support for Multi-Touch gestures.

Across all models, Apple offers the same four capacity options. Starting from 256GB, there are options for 512GB for $200 extra, 1TB for $400 extra, and 2TB for $800 extra.

The 8GB default memory can be increased to 16GB for $200, or 24GB of $400, across both generations.

The base cost of the 13-inch MacBook Air with M3 is $1,099 with the 8-core GPU, 8GB of unified memory, and 256GB of storage. Bumping the chip to the 10-core CPU costs an extra $100.

At launch, the 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 cost $1,199 with the 8-core GPU, 8GB of unified memory, and 256GB of storage. However, as Apple continues to sell the M2 edition, it’s still available to purchase at a cheaper $999 with the same base specifications.

The M2 15-inch MacBook Air with the 10-core GPU, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage cost $1,299 at launch. The new M3 version with the same base specifications is also $1,299.

Unlike the 13-inch model, the M2 15-inch MacBook Air is not available to purchase from Apple itself.

It’s fair to say that Apple’s update to the MacBook Air line is muted. Apple changed the really important bit, the chip, but aside from a tweak of Wi-Fi, there’s no seismic changes to see here.

For existing M2-equivalent owners, they would be hard pressed to upgrade based on a 20% performance jump. Those who would be in need of higher levels of performance will probably be better off checking out the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips in the MacBook Pro lineup than sticking to the MacBook Air.

The M3 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air

The M3 MacBook Air changes are certainly not an attractive upgrade for existing Apple Silicon MacBook Air owners. This is a category that wants an easily portable Internet machine that can handle other tasks, but not without the bleeding-edge performance of the Pro line.

The bigger intended audience for Apple is probably users of older Intel-based MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models. Three generations into Apple Silicon should be around the time the last wavering Intel users will really consider making the jump and getting a new daily driver.

This is not to say that the New MacBook Air models are bad. As a thin and light notebook that anyone can buy and use for most purposes, it’s a great example of the form, and one that anyone looking for a notebook could easily consider using.

For existing Apple Silicon users, there’s not yet enough here to justify the upgrade.

Despite the reduced MSRP on the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air, deals are in effect on those models, with prices as low as $949 in the AppleInsider M2 MacBook Air 13-inch Price Guide.

Closeout M1 models are also on sale with prices as low as $749 at press time.

We’ll be bringing you the latest MacBook Air deals on new M3 models as retailers begin stocking the 13-inch and 15-inch configs.