Apple has unveiled the latest model refresh for its thin, fanless design laptop, the MacBook Air, which now comes equipped with the latest Apple Silicon, the M3 chip.
Apple said the new 13 and 15-inch laptops are "up to 60% faster" than the M1 MacBook Air. Both laptops are available in Space Gray and Silver, as shown in the image below, with preorders starting today and a release date set for this Friday, March 8. Pricing for the 13-inch model starts at $1,099, while the 15-inch model starts at $1,299. The 13-inch M2 MacBook Air remains in the lineup with a price tag of $999 — a permanent $100 price reduction from its debut price when it released almost two years ago.
In addition to the M3 chip, Apple's latest MacBook Air laptops also feature a Liquid Retina display, Wi-Fi 6E, 8GB of RAM, MagSafe charging, a Magic Keyboard with a full-height function row with Touch ID, and two Thunderbolt ports. More interestingly, the M3 MacBook Airs mark the first time the MacBook Air line can finally support up to two external displays, the only catch is the laptop's lid must be closed.
Apple added that the M3-powered MacBook Air includes a 16-core Neural Engine, which the tech giant touts makes these laptops optimized to run generative AI natively, including running large language models (LLMs) that can summarize content and run diffusion models for generating images. The mention of AI is no surprise for Apple as the iPhone maker has shifted more of its focus to artificial intelligence. CEO Tim Cook teased in an earnings call last month that "later this year," the company will release its generative AI features to consumers.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
