by Julie Clover
Apple is working to introduce Apple's new fourth-generation silicon chip into the Mac lineup, and while the first M4 Macs will arrive in 2024, the MacBook Air won't be updated until 2025.
This guide tells you everything we know about the MacBook Air next generation. for now.
M4 chips
13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air The models were only updated with M3 chips in March 2024, so it's not surprising that they won't be the first devices to receive the M4 chip. Apple plans to wait until 2025, so there will be about a year between the M3 and M4 chip lines.
Rumors suggest that the M4 chip will be AI-centric to support AI features. which will appear in the next round of software updates. Most of the talk about AI has been focused on iOS 18, but Apple is expected to introduce AI integration across its platforms. The M4 chip is expected to have a Neural Engine with a large number of cores that will handle artificial intelligence and machine learning tasks. The M3 chip features a 16-core Neural Engine.
While Apple is working on the M4, M4 Pro, M4 Max and M4 Ultra chips, the MacBook Air The models are expected to receive only the standard M4 chip. There will likely be at least two variants of the M4, the difference being the number of GPU cores. For example, for the current MacBook Air The base M3 chip has an 8-core GPU, but there is also a 10-core GPU option. The M3 processor is the same for all versions, and the same should be true for the M4.
The M4 will be built on Apple's 3nm process, just like the M3. There won't be as big a performance improvement between M3 and M4 as between M2 and M3 since the node size won't change, but we can still expect a slight boost in GPU and CPU speed.
Design
Apple has updated the MacBook Air design in 2022, and we don't expect the design to change after the 2025 update. Apple often waits several years between design changes, and there are no rumors that the look will be updated.
Apple will likely stick with 15.3-inch and 13.6-inch size options , and we can expect to see the same MacBook Pro-style flat design with a Force Touch trackpad and notched display. At the moment it looks like the MacBook Air&zwnj 2025; the update will focus on internal updates.
Launch date
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, MacBook Air will receive an update in Spring 2025. Spring will begin on March 20, 2025 and end on June 20, 2025.
Related review: MacBook Air Buyer's Guide: MacBook Air 13-inch (Buy Now), MacBook Air 15-inch (Buy Now)Related forum: Comments MacBook Air84
