The M4 chip in the MacBook Air brings a significant AI enhancement, dubbed Apple Intelligence. With 38 TOPS of local AI processing via the faster 16-core Neural Engine, the M4 MacBook Air is positioned closer to Intel’s Lunar Lake chips, which boast 48 TOPS, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips at 45 TOPS. Evaluating this is tricky, as Apple Intelligence is still in development, but Apple is highlighting some new third-party apps that leverage Apple Intelligence from the start, such as the note-taking app Bear. This app now allows users to automatically format text into tables or summarize reports. Additionally, it includes Image Playground, an improved version of Siri now featuring ChatGPT integration, among other capabilities. However, it’s worth noting that older devices didn’t require advanced local AI processing to utilize Apple Intelligence, as AI tasks were simply handled by Apple’s Private Cloud Compute system.
In terms of raw performance improvements, the M4 MacBook Air outshines last year’s M3 with a 22 percent boost in GPU performance, 31 percent in multi-core, and 18 percent in single-core performance, as evaluated with Cinebench R24. This marks a substantial upgrade for a single generation, particularly in single-core performance, where Apple silicon continues to outperform competitors. In terms of graphics capabilities, the M4 offers over double the performance of the M2, making it particularly beneficial for tasks like photo editing or 3D modeling, allowing noticeable differences for users upgrading from an M1 or M2 MacBook Air.
As with all MacBook Air models, this device operates without fans, which is quite impressive at times—especially while running demanding applications like games. I tested it with Baldur’s Gate 3, and while the performance wasn’t perfect, the silent operation means that headphones aren’t even a necessity for play. At a resolution of 1200p, medium settings with upscaling, it was relatively straightforward to strike a balance between performance and visual quality that felt satisfying. Achieving such performance without a fan setup is currently unmatched by any other laptop on the market.
However, the downside to a fanless design is that it doesn’t extract the maximum potential from the M4 chip as an actively cooled system like the 14-inch MacBook Pro can. The Air’s cooling system must throttle frequencies to avoid overheating, and I noted CPU temperatures reaching as high as 102 degrees Celsius. Thankfully, the surface temperatures remained bearable during my usage, even when the device was under full load.
Photograph: Luke Larsen
