MacBook Air M4 Review: Power, Portability, and a Pinch of Blue

As of April 10, 2025, the MacBook Air M4 has landed, hitting shelves on March 12, and it’s already shaping up as a crowd-pleaser. Unveiled by Apple on March 4, this latest iteration of the Air—available in 13-inch ($999) and 15-inch ($1,199) models—packs the new M4 chip, a beefier base spec, and a fresh Sky Blue color that’s got people talking (and squinting). It’s not a radical reinvention—the design’s been steady since the 2022 M2 overhaul—but it’s a refined package that’s tougher to beat at this price. I’ve sifted through early reviews, specs, and buzz to break down what’s new, what works, and whether this is the laptop you’ve been waiting for.

The M4 Muscle: Performance That Punches Up

The star here is the M4 chip, built on a second-gen 3nm process with a 10-core CPU (4 performance, 6 efficiency cores), up to a 10-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine pumping 38 TOPS for AI tasks. The base 13-inch model starts with an 8-core GPU ($999), while the 15-inch and higher 13-inch configs get the full 10-core treatment ($1,199+). All come with 16GB of unified memory standard—finally ditching the 8GB era—upgradable to 32GB, and storage kicks off at 256GB (dual-NAND now, not the sluggish single-chip of old).

Benchmarks tell a story: Ars Technica pegs the M4’s multi-core Geekbench 6 score around 12,500, a 20-25% jump over the M3’s 10,000-ish, and a 60% leap from the M1. Single-core clocks in at 3,000+, edging out the M3 by 10-15%. GPU-wise, 3DMark Wild Life Extreme hits 10,000+ frames, topping the M3 by 20% and smoking Intel’s last-gen Air by 23x, per Apple’s claims. Real-world? Cult of Mac’s D. Griffin Jones exported a 1.5-hour video in 14 minutes—11 on an M4 Pro—showing it’s no slouch for creative work. X posts from Vadim Yuryev (March 6) call it “insanely fast” for $999, rivaling an M3 Pro MacBook Pro’s multi-core grunt from last year.

It’s fanless, so it stays silent but can warm up under load—Cinebench stress tests from Tom’s Hardware hit 95°F on the chassis, comfy enough on your lap. For most—students, writers, casual editors—it’s overkill in the best way. Gamers get ray tracing and 40-50 FPS in No Man’s Sky (high settings, 2048x1280), though AAA titles might stutter without tweaking.

Design and Display: Same, But Sharper

The M4 Air sticks to the flat, 0.44-inch-thin (13-inch) or 0.45-inch (15-inch) aluminum shell from 2022—2.7 pounds for the small guy, 3.3 for the big one. Ports? Two Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, and a headphone jack, all left-side save the jack. Reviewers like Gizmodo’s Matt Kamen wish for a right-side USB-C, but it’s a nitpick. Colors are Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and the new Sky Blue—which, frankly, confuses folks. CNN Underscored’s Henry T. Casey calls it “more silver than blue,” while Cult of Mac notes it pops only in bright light. Want bold? This ain’t it—think subtle shimmer, not iBook G3 vibrance.

The Liquid Retina display (13.6-inch, 2560x1664; 15.3-inch, 2880x1864) holds at 500 nits, P3 color, and 60Hz—no ProMotion or mini-LED here. It’s crisp and vibrant—WIRED’s Matt Kamen wrote chunks of his review outdoors without squinting—but glossy reflections bug some (Tom’s Guide’s Mark Spoonauer wants a nano-texture option). The notch? Still there, housing a new 12MP Center Stage webcam (up from 1080p). It’s wider-angle, tracks motion for calls, and adds Desk View—great for Zoom flexing, though low-light performance hasn’t wowed reviewers yet.

Battery and Perks: All-Day Juice, Multi-Screen Magic

Battery life clocks in at 14.5-18 hours depending who’s testing—CNN’s 4K video loop hit 14.5, Apple claims 18 for mixed use. Macworld’s Roman Loyola wrote all day without plugging in, and I’d expect 12-15 hours for most workflows. The 35W dual-USB-C charger (color-matched MagSafe cable included) juices 50% in 30 minutes—plenty for a coffee shop stint.

A big win: dual external display support (6K, 60Hz) with the lid open, thanks to the M4. The M3 needed the lid shut—now you’ve got three screens if you want, a boon for multitaskers or hybrid workers. XDA’s Ben Sin calls it a “no-brainer” for anyone upgrading from pre-2024 laptops, and I agree—especially at this price.

Why It’s a Deal: Value Over Flash

At $999 (13-inch) and $1,199 (15-inch)—$100 less than the M3 Air—Apple’s flipped the script. Last year’s M3 Air with 16GB/256GB was $1,299; now you get M4 power, dual NAND, and two-display chops for less. Posts on X from @sqkanaa (March 9) hail it as “THE definitive laptop” for non-gamers, lasting “6+ years.” Reviewers agree: WIRED’s Brenda Stolyar says it’s “the best MacBook for most,” PCMag’s Brian Westover sees it trouncing Windows ultrabooks in efficiency, and CNET’s Josh Goldman dubs the 15-inch “the default Air” for its screen size and portability.

Apple Intelligence—rolled out late 2024—runs smoothly here. Photos cleanup, text summaries, and a ChatGPT-boosted Siri (overhaul still pending) hum along, though some, like Casey, shrug at the AI hype. It’s nice, not essential.

The Catch: Who Skips It?

If you’ve got an M3 Air, sit tight—PCMag’s Westover says the jump’s not worth $1,000 unless you’re display-hungry. M2 owners might feel the same unless gaming or multi-monitor needs nudge you. Windows diehards can snag Snapdragon X Elite laptops with 19-hour batteries (Dell XPS 13) or brighter OLEDs (Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i), but they’ll miss macOS polish and M4’s raw efficiency. Storage upgrades sting—$200 for 512GB, $800 for 2TB—and the notch lingers, irking bezel-haters.

My Spin: Near-Perfect, No Fuss

The M4 MacBook Air isn’t sexy—it’s practical. It’s a powerhouse that doesn’t scream for attention, blending top-tier performance (faster than some $1,999 Pros) with a price that undercuts last year’s model. Sky Blue’s a letdown if you wanted bold, but the 12MP cam, dual-display trick, and 16GB baseline make it a steal. I’d grab the 15-inch for home multitasking—big screen, light enough to lug—and call it the best $1,199 I’ve spent. Students? 13-inch at $899 (edu discount) is a no-brainer. Upgrading from an M1 or Intel Air? You’ll feel the difference. M3 folks, hold off unless your setup’s begging for that third screen.

This is peak Air—boring in the best way, delivering more for less. You jumping in, or waiting for the M5 glow-up?