I went hands-on with Apple’s M4 MacBook Air and the app performance blew me away

Apple is marching successful with caller products for the spring, including a caller MacBook Air featuring the M4 chip, a caller iPad Air, uniquely featuring the M3 chip, and a caller Mac Studio desktop, with M4 Max and M3 Ultra spot options. While enthusiasts await the motorboat of the coveted M5 spot bid devices, including the MacBook Pro and iPad Pro aboriginal this year– the tech marque has brought successful the expected refresh of its early-year devices. Notably, the MacBook Air and iPad Air spot yearly upgrades, portion the Mac Studio is getting its archetypal revamp since 2023.

While mostly maintaining their outer designs, astir changes to the devices tin beryllium recovered by mode of hardware and AI enactment upgrades. Apple is looking to showcase Apple Intelligence app integration arsenic functional and accessible to users. The marque is competing connected the marketplace with galore on-device AI experiences, specified arsenic Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs and Chromebooks inundated with Google Gemini. 

The MacBook Air starts astatine $1,000, portion the iPad Air astatine $600, and the Mac Studio astatine $2,000, with respective configurations priced overmuch higher. Notably, the astir expensive, highest-configured Mac Studio is priced astatine an eye-watering $14,000.

I got to presumption and trial demos of respective apps and programs connected the 2025 MacBook Air, iPad Air, and Mac Studio and was impressed with the powerfulness down the M4 and M3 bid chips. The devices amusement their immense prowess, particularly astatine originative tasks, from enthusiast level to nonrecreational tier. The lineup presents thing for everyone.   

M4 MacBook Air

The 2025 MacBook Air is disposable successful the customary 13-inch and 15-inch Liquid Retina show options. Apple hasn’t made galore large changes to the outer plan of the laptop. Many staple features remain, including the MagSafe 3 charging port, 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The laptop supports 2 6K outer displays, successful summation to the built-in display.

However, the marque has introduced a caller Sky Blue colorway, discontinuing its Space Gray colour successful the process. Upon archetypal glimpse successful alternatively agleam lighting, the Sky Blue has a silverish code that mightiness not beryllium that distinguishable from the Silver colour enactment MacBook Air. It is simply a instrumentality of the airy bluish that is alternatively beauteous erstwhile you announcement it, much apt successful the shadows. It’s benignant of similar however Starlight and Silver tin look akin successful definite lighting, and Midnight has a heavy bluish undertone. With that said, the different colour options are Starlight, Midnight, and Silver. If I had to take a color, it would apt beryllium Starlight. The yellowish inheritance was alternatively striking, and I deliberation you’d beryllium capable to person amusive with customized backgrounds and the sparkling golden tone.  

Having handled the smaller, 13-inch MacBook Air models for my hands-on, the instrumentality was existent to its sanction astatine 2.7 pounds. Holding the laptops and moving them astir didn’t consciousness bulky oregon meddlesome. The instrumentality maintains a petite 0.44-inch frame, 1 of the slimmest connected the market. The larger 15-inch exemplary wasn’t disposable for handling- lone a ocular demo. But it remains arsenic slim arsenic the erstwhile Air exemplary with a tallness of 0.45 inches, and a value of 3.3 pounds. The size quality betwixt the 2 models would beryllium notable for antithetic consumers. I’m partial to the smaller configurations of each MacBook models, arsenic an proprietor of a overmuch older 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Though the devices were wiped for fingerprints betwixt each user, I didn’t find them getting scuffed arsenic I handled them. Keeping successful caput that older MacBook Air models were fingerprint magnets until Apple implemented an anodization seal. The Sky Blue was virtually devoid of fingerprints, and you should consciousness assured selecting Midnight without instantly soiling it with the oils of your paws. 

Apple demoed respective apps and features connected the 15-inch MacBook Air, including the 12-megapixel Center Stage camera with 1080p video quality, successful conjunction with the Pixelmator Pro app. Another demo showcased the MacOS Sequoia feature, Window Tiling. The notetaking app, Bear includes Apple Intelligence integration. Apple noted that the fashionable Blender 3D assets app is 5 times faster connected the M4 MacBook Air than connected the M1 model. Finally, the marque demoed the open-world RPG crippled Wuthering Waves connected the MacBook Air moving astatine peculiarly precocious framework rates and the crippled flowed smoothly aft each of the erstwhile demos with nary noticeable lagging and nary flubs successful the presentations. All functions demoed were done connected artillery powerfulness lone with nary show lost. Apple indicated the instrumentality fundamentally reached its maximum successful presumption of thermal show and powerfulness efficiency, having been tally each day.

Notably, the 2025 MacBook Air is the archetypal that tin configure up to 32GB of memory. Both models enactment up to 18 hours of artillery life. 

M3 iPad Air

The iPad Air includes the M3 spot to amended its graphics show and the AI capabilities of Apple Intelligence for the brand’s notable tablet. The iPad Air is disposable successful 11-inch and 13-inch Liquid Retina show options– and is paired with the Magic Keyboard. The accessory is known for its floating plan and is updated with a larger trackpad and a 14-key relation row. Rounding retired the plan is simply a USB-C connectivity larboard and 4 colour schemes, Blue, Purple, Starlight, and Space Gray.

As idiosyncratic who is not a tablet aficionado, I was impressed by the app enactment and the powerfulness down its assorted functionalities, successful summation to the easiness of usage and the practicality of what would apt beryllium challenging tasks successful antithetic programs.

Apple demoed immoderate absorbing third-party apps to showcase the powerfulness of the M3 chip. The Detail: Video Editor is an AI-based video workflow app that includes Apple Intelligence integration to simplify functions successful the accumulation software. The app tin pat to sync with different Apple products similar an iPhone to acceptable up an interview-style feed. From your point-of-view arsenic the interviewer, you person the main controls connected your extremity and the interviewee tin spot you, and immoderate you task to them from their device, specified arsenic questions oregon a script. You tin pat to region the inheritance astir yourself successful the video provender for a much seamless stream. You tin besides determination your provender to immoderate portion of the screen. This uses the M3 neural motor to marque the changes immediately. You tin adhd substance by engaging the keyboard oregon utilizing the Writing Tools Apple Intelligence feature, for assistance. Similarly, you tin determination substance astir the surface to your preference. After filming you tin transcribe and timestamp the audio for viewers. The M3 neural motor besides assists successful easy editing contented by identifying soundless pauses successful some audio and video truthful you tin edit retired those portions with a tap. Playback should beryllium continuous moving forward. Once complete, you tin export projects successful 4K video, airdropping them to yourself. 

The demo was notably done successful scenery mode; however, you tin alteration the mounting to representation mode, maintaining each of the captions successful the video, which you tin set to the caller viewing mode. 

Another demo showed however you tin usage the Writing Tools Apple quality diagnostic wrong the Notes app, to make an AI representation of a upland country based connected a rudimentary sketch. You tin gully your sketch, usage an Apple Pencil to ellipse the sketch and activate the prompt. Then you prime among the generated images for the 1 you privation to insert into the Notes app. The demo concern was readying a play hiking travel to Switzerland. After that, you tin usage Writing Tools successful conjunction with ChatGPT to make a database of items you should battalion for the trip. The diagnostic reminds maine of Google’s AI instrumentality called Whisk, which uses different images arsenic the basal prompt. In a akin fashion, the instrumentality is intended to usage much contextual prompts to make the desired AI results. 

Further showing the powerfulness of the M3 chip, Apple demoed an app called Uniform. It allows you to make 3D objects connected the iPad. In the demo they rapidly created a pawn chess portion successful a fewer elemental moves, utilizing an Apple Pencil for plan accuracy. Apple indicated that the app is beneficial for students and enthusiasts, who mightiness not person arsenic overmuch acquisition processing 3D shapes. The iPad Air M3 spot works successful tandem with its GPU, promoting the real-time rendering of each shape. For further applicable use, Apple suggested that users could proceed with 3D printing designs straight from the iPad Air. 

Mac Studio

Apple called the latest Mac Studio mentation its astir almighty Mac portion demoing the desktop successful antithetic situations. The PC tin beryllium configured successful M4 Max and M3 Ultra spot options and is perfect for conditions that necessitate precocious ocular processing. It includes Thunderbolt 5 ports among its outputs. While the M4 Max supports up to 5 displays, the demo included 3 connected displays and 3 further peripherals to showcase a instrumentality called Autodesk Flame, which is typically utilized for Hollywood ocular effects. The M4 Max Mac Studio includes a 14-core CPU and 32-core GPU. Other hardware enactment includes 36GB of unified representation and 512GB of SSD storage. 

While Apple hosted a much humble setup for the M3 Ultra Mac Studio, it supports up to 8 displays. The demo showcased a ample connection exemplary (LLM) processing a Python publication for a originative project. Apple noted that what would typically beryllium a day’s enactment successful manual scripting was completed successful seconds.

Meanwhile, determination was a demo of a pre-release mentation of Cyberpunk 2077 for Mac moving successful the background, portion the LLM was computing successful the foreground– arsenic the crippled was antecedently presented. Demonstrating the powerfulness of the M3 Ultra, Apple noted that the fashionable video crippled is 1 of the astir graphically demanding games presently connected the market, to tally alongside an arsenic demanding LLM. Cyberpunk 2077 for Mac volition beryllium disposable aboriginal this year.

The M3 Ultra includes a 28-core CPU and 60-core GPU. Other hardware enactment includes 96GB of unified representation and 1TB of SSD storage. 

Conclusion

It is precise simple. Many brands privation consumers to bargain AI PCs, and Apple is nary different. However, Apple having a distinctive app ecosystem whitethorn springiness it an borderline to easy integrate its Apple Intelligence AI strategy crossed galore third-party apps, arsenic good arsenic crossed macOS, iPadOS, and iOS astatine large. This is 1 of the superior takeaways I got from the MacBook Air, iPad Air, and Mac Studio demos. 

I was impressed by the powerfulness of the hardware, but what is often missing from AI, is simply a crushed for the mundane idiosyncratic to integrate it into their mundane tasks. Many of the demos I saw gave a clearer representation of what a high-powered AI instrumentality tin connection a regular user.

While the Mac Studio whitethorn beryllium much novelty, accessibility is precisely what astir MacBook Air and iPad Air users are looking for successful a regular driver. From my constricted clip with the devices, I deliberation they basal to beryllium coagulated options.