Sometimes , you want a larger video display but do n’t require a larger laptop computer . That ’s where thin - and - light15 - in laptopscome into play , and Apple ’s MacBook Air 15 is one of the best members of that course of instruction . It ’s been update for 2025 with Apple ’s M4 chipset , and that brings some important fresh benefits .
First , the M4 is meaningfully faster than the previous propagation M3 . Second , somehow , battery life has ( probably ) go even expert . The rise help the MacBook Air 15 take another step closer to being the well-nigh - perfect large - CRT screen thin - and - light laptop . I did n’t give it a perfect score like I did the minor MacBook Air 13 , but it ’s pretty darn close .
Specs and pricing
The alkali MacBook Air 15 M4 is $ 1,199 for a 10 - essence CPU , 10 - core GPU M4 chipset ( the only alternative ) , 16 GB of RAM , and a 256 GB SSD . you’re able to raise retentiveness to 24 GB for $ 200 and 32 GB for $ 400 , while storage upgrades place from 512 GB ( $ 200 ) up to 2 TB ( $ 800 ) .
The most expensive configuration is therefore $ 2,399 for an M4 , 32 GB of RAM , and a 2 TB SSD . That ’s more expensive than many competing laptop , although theMicrosoft Surface Laptop 15is in the same ballpark .
Design
The MacBook Air 15 is the thinnest 15 - column inch laptop computer you ’ll rule today , coming in at 0.45 inches thick that ’s just a hair’s-breadth buddy-buddy than the MacBook Air 13 . Its primary contention is most potential the Surface Laptop 7 15 , which comes in at a much thicker 0.72 inch . The MacBook Air 15 is also lighter at 3.3 punt compare to the Surface Laptop 7 at 3.67 Egyptian pound . That hit the MacBook Air 15 experience like a different form of laptop , incredibly portable even though it sports a larger display that ’s so much better for getting oeuvre done ( and cyclosis medium ) .
It ’s also an fantastically well - build laptop , crafted out of a chunk of CNC - machine atomic number 13 . The keyboard pack of cards and chassis bottom are both solid as a rock and roll , while the hat still has some of the slight bendiness I ’ve note in previous generations . That ’s really the only belt against it , but it ’s just enough ( along with an outlet I have with connectivity , see below ) to hold the 15 - column inch MacBook Air from the same pure score I gave to its 13 - column inch sib . The flexible joint , though , opens up smoothly with one hand , which always gives an added air of quality .
esthetically , the MacBook Air 15 is just about perfect . I reviewed it with the new Sky Blue colour agency that ’s available along with the same Silver , Starlight , and Midnight colors as before , and it looks great . I ’d probably opt for the Midnight model , but this one would be fine , too . The MacBook Air 15 looks a lot like a blown - up MacBook Air 13 and a really slim MacBook Pro 14 , and that ’s on purpose . The intact MacBook lineup shares the same elegant blocky aesthetical with a minimalist innovation that stands out by not place upright out . It ’s a lovely laptop .
Keyboard and touchpad
If you ’ve seen my reviews , you screw that I sleep with Apple ’s Magic Keyboard . The company had a fleck of a setback with its butterfly switches , but it made up for it with the modish version . The MacBook Air 15 ’s keyboard has a great layout with large keycaps and tons of key spacing , and the switches are perfectly precise and consistent throughout the keyboard . There ’s plainly no laptop computer keyboard around that let me type as tight for as long without tiredness .
The Force Touch touchpad is also perfect . It ’s very large , to begin with , and the haptics are rude and spry . And the Force Click feature , where you may agitate a lilliputian “ harder ” and kick off additional functionality , also works well and adds real value . Some Windows laptop have haptic touchpads as well , and they ’re middling full . But none match up with this one .
The MacBook Air 15 does n’t have touch , of course . That ’s something Apple does n’t seem to need to bring to MacBooks . ordinarily , I lack touch , but the touchpad is so good that I soon draw a blank it ’s not there .
Webcam and connectivity
The MacBook Air 15 has the same connectivity as its smaller sibling . While two Thunderbolt ports , a 3.5 mm audio seafarer , and a MagSafe 3 mogul connecter work well with the 13 - in machine , it ’s a little less acceptable on a large laptop . The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 , likely the MacBook Air 15 ’s most important competitor , has has a USB - A embrasure to go with its two USB - C ports , but those are n’t faster reading , and it also has a separate point port and a microSD card time slot . TheAcer Swift 16is a little large , but it has two USB4 ports , two USB - A ports , an HDMI 2.1 porthole , and a microSD concern reviewer . Wireless connectivity is also a generation behind with Wi - Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 . In a few twelvemonth , Wi - Fi 7 might be common enough that you ’ll neglect it .
The webcam has been bumped up from 1080p to 12MP , and it has Apple ’s usual fantabulous low - brightness carrying out and overall mental image quality . In addition , there ’s Apple ’s new Center Stage functionality that shifts the effigy to keep the user in the plaza , and it work out really well . While not as widely useful , the young Desk View feature of speech lets you show a top - down view of your desktop with a image - in - picture video that you’re able to divvy up to other participant . It influence well , too .
A new , much quicker Neural Engine is included with the M4 chipset , and it ups the upper from 18 tera operations per second ( TOPS ) to 38 top side . While Apple is struggling with its Apple Intelligence AI opening move , there are still machine learning tasks that will profit from the faster Neural Engine . Note that contemporary Windows laptop embark on out at 40 upside and wild leek up as gamey as 55 TOPS . We ’ll have to see how important AI becomes , though , because as of right now many users — me included — seem fairly underwhelmed .
Performance
For 2025 , probably the biggest upgrade to the MacBook Air 15 is the new M4 chipset , which is a meaningful upgrade from the M4 ( include the degenerate Neural Engine name above ) . The M4 now starts at 10 CPU substance , with the same eight or 10 GPU core options , and each CPU and GPU essence is significantly faster than before .
As we can see , the Apple Silicon individual - core advantage is more telling than ever , with the MacBook Air 15 whole demolishing every chipset useable for flimsy - and - light Windows laptop ( and really , there is n’t another chipset with meat this fast ) . Its multi - core performance has also receive a substantial extrusion , and it now result the bailiwick .
The M4 GPU cores are also 13 % faster than the M3 GPU cores . That ’s not a huge uptick , but it ’s enough to push the MacBook Air even further past its competition . None of these are bona fide gaming laptop , but the MacBook Air 15 can do some light play . Apple is pushing gambling more lately , and more modern titles are arrive out for macOS . I ’ll be test things as time goes on to give more of an notion of how gaming is on innovative MacBooks .
Also , the M4 has various CPU optimisation that travel rapidly up various undertaking in apps like Adobe ’s Creative Suite . That makes the MacBook Air 15 a amazingly expert and extremely portable creative workstation . It wo n’t break any speeding disk , but it can get the task done for jolly demanding users .
Overall , the MacBook Air 15 is a great performer . You wo n’t find another thin and light laptop that ’s quite as tight .
Battery life
So , MacBooks have led the way in efficiency since the Second Coming of Christ of Apple Silicon . In fact , MacBooks have dominated so powerfully in barrage life history that Intel and Qualcomm introduced brand new chipsets just to make Windows laptops more private-enterprise . We last reviewed the MacBook Air 15 with the M2 chipset , and it was a very well performing artist . The M4 model elevates things a spot . And I disclose after running the video looping tests that I had the presentation set at 124 nit , above our common 100 - nit touchstone for shelling exam . So , that result is arguably a act low than it might have been .
In a word , shelling spirit was excellent . I had to practice a different creature for measuring World Wide Web browsing battery life , because Google deprecated our previous creature in Chrome . I surmise that it negatively bear upon that scotch , because video intertwine battery animation went up on both of the M4 MacBook Airs that I review but the web browsing results exit down . Even so , the MacBook Air maintains its overall leading against all but the Acer Swift 14 AI , which benefitted from a declamatory barrage fire .
Also telling was the MacBook Air 15 ’s longevity prevail the demanding Cinebench R24 benchmark . Even while maintaining its higher performance , it go significantly longer than any Windows laptop computer . And it ’s more or less up from the M3 ( on the 13 - inch model , anyway ) , meaning the chipset get under one’s skin more efficientandfaster , which is impressive .
The MacBook Air 15 will keep you working for multiple days . There ’s really nothing like it .
Display and audio
Display technology has improve dramatically over the last several years . Not only have OLED showing become a lot more vernacular , including on 15 - column inch laptop , but IPS video display tone has gotten a lot better . Apple is using the same Liquid Retina IPS panel as in previous MacBook Air laptop computer , and as usual it ’s a burnished display with keen colors and substantial blacks . It ’s not quite OLED quality , but it also give much better battery life .
My colorimeter agreed . It ’s very lustrous at 475 nit , which blows out our 300 - nit touchstone ( that believably needs revising ) . Contrast is very unspoilt at 1,170:1 , good than our 1,000:1 threshold . And color are wide at 100 % sRGB , 83 % AdobeRGB , and 94 % DCI - P3 , good than the ( already good ) information science average of 100 % , 75 % , and 75 % , respectively . colour accuracy was n’t as bully at a DeltaE of 1.84 , but anything less than 2.0 is very good for productivity and all but the most color - accurate creative work .
Note that external display support stay relatively limited with the MacBook Air . you could connect two external displays and run them along with the internal display , but that ’s a bit special compared to comparable Windows laptops .
You ’ll love the video display for productivity , photo and video recording editing , and medium pulmonary tuberculosis . And you ’ll bang the barrage fire life sentence tradeoff compared to OLED .
An unparalleled larger laptop that’s easy to carry around
The MacBook Air 15 is about as near to hone as it can be without quite making it . It ’s unbelievably well built , it ’s devilishly thin and light but does n’t feel flimsy , and it looks great . It ’s tight enough for the most demanding productiveness drug user , and it has multi - day battery life-time .
It ’s also reasonably low-cost , although it remains a insurance premium laptop . The base configuration at $ 1,299 is all most mass will take , and it offers up plenty of performance . Unless you ’re a gamer or heavy - responsibility creator — both of which can be authoritative in larger machines like this — or you really postulate Windows , you should just grab a MacBook Air 15 and save yourself a cluster of time .
