Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025)

Joe Osborne from PCMag highlights the 2025 Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M4) as a compelling ultraportable that balances improved performance with a notable price cut, making it one of the best deals in computing this year. Praising the new baseline of 16GB memory and the upgraded 12-megapixel Center Stage camera, Osborne appreciates the laptop’s enduring design and excellent battery life, while welcoming the fresh Sky Blue color option. The M4 chip delivers meaningful gains over the M3, especially in CPU and AI tasks, though some Windows competitors challenge its raw performance. Osborne notes the MacBook Air’s fanless design limits gaming but still supports casual play at modest settings. Criticisms include the unchanged 60Hz Liquid Retina display, which lags behind OLED-equipped rivals, and a somewhat limited port selection. Overall, the review conveys measured enthusiasm, emphasizing value and longevity while acknowledging that the Air faces stiff competition in the ultraportable segment.

Lance Ulanoff from TechRadar highlights the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) as a refined and highly appealing ultraportable laptop, praising its excellent build quality, all-day battery life, and the powerful M4 chip that handles a wide range of tasks smoothly. He appreciates the subtle design continuity, the new Sky Blue finish, and the upgraded 12MP Center Stage camera for video calls. The review emphasizes the significant value boost from doubling base memory to 16GB while lowering the price, making it a standout in its class. While Ulanoff lauds macOS Sequoia’s stability and integration, he expresses measured disappointment with Apple Intelligence and Siri, noting they lag behind competitors’ AI offerings. The MacBook Air’s performance impresses in real-world gaming and multitasking, though some minor GPU core trade-offs are noted. Overall, the review conveys strong enthusiasm tempered by thoughtful critique, positioning the M4 MacBook Air as a top-tier ultraportable with excellent value and a few areas for future improvement.

Alexander Tozzi, Ryan Lim, and John Peroramas from RTINGS highlight the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M4, 2025) as a premium ultraportable laptop that excels in general productivity and media consumption. They praise its sturdy build, compact design, all-day battery life, sharp and bright display, and excellent webcam, making it ideal for travelers and everyday users. The M4 chip handles typical tasks smoothly and supports light photo and video editing, though it struggles with demanding workloads and gaming. The review notes the limited port selection and a 60Hz display refresh rate as notable drawbacks, along with some thermal throttling under heavy use. While the display is color-accurate and suitable for color-critical work, its low contrast affects dark-room viewing. Overall, the review conveys a balanced, moderately positive tone, emphasizing the MacBook Air’s strengths in portability and productivity while candidly addressing its limitations in gaming, ports, and high-end workstation tasks.

Joshua Goldman from CNET highlights the Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025) as a versatile and refined laptop that builds on the strengths of its predecessors with modest but meaningful improvements. Praising its fanless design, impressive battery life of around 15 hours, and solid performance gains over the M1 and M2 models, Goldman emphasizes that the M4 Air remains a top choice for users seeking a thin, light, and quiet machine. The review notes the welcome price drop to $999 for the base model, though upgrade costs for memory and storage remain steep. Unique insights include the upgraded Thunderbolt 4 ports enabling support for two external 6K displays, and the enhanced 12MP Center Stage webcam with Desk View, which adds practical video conferencing features despite some distortion. Criticisms focus on the unchanged chassis design, the camera notch, and the clustering of ports on one side, which may affect usability. Overall, Goldman considers the M4 Air a solid, if incremental, update—especially worthwhile for Intel or M1 users—but suggests that M3 owners might wait or consider discounted alternatives.

Brenda Stolyar from WIRED highlights the Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025) as a reliable, lightweight laptop that continues to meet the needs of most users with modest but meaningful upgrades. She praises the introduction of the M4 chip, doubled base memory, improved webcam, and a welcome price reduction to $999, making it more accessible than recent models. The review emphasizes the laptop’s excellent battery life, smooth everyday performance, and the ability to support multiple external displays without the previous lid-closure limitation. However, Stolyar notes the design has plateaued, with no major chassis changes, and expresses disappointment over the limited port selection and lack of a nano-texture glass option, which would reduce glare. She also appreciates the new subtle Sky Blue color but wishes for more vibrant choices. Overall, while the improvements feel iterative, the MacBook Air remains an excellent choice for basic to moderately demanding tasks, especially for those upgrading from older Intel or M1 models.

Tony Polanco from Tom’s Guide highlights the Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025) as a standout everyday laptop that balances power, portability, and value. Praising its lightweight design and elegant simplicity, Polanco emphasizes how the M4 chip delivers impressive performance and exceptional battery life, making it ideal for typical tasks like browsing, writing, and photo editing. The bright 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display and four-speaker system enhance media consumption, though the bass quality is modest. While the MacBook Air’s gaming support remains limited compared to Windows PCs, and its minimal port selection may require adapters for some users, these drawbacks are framed as manageable given the laptop’s primary use case. Polanco’s unique insight comes from comparing it to his heavier 16-inch MacBook Pro M4, ultimately favoring the Air for its portability and everyday convenience. He regards this model as Apple’s best MacBook for most users, appreciating its iterative but meaningful improvements and excellent price point.

Samuel Gibbs from The Guardian highlights the 2025 Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M4) as a standout consumer laptop, combining powerful performance with excellent battery life and a refined design. He praises the new M4 chip for delivering near MacBook Pro speeds silently and efficiently, alongside a significant upgrade to the 12MP Centre Stage webcam, ideal for video calls. The review emphasizes the value boost from a £100 price cut and a baseline 16GB RAM, making the Air more capable and affordable. While the 13.6-inch screen is crisp and reliable, it remains limited to 60Hz, and the laptop offers only two USB-C ports without USB-A or SD card slots. Gibbs also notes the lack of Face ID and expensive, non-upgradable RAM and storage options. Overall, the MacBook Air is lauded for its superb keyboard, best-in-class trackpad, MagSafe charging, and long battery life, positioning it as the top choice for most users seeking a premium, fanless laptop experience.