The Apple MacBook Air 13 (2024) is a high-end ultraportable laptop. It replaces the M2 Apple MacBook Air 13 (2022). This 2024 model is a minor upgrade over its predecessor. The changes include a faster M3 SoC, Wi-Fi 6E, and support for two external displays (with laptop closed). In addition to increased performance, the M3 chip brings a couple of new features, like hardware-accelerated ray tracing, Dynamic Caching, and AV1 decoding. The only change on the outside is the Midnight model's coating, which is more smudge-resistant. It still has a QHD+ Retina display, a haptic touchpad, a 1080p webcam, a fingerprint sensor, and a 53Wh battery. You can get up to 24GB of RAM and 2TB of storage; neither is user-replaceable. There are four colors: Space Gray, Silver, Starlight, and Midnight.
See our unit's specifications and the available configuration options in the Differences Between Variants section.
Our Verdict
The Apple MacBook Air 13 2024 is excellent for school use. It's very portable, and its battery lasts easily through a typical day of light use. It has a sharp, bright display, a comfortable keyboard, and a large, responsive touchpad. Its M3 SoC can easily handle general productivity tasks, like text processing, web browsing, and video playback. You can do more intensive tasks like video editing or 3D graphics, though you might not get the smoothest experience, depending on the complexity of your project. Unfortunately, it only has two USB-C ports, and while it can output to two external displays, which is an improvement over its M2 predecessor, it can only do so with the laptop closed.
- Sturdy build and sleek, compact design.
- All-day battery life.
- Sharp, bright display.
- Tactile keyboard, responsive touchpad.
- Excellent 1080p webcam.
- Limited port selection.
The Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 isn't designed for gaming. Its M3 SoC can only handle light, older, or highly optimized (for Apple silicon) games, and even then, you might have to play with fairly low settings to get playable frame rates. Also, many games lack macOS support or don't run natively on an ARM-based processor, so performance can vary a lot from one game to another. The display has a slow response time, causing noticeable ghosting, and it doesn't support variable refresh rate to reduce screen tearing. The memory and storage aren't user-replaceable, meaning you can't upgrade the components later to improve performance or increase storage space.
- Fanless design.
- Fast storage speeds.
- 60Hz display with slow response time, no VRR.
- M3 SoC struggles in highly demanding workloads.
- Few games optimized for Apple silicon.
- Soldered RAM and storage.
- Limited port selection.
The Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 is great for media consumption. It's easy to carry, and its battery lasts over 11 hours of video playback. The speakers get reasonably loud, producing a full and well-balanced sound with a decent amount of bass. The display is sharp, bright, and color-accurate; however, it isn't ideal for dark room viewing, as its low contrast makes blacks look gray in dim settings. This is a clamshell laptop with no touch input support, which might be disappointing if you're looking for a convertible that can give you a more tablet-like experience when viewing content.
- Sturdy build and sleek, compact design.
- All-day battery life.
- Sharp, bright display.
- Full-sounding speakers with a decent amount of bass.
- Display's relatively low contrast makes blacks look gray in dim settings.
The Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 is good for use as a workstation. Its M3 SoC can handle some demanding workloads but throttles under load, so the experience isn't quite as smooth as on a model with a better cooling system, and it'll take longer to complete tasks. Also, you can only get up to 24GB of RAM, which might not be enough for some workloads. It has a limited port selection with only two USB 4/Thunderbolt 3 ports, and while it can output to two external displays, it's only possible with the laptop closed. However, you can do some color-correction work, as the display has full DCI P3 coverage and outstanding factory calibration.
- Dedicated video decoders and encoders.
- Display has full DCI P3 coverage.
- Fanless design.
- Fast storage speeds.
- M3 SoC struggles in highly demanding workloads.
- Soldered RAM and storage.
- Limited port selection.
The Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 is great for business use. It has a sturdy aluminum chassis and is very portable, thanks to its thin and light design. Its M3 SoC is powerful enough to handle most productivity tasks, like text formatting, spreadsheets, and presentations. You can even do some photo and video editing. Its battery is outstanding at over 11 hours of light use, so you likely won't need to bring the charger. The user experience is amazing; you get a sharp, bright display, a spacious keyboard, and a large, responsive touchpad. The webcam's video quality is excellent, so your colleagues can see and hear you clearly on video calls. Sadly, it only has two USB-C ports, and while it can output to two external displays—an improvement over its M2 predecessor—it only works with the laptop closed.
- Sturdy build and sleek, compact design.
- All-day battery life.
- Sharp, bright display.
- Tactile keyboard, responsive touchpad.
- Excellent 1080p webcam.
- Limited port selection.
Changelog
- Updated May 07, 2025: We've updated this review to Test Bench 0.8.3, which removes the viewing angle tests and adds a GPU Total Graphics Power comparison in the GPU section. The Pen Input test in the Extra Features section has also changed, as it now shows whether the laptop supports pen input rather than the inclusion of a stylus in the box. See the changelog for more details.
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Updated Apr 04, 2025:
We've added the Apple MacBook Air 15 (M4, 2025) as an alternative with better external display support in the Ports section.
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Updated Apr 02, 2025:
Added mention of the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M4, 2025) as an alternative with better external display support in the Ports section.
- Updated May 14, 2024: Added mention of the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024) as an alternative with better-sustained performance in the Performance Over Time section.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the base model of the Apple MacBook Air 13 (2024) with an M3 SoC (8-core GPU), 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage. The SoC, memory, and storage are configurable; the available options are in the table below.
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See our unit's label here.
Popular Laptop Comparisons
The Apple MacBook Air 13 2024 is one of the best ultraportable laptops on the market. Its build quality, touchpad, and speakers are industry-leading. Thanks to its SoC's incredible efficiency, it's also one of the best laptops for battery life. However, its limited port selection and external display support might be a dealbreaker for some.
See our recommendations for the best laptops for college, the best business laptops, and the best lightweight laptops. If you need peripherals, like a keyboard or mouse, check out our recommendations for the best keyboards for Mac and the best mouse for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
The Apple MacBook Air 13 (M4, 2025) is a newer version of the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M3, 2024). The 2025 model is a relatively minor upgrade, bringing increased performance and a new 12MP camera with Center Stage support. It also gets Thunderbolt 4 video output, allowing you to connect up to two 6k @ 60Hz displays while still using the built-in screen, whereas the older M3 model can only output to two external displays (one at a 6k resolution and the other at 5k) with the lid closed.
The Apple MacBook Air 13 (M3, 2024) is a newer version of the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020), though two generations apart. The 2024 model is better overall; it has a brighter display, a better webcam, and a faster M3 SoC. It also has a MagSafe charging port, which frees up a USB-C that you would otherwise need to charge the laptop, and it can output to two external displays, albeit with the laptop closed. Its battery life isn't quite as good as the M1 model for light uses, but it's much better for video playback, thanks to the addition of an AV1 decoder.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M1, 2021) is essentially a higher-end version of the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M3, 2024) with better performance and features, like a brighter 120Hz Mini LED display (instead of the 60Hz IPS panel on the Air), better-sounding speakers, and a wider port selection. If you only perform light, general productivity tasks like text processing and web browsing, the MacBook Air is a better option; otherwise, you'd be paying for performance (CPU and GPU) that you don't necessarily need. The MacBook Pro 14 is better suited for more demanding tasks like video editing, 3D modeling, and programming. The MacBook Air 13 can handle some video editing, thanks to its SoC's dedicated media engines; however, the experience won't be as smooth if the material is overly complex. Also, the MacBook Air has a fanless design, which is good if you care about fan noise but not ideal for heavy, sustained workloads, as it'll cause the CPU to throttle.
Though similar in design language, there are many differences between the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M2, 2023) and the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M3, 2024). The former is a 'pro' device intended for demanding tasks like video editing and 3D modeling, while the latter is an ultraportable designed for light productivity and everyday use. The MacBook Air 13 can handle some video editing, as the base M3 chip has dedicated video engines for such tasks; it just won't be as fast as the MacBook Pro 14 and will struggle more if the material is overly complex. For other types of work, although the MacBook Air 13's M3 chip has better single-thread performance, the MacBook Pro 14 is still a better option for highly intensive, multi-threaded workloads, as the M2 Pro/Max chips have more cores. Also, the MacBook Pro 14 has cooling fans to minimize thermal throttling. In addition to a wider port selection, the MacBook Pro 14 has a much better 120Hz Mini LED display.
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