M4 MacBook Air Review (13-Inch, 2025): Still My Go-To Recommendation for Most People

Apple MacBook Air M4 (13-in., 2025)

Pros

Big performance gains from M1, Intel MacBook Airs
Great design, features
Support for two external displays simultaneously with MacBook display
12-megapixel Center Stage camera

Cons

256GB SSD might fill up fast
Expensive upgrades

What continues to amaze me about the M-series MacBook Airs is that they crank out high-level performance and long battery life, yet the body is completely fanless. What’s even more incredible is that the performance gets better year after year. So, while not too much has changed from the last-gen M3 MacBook Air, for the M4 Air, you’ll still get a lot of computing power and upwards of 15 hours of battery life in a thin, light and quiet body. And now it comes in a light metallic blue.

The new sky blue color is really more silver than blue to my eyes. It’s a nice subtle color, so you should be happy if you’re just looking for something slightly different. The thing is, I consider the Air the MacBook equivalent to the iMac and I’m not sure why Apple didn’t go with one or more of the seven colors it uses for its all-in-one desktop. Maybe with the next full redesign, we’ll get at least one of the iMac’s brilliant colors.

The biggest change for the 2025 MacBook Air is the jump from Apple’s M3 silicon to the M4, which was already added to the MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac Mini last year. The base 13-inch M4 MacBook Air has a 10-core CPU and eight-core GPU, while the 15-inch has an upgraded 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU. Both start with 16GB of unified memory and 256GB of storage. Both sizes cost $100 less than the M3 models: $999 for the 13-inch Air and $1,199 for the 15-inch.

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

Price as reviewed	$999; £999; AU$1,699
Display size/resolution	13.6-inch, 2,560×1,664-pixel, LED-backlit IPS display, 500 nits brightness
CPU	10‑core CPU with 4 performance cores
Memory	16GB unified memory
Graphics	Integrated 8‑core GPU
Storage	Apple 256GB SSD
Networking	Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.3
Operating system	Apple MacOS Sequoia 15.3

An actual price drop is a pleasant surprise, but unsurprisingly, Apple didn’t lower prices on upgrades to memory and storage. This means that if you want to upgrade to a 512GB solid-state drive, you’ll need to pay an additional $200, and the same goes for increasing the memory. Since the Air configurations start with 16GB of memory, you’re in pretty good shape there, but unless you store most stuff in the cloud or an external drive, you’ll likely want to at least upgrade storage.

Apple MacBook Air M4 in Sky Blue color. — Josh Goldman/CNET

Faster performance, same long battery life

Again, performance and battery life continue to be impressive. You can see the benchmark test results at the end of this review, but the short of it is that the M4’s performance is an improvement on the M3’s. It’s not a big leap, but it’s not nonexistent either, and it is in line with the CPU performance of a couple of Snapdragon X Elite Copilot Plus PCs we’ve reviewed.

Most importantly, it’s a sizeable improvement over the M1 MacBook Air (as was the M3), so if you have an older M1 Air or an Intel-based Air and it’s not feeling snappy anymore, you have good reason to upgrade to an M3 or M4 MacBook Air.

The graphics performance is also better than that of the Snapdragon X Elite laptops, so if you’re looking for something thin and light for photo and video editing or even some gaming, the M4 MacBook Air can handle it. You might need to dial back on the graphics settings on demanding games, and without fans, the Air does heat up, but you can definitely play less graphics-intensive titles and mobile games.

As for battery life, I got roughly 15 hours on our streaming video rundown test, which is more or less what I expected based on the M3 MacBook Air I tested last year. Battery life will depend on what you’re doing, the screen brightness, audio level, etc., but with basic use, you’ll have no problem getting through a workday.

A few new features, too

The M4 MacBook Air’s body is the same as its predecessor, which is generally fine: streamlined, clean and attractive. However, there are a few things I’m not a fan of, like the camera notch in the display and the fact that both USB-C ports and the MagSafe charging connector are lumped together on the left, which means all your charging options are on one side.

Apple dropped in a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera with Desk View support for the webcam. Center Stage tracks you and others in the camera frame so you stay centered or it makes room for everyone. Desk View gives you a second top-down view of the area in front of the laptop’s keyboard, perfect for demonstrations. It’s a bit distorted and low-res, but it works, and it’s hard to argue with that. It would be nice if Apple added Face ID and a proximity sensor when it does the next full overhaul of its MacBooks. That would allow you to quickly lock and unlock a MacBook just as you would an iPhone. For now, the Touch ID on the power button is sufficient.

Apple upgraded the USB-C ports on the M4 MacBook Air from USB4 to Thunderbolt 4. With these ports, the MacBook Air can now connect and extend to up to two 6K external monitors and the built-in Liquid Retina display simultaneously. That gives you up to three displays to work on, plus the use of the keyboard, trackpad and Touch ID.

Overall, the M4 MacBook Air is a good, if minor, update to an already fantastic laptop, and it has a lower price to boot. If you have an M3 Air or even an M2 Air, there are some reasons to upgrade, like the better camera and external display support. But the performance difference is modest.

On the other hand, for Intel and M1 MacBook Air owners, the performance gap is sizeable enough that upgrading is definitely worth your while. Something to keep in mind, too, is that while the M3 MacBook Air is going away, you might be able to pick one of those up at a deep enough discount, new or refurbished, to make you forget about the features you’re not getting with the M4. Another thing: The M4 Mac Mini is as powerful as the M4 MacBook Air and starts at $600. If you don’t need a laptop’s mobility (the Mini is certainly small enough for travel, though), it’s a great option for less.

The review process for laptops, desktops, tablets and other computerlike devices consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our expert reviewers. This includes evaluating a device’s aesthetics, ergonomics and features. A final review verdict is a combination of both objective and subjective judgments.

The list of benchmarking software we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. The most important core tests we’re currently running on every compatible computer include Primate Labs Geekbench 6, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10 and 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra.

A more detailed description of each benchmark and how we use it can be found on our How We Test Computers page.

Geekbench 6 (single-core)

Apple Mac mini M4 3,886Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4 2025 3,818Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 2025 3,705Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 2024 3,587Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 2024 3,146Apple MacBook Air 15-inch 2024 3,127Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 2020 2,378HP Omnibook X 14-FE0013DX 2,370Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 2,369