Apple's New M4 MacBook Air
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Apple's latest M4 MacBook Air has arrived, and according to the MacBreak Weekly team, it represents a significant milestone in Apple's laptop lineup. On the most recent episode of MacBreak Weekly, host Leo Laporte welcomed back Jason Snell, who recently received a briefing from Apple and hands-on time with the new device.
The most talked-about initial feature was the new "Sky Blue" color option, which Jason described as surprisingly subtle. "When Apple told me Sky Blue, I thought to myself it's going to be silver with a hint of blue, like everything else," Snell explained. Upon unboxing, he initially thought Apple had mistakenly sent him a silver MacBook. "Out of context, it just seems like a silver laptop," he noted, comparing it to Apple's other metallic finishes, where Starlight has a yellow-gold undertone and Sky Blue offers a similar silver with a blue undertone.
The panel expressed disappointment that Apple continues to avoid truly colorful laptop options, unlike the vibrant iMac lineup. Jason suggested Apple may have been "bitten culturally by the G3 iBook" with its bold tangerine and blueberry colors, as they "have not made a colorful laptop since."
However, the color was far from the most important update. The MacBreak Weekly team identified the return to the $999 price point as the most significant change. "Apple believes firmly that the Air should start at $999," Snell explained. "They want a sub-thousand dollar laptop." With previous M2 and M3 MacBook Air models starting at higher price points, Apple had to keep older models around to maintain the entry-level price.
Now with the M4 chip, Apple has finally managed to hit that magic number again while also doubling the base RAM to 16GB. This combination of the latest chip with adequate memory at the sub-$1000 price point creates what Jason called "the easy default Mac to recommend to almost everybody."
Andy Ihnatko agreed, stating, "It's really, really important for them to have a sub-thousand dollar MacBook," noting that many people "consider themselves lucky to be able to get the base model MacBook Air." He also pointed out that this pricing creates clearer differentiation between the Air and Pro models, which had previously confused consumers with similar price points but different feature sets.
Alex Lindsay highlighted how the clear differentiation between the Air and Pro models simplifies buying decisions. "If I wasn't recording things, if I didn't need to plug in mics and other things to it, I would absolutely have gotten the Air," he said.
Beyond pricing, the team discussed other notable improvements, including the upgraded 12-megapixel ultra-wide webcam. Jason explained that this camera is "a cut above what was there before" and allows users to "zoom it around and pan it and get the exact shot you want." The camera performs better in low light conditions, which is particularly important for video calls in less-than-ideal lighting environments.
For students and everyday users, the panel unanimously agreed that the M4 MacBook Air is now the default recommendation. With most users storing their data in the cloud, the base 256GB storage is adequate for many scenarios, making the $999 model an ideal starting point. As Jason put it: "For $999, you get an M4 Mac and you'll be able to use it...for seven, eight years, no problem."
Another significant enhancement mentioned was the ability to support two external displays plus the internal screen simultaneously, which Andy noted makes it much more viable as a desktop replacement. "For me, the difference between a real desktop replacement is having two actual external displays at the same time," he said.
The MacBook Air continues to be Apple's best-selling Mac, with laptops historically representing about 75% of Mac sales. With this update, Apple has strengthened what Jason called "the definitive Mac right now," offering a compelling balance of performance, features, and price that should continue to make it the go-to recommendation for most Mac buyers in 2025.
