Apple MacBook Air M4: More power, more speed, and a game-changing upgrade; check price, India availability

Apple has had a whirlwind week, unveiling a wave of new devices that take performance to the next level. Alongside the M3-powered iPad Air and the A16-equipped 11th-gen iPad, the company has also refreshed two of its most popular computers.

The MacBook Air—widely considered the best Apple laptop for most users—now comes with the powerful M4 chip in both its 13-inch and 15-inch models, making it faster and more capable than ever. Meanwhile, the compact yet powerful Mac Studio has received a major boost with two high-performance chip options: the M4 Max and the new M3 Ultra.

Both devices will hit stores on March 12 and are available for preorder starting Wednesday.

First things first, the MacBook Air M4 brings notable upgrades over its predecessors while maintaining a familiar design. While its appearance remains largely unchanged from the M3 and M2 models, the M4 marks a significant departure from the MacBook Air M1. The wedge-shaped design of the M1 has been replaced with a flat chassis. The new MacBook Air is twice as fast as the M1, offering improved CPU and GPU performance. The base model now comes with 16GB of RAM (compared to 8GB in the M1) while retaining 256GB of storage. Users can now connect two external displays while keeping the lid open.

The latest macOS 15.1 introduces AI-driven tools like Smart Replies, Mail Summaries, Clean Up in Photos, Writing Tools, and Genmoji. While Apple has discontinued the classic Space Gray variant of the MacBook Air, current colour options include Sky Blue, Midnight, Silver, and Starlight.

The 13-inch model is expected to start at ₹99,900 in India (excluding bank discounts), while the 15-inch model will start at around ₹1,19,900.

With its improved performance, upgraded display, better webcam, and enhanced connectivity, the MacBook Air M4 presents a compelling upgrade—especially for those transitioning from the M1 model.

The latest iteration of Apple’s Mac Studio, released on Wednesday, features the powerful M4 Max and M3 Ultra chipsets. The M4 Max is up to 3.5 times faster than the M1 Max, while the M3 Ultra is up to 2.6 times faster than the M1 Ultra. The Mac Studio also comes with advanced graphics features, including ray tracing, mesh shading, dynamic caching, and a Media Engine with ProRes accelerators. Additionally, Apple has introduced Thunderbolt 5 ports on the rear, offering data transfer speeds of up to 120 Gb/s. Built on Apple Intelligence, the Mac Studio can support up to eight Pro Display XDRs at 6K resolution.

In India, the base Mac Studio with the M4 Max (36GB RAM, 512GB SSD) is expected to be priced at ₹2,14,900, while the M3 Ultra variant (96GB RAM, 1TB SSD) will start at ₹4,29,900.

Positioned above the Mac Mini, the new Mac Studio, with its cutting-edge performance, enhanced AI capabilities, and improved connectivity, cements its place as the ultimate pro desktop for creatives, developers, and AI professionals alike.