MacBook Air M4 Review — The Best Laptop for Most People
MacBook Air M4 review covering performance, battery life, display, and whether it's worth buying over the M3 Air for students and professionals in India.
MacBook Air M4 — Two Months In
The MacBook Air M4 launched quietly, without much fanfare. No stage event, no "one more thing" moment. Just a press release and a webpage update. And honestly? That's fitting, because this laptop doesn't need a dramatic reveal. It's just really, really good at being exactly what most people need.
Specs
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| Display | 13.6" / 15.3" Liquid Retina, 500 nits, P3, 120Hz |
| Chip | Apple M4 (10-core CPU, 10-core GPU) |
| RAM | 16 GB / 24 GB / 32 GB unified |
| Storage | 256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB / 2 TB |
| Battery | Up to 18 hours (Apple's claim) |
| Weight | 1.24 kg (13") / 1.51 kg (15") |
| Ports | 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C), MagSafe 3, 3.5mm jack |
| Webcam | 12 MP Center Stage |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID |
| Price (India) | ₹1,14,900 (13" / 16 GB / 256 GB) |
What's New Over the M3 Air
The M4 brings three things the M3 didn't have: a 120Hz display, 16 GB base RAM (up from 8 GB), and a slightly better 12 MP webcam with Center Stage. The chassis is identical — same ports, same weight, same design language Apple's been using since 2022.
And that's fine. The Air's industrial design is mature. It doesn't need a refresh every year.
Performance
The M4 chip slots in between the M3 and M3 Pro in raw benchmarks. For context, here's what that means practically:
- Web browsing with 30+ tabs — effortless, no memory pressure
- Lightroom Classic with 42 MP RAW files — edits apply instantly, export of 100 photos in about 3 minutes
- Xcode compilation — a medium-sized Swift project compiles in 45 seconds vs 58 seconds on M3
- Video editing in DaVinci Resolve — handles 4K timelines with colour grading. Starts choking on 8K footage.
- Microsoft Office / Google Workspace — absolutely zero issues, as expected
For most people — students, writers, professionals doing office work, even amateur photographers and video editors — this machine has more power than you'll use. The only people who should look at the MacBook Pro are those doing sustained heavy workloads: professional video editing, 3D rendering, large codebase compilation.
Display
The jump to 120Hz is noticeable from the very first scroll. Text rendering during fast scrolling is sharper. Animations in macOS are smoother. Once you've used 120Hz, going back to 60Hz feels like wading through syrup.
The 13.6-inch panel is bright enough for most indoor situations at 500 nits. Outdoor usage in direct sunlight is manageable but not ideal — the glossy finish causes reflections. The 15.3-inch model is identical in specs, just bigger. Pick based on portability preference.
Colour accuracy is excellent. The P3 wide colour gamut means photo editing is reliable. I compared edits made on the Air to my calibrated desktop monitor, and the colours matched closely.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The Magic Keyboard is unchanged, and that's a compliment. The key travel is satisfying — better than most Windows ultrabooks I've used. The trackpad is enormous and supports all the macOS gestures fluidly. Touch ID works every time.
No Touch Bar (thank goodness), no Face ID (maybe someday). The function row has full-size keys with useful shortcuts. Nothing to complain about here.
Battery Life
Apple claims 18 hours. In my real-world testing — mixed usage of Safari, VS Code, Slack, Spotify, and occasional Lightroom — I consistently get 13-14 hours on the 13-inch model. That's phenomenal.
I've taken this laptop to coffee shops without a charger and worked for an entire day without anxiety. It's the kind of battery life that changes your relationship with charging. You stop thinking about it.
MagSafe charging is convenient but not fast — takes about 2 hours for a full charge. You can also charge via either Thunderbolt port, which is useful when your MagSafe cable isn't nearby.
Thermals and Fan Noise
There's no fan. None. The M4 Air is completely silent, always. During my heaviest workloads — long Lightroom exports, Xcode builds — the bottom gets warm but never hot. Thermal throttling exists but only kicks in during sustained maximum loads that last 10+ minutes.
For the vast majority of tasks, you'll never notice throttling. It's only relevant if you're exporting 4K video or compiling code for extended periods.
What Could Be Better
- Webcam quality — The 12 MP camera is decent but still grainy in low light. MacBooks have had mediocre webcams for years, and while this is the best one yet, it's still not great for dark rooms.
- Only two Thunderbolt ports — One on each side. If you're charging via MagSafe, you have two ports free. If charging via USB-C, you're down to one. A third port would have been welcome.
- No SD card slot — Content creators will need a dongle.
- 256 GB base storage — Feels stingy at ₹1,14,900. The 512 GB upgrade costs ₹20,000 more.
Pros and Cons
Pros:- 120Hz display is a major quality-of-life upgrade
- 16 GB base RAM is finally enough for real multitasking
- 13-14 hours of real-world battery life
- Completely silent — zero fan noise
- Lightweight and beautifully built
- macOS Sequoia is stable and polished
- Only 2 Thunderbolt ports
- 256 GB base storage is too small for the price
- Webcam still mediocre in low light
- No SD card slot
- Identical design to M2/M3 Air
Who Should Buy This
If you're a student, a writer, a business professional, or anyone who values portability and battery life over raw power — this is the laptop. Full stop. There's nothing in the Windows ultrabook world that matches this combination of performance, battery life, build quality, and silence at this weight.
If you already own an M3 Air with 16 GB RAM, the upgrade is marginal. The 120Hz display is nice, but not ₹1,14,900 nice. Stick with what you have.
If you're on an M1 Air or older, this is a transformative upgrade. Everything is faster, the screen is bigger and better, and the battery lasts significantly longer.
Rating: 9/10