M3 upgrade

The star of the show for the 2024 MacBook Air lineup will be the M3 chip. Manufactured with an enhanced 3nm process, the M3 promises significant gains over the already blazing-fast M2 chip.

Apple says the efficiency cores in the M3 are up to 30% faster than the M2, while the performance cores deliver gains of up to 15%. The M3 also touts Apple’s new Dynamic Caching which is a leap forward in graphics architecture. While you might not notice major differences for everyday tasks, the M3 will provide a higher ceiling for demanding workloads like Video editing, 3D rendering, intense multitasking.

No major design changes?

The move to the M3 silicon will be the hallmark of the 2024 MacBook Air refresh so don’t expect Apple to make any other radical changes. The overall design language introduced in 2022 is expected to remain largely unchanged.

Some rumors had suggested the possibility of an OLED display for this generation, but supply chain chatter now indicates OLED won’t come to the Air lineup until 2026 or later. The familiar Retina LCD display will continue.

Launch timeframe

Rumors point to a March launch event for the M3 MacBook Air. Apple introduced the M2 MacBook Air in June 2022, so a year later would follow previous patterns. Updates for the iPad Pro and iPad Air are also expected at the March event.

Pricing on the 2024 MacBook Air is still unclear, but Apple will likely keep it at around the same $1,199 starting point. Hopefully, this means the same pricing as last year in India as well. Some reports indicate Apple has considered introducing a lower-cost MacBook model under the Air, which would give buyers a more affordable option. But the company has made no announcements to that effect yet.