Is It Worth Upgrading to the 2025 MacBook Air M4?

With the new M4 chip and a sub-$1000 price tag, the 2025 MacBook Air is a compelling laptop. Does that mean you should upgrade? As always, it depends on what you’re currently using.

What’s New in the M4 MacBook Air?

The 2025 MacBook Air is a relatively modest update. It looks the same, and the main changes are on the inside.

The star of the show is, of course, the M4 chip. It has 10 cores rather than eight and is faster, more powerful, and more battery-efficient than previous versions of Apple Silicon. However, the precise benefits will depend on what device you’re upgrading from. It’s perhaps telling that Apple tends to compare the M4 MacBook Air with the M1 and Intel models, rather than the more recent generations.

One benefit the M4 brings to all users is support for two external monitors, while still using the MacBook Air’s built-in display. On the M3, you could add two displays but would have to shut the lid. Older models only supported one extra screen.

The M4 Air is the first to launch with a base model equipped with a minimum of 16GB of unified memory and is the first to be upgradable to 32GB. Upgrades were previously pegged at 24GB. Remember you have to choose how much memory you need before you buy because you can’t upgrade it afterward.

Related

How Much RAM Do You Really Need in a New Mac?

16GB is the new baseline, but is it enough?

The camera has also been upgraded to a 12MP Center Stage camera. This offers the neat trick of panning and zooming to keep you in the frame while you’re moving. It was first introduced on the iPad a few years ago and makes its way to a MacBook Air for the first time.

Finally, there’s a new color option. The MacBook Air is available in a lovely Sky Blue hue, which replaces the Space Gray colorway.

What Hasn’t Changed?

Pretty much everything else is unchanged. The 2025 MacBook Air has the same design as before, it’s the same size and weight, and it’s got the same screen and keyboard. The base storage is still a disappointing 256GB. And it still only has the two Thunderbolt ports on the side, so don’t throw out those dongles if you use a lot of accessories.

Should You Upgrade From an M3 MacBook Air?

The main reason to upgrade to an M4 MacBook Air from an M3 model is if you bought the 8GB version and found that it didn’t suit your needs. If that’s the case, now is the best time to trade in your old model, while it’s still near its peak value.

The M4 version is a little more powerful, but the two additional efficiency cores in the M4 chip will help with everyday tasks rather than things that need raw power. The Neural Engine has been updated as well, which is useful if you use AI a lot. But it’s likely that your M3 MacBook Air is less than a year old, so unless you need that extra memory, there’s no compelling reason to upgrade.

Should You Upgrade From an M2 MacBook Air?

The M4 model is a slightly bigger update over the M2. Along with the two new efficiency cores, Apple says it has around 50% more processing power. The GPU is also said to be four times faster than the M2. The M2 also had a slower SSD setup, so you should notice speed improvements when reading and writing large amounts of data.

Apple states that all these improvements make the M4 chip more power-efficient than previous versions. Although weirdly, this isn’t reflected in Apple’s battery estimates, which remain the same for the 2025 model as they did on the 2022 version. Either way, you’re looking at all-day battery life.

The M2 MacBook Air is still an excellent machine. As with the M3, unless you’ve outgrown the specs you bought, you should be able to stick with it for a few more years.

Should You Upgrade From an M1 MacBook Air?

If you’re using an M1 MacBook Air, the differences to the M4 are much more pronounced, with upgrades across the board. Apple says that the new CPU is up to 2x faster and the Neural Engine used for AI tasks is 3x faster, plus you get up to three extra GPU cores depending on what configuration you choose.

This translates to video editing in iMovie and photo editing in Photoshop being twice as fast, and a 1.6x speed improvement in Excel use.

There’s also a better camera, an updated design (with a brighter, slightly larger screen and a notch), improved speakers, better Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and more.

The M1 MacBook Air should still have plenty of life in it. But if you’ve been thinking of upgrading, you get a lot of improvements for your money.

Should You Upgrade From an Intel MacBook Air?

Still using an Intel-powered MacBook Air? The difference here could not be greater. According to Apple’s own quotes, the M4 model is 23x faster and offers six hours longer battery life. Pretty much everything else has been upgraded since the last Intel model was released, too.

But it isn’t just the comprehensive hardware improvements that you should consider. MacBook Airs from before 2020 no longer get macOS updates, and the 2020 model seems likely to be cut off this year. There’s also no Neural Engine, so only very limited support for AI tools.

It has zero future-proofing, and the clock is ticking. Given the combination of price and performance on the new Air, this upgrade is a no-brainer.

The M4 MacBook Air is impressive, and at $999 it’s great value too—I imagine it’ll be the last sub-$1000 MacBook. This is not to say that everyone should upgrade. If you’re still using an Intel model, it’s something to seriously consider. It’s an attractive option for M1 users like myself, too.

For everyone else, it depends on what spec your current Mac has. If you bought a base model with 8GB of memory then you might find its performance is starting to creak. But remember, a MacBook should last for a good five years or more, so only upgrade if you really need to.