8.8/ 10
- Big performance gains from M1, Intel MacBook Airs
- Great design, features
- Support for two external displays simultaneously with MacBook display
- 12-megapixel Center Stage camera
The M4 Air now supports two displays with the laptop lid open.
A few new features, too
The M4 MacBook Air’s body is the same as its predecessor, which is generally fine: streamlined, clean and attractive. However, there are a few things I’m not a fan of, like the camera notch in the display and the fact that both USB-C ports and the MagSafe charging connector are lumped together on the left, which means all your charging options are on one side.
Apple dropped in a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera with Desk View support for the webcam. Center Stage tracks you and others in the camera frame so you stay centered or it makes room for everyone. Desk View gives you a second top-down view of the area in front of the laptop’s keyboard, perfect for demonstrations. It’s a bit distorted and low-res, but it works, and it’s hard to argue with that. It would be nice if Apple added Face ID and a proximity sensor when it does the next full overhaul of its MacBooks. That would allow you to quickly lock and unlock a MacBook just as you would an iPhone. For now, the Touch ID on the power button is sufficient.
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The review process for laptops, desktops, tablets and other computerlike devices consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our expert reviewers. This includes evaluating a device’s aesthetics, ergonomics and features. A final review verdict is a combination of both objective and subjective judgments.
The list of benchmarking software we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. The most important core tests we’re currently running on every compatible computer include Primate Labs Geekbench 6, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10 and 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra.
A more detailed description of each benchmark and how we use it can be found on our How We Test Computers page.
Geekbench 6 (single-core)
Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 2024 15,134Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4 2025 15,049Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 2025 14,942Apple Mac mini M4 14,908HP Omnibook X 14-FE0013DX 13,428Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 13,159Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 2024 12,063Apple MacBook Air 15-inch 2024 12,034Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 2020 8,710
Cinebench 2024 GPU (discrete GPU only)
Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 2024 175Apple Mac Mini M4 175Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 2025 171Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4 2025 169Apple MacBook Air 15-inch 2024 141Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 2024 141Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 2020 110Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 107HP Omnibook X 14-FE0013DX 100
Cinebench 2024 CPU (multicore)
HP Omnibook X 14-FE0013DX 1,512Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 2024 1,319Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 1,190Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 2024 1,097Apple MacBook Air 15-inch 2024 960Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4 2025 950Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 2020 933
Systems configurations
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4 2025
Apple MacOS Sequoia 15.3, M4 chip 10‑core CPU with 8‑core GPU; 16GB LPDDR5 unified memory; 256GB SSD
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 2025
Apple MacOS Sequoia 15.3, M4 chip 10‑core CPU with 8‑core GPU; 16GB LPDDR5 unified memory; 512GB SSD
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 2020
Apple MacOS Ventura 13.4.1; Apple M1 chip 8-core CPU with 7-core GPU; 8GB unified memory; 256GB SSD
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch 2024
Apple MacOS Sonoma 14.4; Apple M3 chip 8-core CPU with 10-core GPU); 16GB unified memory; 512GB SSD
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 2024
Apple MacOS Sonoma 14.4; Apple M3 chip 8-core CPU with 10-core GPU; 16GB unified memory; 512GB SSD
Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 2024
Apple MacOS Sequoia 15.1; Apple M4 chip 10-core CPU with 10-core GPU; 16GB LPDDR5 unified memory; 1TB SSD
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition
Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 3.42GHz Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 CPU; 32GB RAM; 16GB shared Adreno 741 graphics; 1TB SSD
HP Omnibook X 14-FE0013DX
Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 3.42GHz Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 CPU; 16GB RAM; 7.7GB shared Adreno 741 graphics; 1TB SSD
Apple Mac mini M4
Apple MacOS Sequoia 15.1, M4 chip 10‑core CPU with 10-core GPU; 16GB LPDDR5 unified memory; 512GB SSD
