A few weeks ago, Apple announced the release of their bestselling laptop—the Macbook Air—with a bit of an upgrade. Well, a bit is understating it: the new model comes with the tech giant’s latest Apple silicon, the M3 chip, bringing its performance up by a whopping 60 per cent from the M1 model. Now, the Macbook Air has been one of my personal favourite models for work, and this new iteration, which weighs in at 1.49kg and is just 11.43mm thick, is the perfect companion for this busy editor working on the go.
What impressed me right off the bat was the Macbook Air with M3’s sheer power when it came to editing photos and videos. This was most apparent when processing and editing photos on Adobe Photoshop: there was a marked improvement when it came to resizing batches of street style photos, with barely any lag (goodbye spinning rainbow wheel of death!); applying filters on images; and adjustments were almost instantaneous.
Video editing on Finalcut Pro was a breeze as well—made faster by the M3 chip, which provides up to 20 per cent faster graphics performance than the M2, and up to 65 per cent faster graphics performance than the M1.
This speed is also a godsend when reviewing graphics-heavy magazine layouts on Adobe Indesign. Comparing its performance to the Macbook Air with M2, there was a noticeable improvement when loading files and adjusting placements on files—again, there was little, if any, lag when implementing changes.
Multitasking has also never been easier with the Macbook Air with M3. It now provides support for up to two external displays, giving users a lot more screen space to play around with. When I told my art director about the new capabilities, she commented that it would make working on multiple layouts and projects so much more easier. Of course, there’s also Split View, which isn’t a new introduction to those of us who use Apple, but obviously, the multiple screen display is game changer for those who like to move from project to project seamlessly.
For the sustainability-minded among us, fret not. The Macbook Air with M3 is the first Apple product to be made with 50 per cent recycled content. It’s enclosure is made of 100 per cent recycled aluminium, while its magnets contain 100 per cent recycled rare earth elements, the main logic board boasts 100 per cent recycled copper in another first for the company.
The Macbook Air with M3 comes in two sizes—the 13-inch (my personal fave) and the 15-inch—and four colours—midnight (now with a new anodisation seal; adios pesky, unaesthetic fingerprints!) starlight, silver, and space grey.