The MacBook Air has long been the default choice for those seeking the perfect blend of portability and performance. With the introduction of the powerful and efficient M4 chip, the 15-inch MacBook Air (2025) solidifies its reign as the best laptop for nearly everyone.
This isn't a radical redesign, but a thoughtful evolution. Apple has focused on delivering a significant performance boost for both everyday tasks and demanding AI-powered workflows, all while maintaining the silent, fanless design and incredible battery life the Air is famous for. This review explores if these intelligent upgrades make the M4 MacBook Air the new undisputed champion of consumer laptops.
PROS
- Incredible M4 performance
- Completely silent, fanless design
- Exceptional battery life
- Large, beautiful 15-inch display
CONS
- Base model still has 8GB RAM
- Only two Thunderbolt ports
- No ProMotion display
M4 MacBook Air (15-Inch)
The M4 chip elevates the MacBook Air to new heights, offering pro-level speed in a silent, portable, and beautiful design.
Design and Display: Iconic and Immersive
The M4 MacBook Air retains the impossibly thin and light unibody aluminum chassis that has become iconic. It’s a design that feels both premium and durable. The star of the show is the large 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display. It’s bright, sharp, and renders over a billion colors, making everything from editing photos to watching movies a joy. While it lacks the ProMotion technology of its more expensive siblings, the display is still one of the best you’ll find on any laptop.
Performance: The M4 Difference
This is the biggest upgrade. The new M4 chip, built on a next-generation architecture, delivers a huge leap in performance and efficiency. Everyday tasks are instantaneous, but the real story is how the M4 handles more demanding workloads. Video editing in Final Cut Pro, coding in Xcode, and running complex AI models locally are all shockingly fast for a computer with no fan. The enhanced Neural Engine makes macOS and its AI-powered features, like advanced text predictions and photo editing, feel smarter and more responsive than ever.
Keyboard, Trackpad, and Battery Life
The user experience remains best-in-class. The Magic Keyboard is comfortable and quiet for long typing sessions, and the large Force Touch trackpad is precise and responsive. But the most impressive feature is the battery life. Despite the massive performance increase from the M4 chip, the MacBook Air still delivers all-day battery life, easily lasting through a full workday and into the evening. It’s a testament to the incredible efficiency of Apple silicon.
The M4 MacBook Air isn't just fast; it's intelligently fast, delivering silent, sustained performance with battery life that still feels like magic.
The Verdict: The New Default Laptop
The 15-inch M4 MacBook Air is a triumph. It takes a beloved design and injects it with a level of performance that was previously reserved for much more expensive "pro" machines. It's the perfect machine for students, professionals, and anyone who wants a powerful, portable, and long-lasting laptop.
Unless you need the absolute highest-end performance or specialized ports of a MacBook Pro, the M4 MacBook Air is not just the best choice; it's the new default laptop for almost everyone.