Apple on Wednesday announced new versions of its MacBook Air and Mac Studio desktop. This was Apple’s second product announcement this week after unveiling the M3-powered iPad Air and a new baseline iPad. Late last month, Apple also launched the iPhone 16e, its most affordable iPhone. Apple did not hold an event for these products, reflecting evolutionary updates rather than something entirely new.
‘Still light and thin but more powerful’
The new MacBook Air comes with a faster M4 chip (featuring a 10-core CPU, up to a 10-core GPU, 16GB of unified memory in the base model, and up to 32GB of memory in higher-end models). This is the same chip that was in last year’s iPad Pro and iMac, meaning it supports Apple Intelligence, the company’s new suite of artificial intelligence features, which is slated to launch in India in April.
The 13-inch MacBook Air M4 and the 15-inch model start at Rs 99,900 and Rs 124,900, respectively. (Image credit: Apple)
The MacBook Air M4 comes in 13-inch and 15-inch screen sizes, features a new 12-megapixel Center Stage camera, and offers up to 18 hours of battery life. The new M4 chip allows users to connect up to two external displays, an improvement over the single screen supported by earlier generations of M-series processors.
The design remains the same as previous models; however, the notebook now comes in new colors—Sky Blue, a metallic light blue, alongside Midnight, Starlight, and Silver.
Apple’s MacBook Air is popular among students, freelancers, and anyone who wants a notebook with macOS. Apple heavily markets the MacBook Air in education, a key segment that drives high sales volumes. The company labels the MacBook Air as the “world’s best consumer laptop for AI,” its way of competing with new Windows laptops billed as “AI PCs.”
The 13-inch MacBook Air M4 and the 15-inch model start at Rs 99,900 and Rs 124,900, respectively. They are available for pre-order now and will launch in stores on March 12.
Mac Studio gets M4 Max, M3 Ultra chips
Apple is also updating its Mac Studio, a display-less desktop computer housed in a cube-shaped aluminum box with USB-C ports and an SD card slot on the front. The desktop features the high-performance M4 Max, a more powerful version of the M4 chip designed for coders, video editors, and graphic designers—essentially, pro consumers.
Story continues below this ad
The Mac Studio starts at Rs 219,400 and is available for pre-order today. (Image credit: Apple)
The Mac Studio with M4 Max features up to a 16-core CPU, up to a 40-core GPU, over half a terabyte per second of unified memory bandwidth, and a Neural Engine that is over three times faster than the M1 Max. The GPU in the M4 Max offers advanced graphics architecture, hardware-accelerated mesh shading, and a second-generation ray tracing engine.
The base model of the M4 Max Mac Studio starts with 32GB of unified memory, with support for up to 128GB. The desktop computer supports Apple Intelligence, which offers features such as AI-powered writing and editing features and a redesigned Siri.
Apple is also offering the Mac Studio with the M3 Max chip alongside the M4 Max.
The company first announced the Mac Studio in 2022. It can be paired with a 27-inch display called the Studio Display, which features a 5K resolution, an Apple chip, built-in speakers, and a camera. Alternatively, it can be used with Apple’s top-end Pro XDR display or any monitor for that matter.
Story continues below this ad
The Mac Studio starts at Rs 219,400 and is available for pre-order today, with shipping beginning on March 12. Users can also configure the Mac Studio to suit their requirements.
In the quarter that ended in December, Apple reported $8.98 billion in Mac sales, with Mac revenue rising 15 percent, showing strong growth compared to last year’s struggling sales during the holiday quarter.
