The passively cooled M4 SoC makes the competition look old - Apple MacBook Air 13 M4 entry review

The highlight of the current MacBook Air is of course its M4 processor, which offers enormously high performance even inside the small 13-inch case—without having to be actively cooled. Even under constant load, its multi-core performance is still better than the current Lunar Lake chips from Intel and not far off the actively cooled Snapdragon models. Not to mention its single-core performance, where Apple's M4 generation is at least two generations ahead of the competition. Other advantages of the new chip include support for Thunderbolt 4 and two external displays (in addition to the integrated panel), which has previously always been a weak point of the Air.

Of course, you can complain about its 60 Hz display, especially considering that its MRSP skyrockets if you select any of Apple's expensive upgrades. But if you look at the price of the entry-level version (even at its MRSP of $999), you suddenly won't find as many good displays with higher frequencies, even among the competition. This device's picture quality is also very good, and there is no PWM flickering like you would find on OLED panels. What is more annoying is its high power consumption as soon as you make use of the panel's high brightness.

The base model's price-to-performance ratio is great overall, and the new M4 model can already be found online for less than its MRSP. The fact that Apple still only equips the entry-level model with a 256 GB SSD is of course a big minus point, especially as you can't upgrade it after purchasing. Together with the manufacturer's high upgrade prices, we have to criticize this point. 200 dollars for the jump from 256 to 512 GB is simply outrageous, even if this already includes the M4 SoC with the 10-core GPU.

All-in-all, however, the MacBook Air 13 remains an extremely good overall package and is simply one of the best everyday companions on the market—even if the competition has advantages in some areas.

Apple has now launched its MacBook Air models with the M4 processors—and with lower prices. We have already been able to test the larger 15-inch model in detail, so now let's take a look at the entry-level version of the smaller MacBook Air 13, which is available for around $950 (MRSP: $999). It comes with the M4 SoC with 10 CPU and 8 GPU cores, 16 GB RAM and a 256-GB SSD.

In this article, we will focus on the performance of the new M4 processor. For comprehensive information on the laptop's case, input devices, display and speakers, please refer to our detailed review of the predecessor model and the larger MacBook Air 15 M4.

• Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 review
• Apple MacBook Air 15 M4 review

The new MacBook Air 13 M4 doesn't differ from its predecessor in terms of its case design—only our test device's colorway Sky Blue is new and replaces the familiar Space Gray. The M4 SoC now offers Thunderbolt 4 support as well as support for two external displays in addition to the laptop's integrated panel. Its webcam has also been updated (now 12 MP with Center Stage), but it still has the same resolution.

Apple has provides a detailed environmental report on its website. The device consists of 55% recycled materials and no plastic is used for its packaging.

The base model of the MacBook Air 13 is delivered with the slimmed-down M4 processor, which only has an 8-core GPU. The faster version can optionally be selected for an additional $100. A minimum of 16 GB RAM (LPDDR5-7500) is installed, with 24 or 32 GB available if desired ($200 surcharge each), whereby this already includes the CPU upgrade.

Like the other variants, the base model of the M4 SoC features 10 cores (4x performance, 6x efficiency) and can briefly consume up to 20 watts at its peak. However, the value then drops to around 8 watts within a few minutes. For our CPU benchmarks, we focused on the current versions of Cinebench 2024 and Geekbench, which run natively on all three platforms (Apple, Windows x86/ARM), enabling very good comparability.

The test device's benchmark results were very good overall. In the Cinebench multi-test, the M4 SoC had to admit defeat to the actively cooled Snapdragon competitors, as its reduced power consumption naturally came into play during the long test (M4 in the MBP 14 was 21% faster here, for example). However, the gap to the Snapdragons was quite small, and the Lunar Lake competitors fell significantly behind. Even after half an hour, its CB Multi score only dropped by 13% to 710 points. In the shorter Geekbench multi-core test, on the other hand, the M4 SoC came out on top.

At the moment, the current M4 generation has a clear advantage when it comes to single-core performance, and the same can be said for Apple's cheapest laptop. The competition is at least two generations behind in this respect. Its performance remains constant in battery mode.

Despite its high performance, the M4 SoC remains passively cooled, which is still a huge advantage for the MacBook Air. There were no other electronic noises on the test device during our test.

Its surface temperatures are unproblematic. Under full load, we measured a maximum of just under 43 °C on the underside, so you can still place the Air on your thighs without any problems. The keyboard gets a little warmer, which is of course noticeable, but this doesn't yet pose any limitations. During everyday tasks, on the other hand, the entire case stays very cool.

During the stress test under combined CPU&GPU load, the smaller MacBook Air 13 was only just behind the larger 15-inch model. After a brief load peak of around 27 watts, the M4 SoC's power consumption dropped to around 8 watts over the following few minutes and then remained at this level.

There were no surprises in terms of its power consumption during our test, but the laptop's IPS display requires a relatively high amount of power at full brightness, despite its low frequency of 60 Hz. The competitors are significantly more frugal in this respect in idle mode, although to be fair, they often use lower resolutions and also run at 60 Hz. In the stress test, the 30-watt power supply was briefly the limiting factor, but only for a few seconds. During the course of the stress test, its power consumption then stabilized at ~23 watts.

The test device's battery life showed clear differences depending on the screen brightness. In our WLAN test at 150 cd/m², the current MacBook Air 13 M4 achieved a very good runtime of more than 16 hours, which is very competitive. At full brightness, however, the IPS panel's high power consumption made itself known, as we then only noted just over 7 hours, which meant it came in last place in our comparison group.