In a new interview, an Apple executive on the Mac team discussed the portability, durability, and design of the new M3 MacBook Air and how the new Mac is ideal for frequent flyers and travelers.
The interview from The Points Guy is with Evan Buyze, a senior product manager for the Mac at Apple. The M3 MacBook Air, announced in early March, shares the same design as its predecessor from June 2022, which redesigned Apple’s thinnest and lightest design and eliminated the previous wedge-shaped design.
Despite the thinner design, Apple didn’t sacrifice on durability, Buyze said. The MacBook Air, thanks to its light and thin design, is ideal for travelers who work on flights or are always on the move. Buzye said that Apple put the new MacBook Air through Apple’s “reliability testing lab” to ensure the laptop’s longevity and quality for customers always in a hustle.
Buzye said Apple worked hard so that the width didn’t come at the expense of durability. The new MacBook Air is built with an all-aluminum unibody enclosure that’s “designed to be super durable.” “[It] simulates a lot of different customer experiences,” he said. “[In the lab,] they do a lot of different things to be able to make sure that whatever situation you are in, whether it’s in your backpack or you’re carrying it, it meets our standards for reliability.”
The Points Guy
The 13-inch and 15-inch sizes of the MacBook Are less than 0.50 inches thick. The significant reduction in thickness is thanks to the efficiency of Apple silicon, according to Buzye. The focus on a thin and light design means travelers, in particular, don’t have to worry about the MacBook Air not fitting on a tray table or being too heavy to travel around with.
One particular aspect of the new processor that might appeal to travelers is the introduction of more efficient video streaming for services like Netflix. This will allow you to stream for longer, according to Buyze. While the new chips might pack a mighty punch, they also were the “secret sauce” to making the computer so portable. “How do we get that thin-and-light design that fits on the tray table?” Buzye asked. He answered by explaining that the “transition to Apple silicon [processor chips] … was really the game changer where we could actually make these new designs that we had only imagined making before.”
The Points Guy
The M3 MacBook Air in specific features a few upgrades compared to the previous M2 model, including faster WiFi 6E with “twice-as-fast speeds,” according to Buzye. For average customers upgrading from an M2 model, the changes in day-to-day performance will be minimal, but customers upgrading from an M1 or Intel-based MacBook Air will see a night and day difference, Buzye said.
“If you’re coming from an M1 MacBook Air, it’s up to 60% faster with MacBook Air with M3. If you’re upgrading from an Intel-based MacBook Air, it’s up to 13 times faster,” he said.
The Points Guy
Apple has kept the 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 in the lineup at $999, with the M3 13-inch model at a starting price of $1099 and the 15-inch model starting at $1299. Both sizes of the M3 MacBook Air can be configured with up to 24GB of unified memory and up to 2TB of storage.
