Reprinted from TidBITS by permission; reuse governed by Creative Commons license BY-NC-ND 3.0. TidBITS has offered years of thoughtful commentary on Apple and Internet topics. For free email subscriptions and access to the entire TidBITS archive, visit http://www.tidbits.com/ New M3 MacBook Air Models Can Drive Two Displays Adam Engst Last November, Apple introduced the M3 chip family in the MacBook Pro and iMac lines (see '[1]M3 Chip Family Boosts Performance for MacBook Pros and 24-inch iMac,' 1 November 2023). Now, the company has brought the M3 to the massively popular [2]MacBook Air line, updating both the 13-inch and 15-inch models of the consumer-level laptop. It wouldn't have been surprising if Apple had introduced M3-powered versions of the Mac mini alongside these MacBook Air updates, but new Mac minis can't be far behind. The Mac Studio and Mac Pro will undoubtedly join the M3 party later this year once Apple completes the M3 Ultra chip. The [3]tech specs of the new M3-based models of the MacBook Air improve on the previous M2 models in three ways: increased performance, the capability to drive two external displays when the lid is closed, and support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless connectivity. If you've been waiting for an M3 MacBook Air, you can order now, with availability starting 8 March 2024. Prices are essentially the same, with the 13-inch MacBook Air starting at $1099 and the 15-inch model starting at $1299. They're available in silver, starlight, space gray, and midnight. In keeping with Apple's strategy of anchoring the low end of a lineup with a previous year's model, the M2 13-inch MacBook Air remains available for sale starting at $999 with 8 GB of memory and 256 GB of storage. M3 Chip Configurations Although there are only two models of the M3 chip, how they're used in the MacBook Air line may cause some confusion. * The standard M3 chip sports an 8-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, and it offers unified memory options of 8 GB, 16 GB, and 24 GB. It's available as an option in the 13-inch MacBook Air and is the only choice in the 15-inch model. * The low-end M3 chip provides an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU. It's limited to 8 GB of unified memory and is available only in the 13-inch MacBook Air with 256 GB of storage. Although it's possible to upgrade a $1099 13-inch MacBook Air with the low-end M3 chip to the standard M3 chip for $100, paying $200 to upgrade the unified memory to 16 GB or the storage to 512 GB automatically upgrades you to the standard M3 chip for no extra cost. In other words, unless $100 is the tipping point for your budget or you legitimately have no use for 16 GB of memory or more than 256 GB of storage, avoid the low-end configuration of the 13-inch MacBook Air. Expanded Display Support One of the complaints about the M1 and M2 MacBook Air models has been that they can drive only a single external display along with the built-in screen. That was true even if you closed the lid and ran the MacBook Air in clamshell mode. If you wanted to drive two external displays, you had to move up to the MacBook Pro line. In contrast, the M3 MacBook Air models can drive one external display at up to 6K resolution and a second display with up to 5K resolution'¦ as long as you put the MacBook Air in clamshell mode by closing its lid. Of course, once you close the lid, you can no longer use the built-in keyboard and trackpad, so you need to provide those separately. Speaking as someone who is still pondering the best Apple silicon replacement for a 27-inch iMac with 5K display and a secondary 27-inch Thunderbolt Display, this improvement extends the choices for a base-level Mac with two matched displays. Previously, I was weighing the differences between a Mac mini and an M3 Pro 14-inch MacBook Pro, both outfitted with a pair of Studio Displays. Now the M3 MacBook Air becomes portable competition for the Mac mini in that comparison. The M3 Pro 14-inch MacBook Pro offers more performance, a third screen, and a built-in keyboard and trackpad, but it costs a lot more and would require me to modify my standing desk to hold it. Faster Wi-Fi and Bluetooth It's hard to get excited about the MacBook Air line's move from Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) to [4]Wi-Fi 6E (802.11axe) wireless connectivity. Apple added Wi-Fi 6E to the MacBook Pro and iMac lines in 2023, along with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Don't misunderstand'there's nothing wrong with Wi-Fi 6E, whose support for the 6 GHz band can be welcome if you're in an area where the 5 GHz band is too crowded. But you need Wi-Fi 6E-capable gear to take advantage of it, and unless you have to replace an old router right away, it might be better to wait for prices to fall for [5]Wi-Fi 7 gear, which was ratified recently. Plus, faster Wi-Fi won't improve the Internet experience for most people, given that the bottleneck is usually the Internet connection, not the local Wi-Fi network. Apple also upgraded the MacBook Air models from Bluetooth 5.0 to 5.3, providing [6]better connectivity, security, and audio. As with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3 has slowly been making its way into Apple's products, and it's good to see the MacBook Air lineup move on from the older version. Other Specs Physically, the new M3 MacBook Air models are identical to the previous M2 MacBook Air models, featuring a slightly squared-off design instead of the tapered approach in the M1 13-inch MacBook Air. They still feature 13.6-inch (2560-by-1664 native resolution) and 15.3-inch (2880-by-1864 native resolution) Liquid Retina displays, and battery life of up to 18 theoretical hours remains unchanged. Both MacBook Air models have a MagSafe 3 charging port, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports with support for charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3, and USB 4. If you want more ports, you'll need to use a hub or move to the MacBook Pro line. Purchasing Decisions These new MacBook Air models are compelling for anyone buying their first MacBook Air, but do they provide sufficient improvements to prompt an upgrade? It all depends on where you're coming from. * If budget is paramount, you can save a little money by purchasing the M2 MacBook Air for as little as $999, though adding memory or storage pushes you into a range similar to the M3 models. * If you've held onto an Intel-based Mac this long and are considering a MacBook Air, upgrade immediately to an M3 MacBook Air. The performance jump from any Intel-based Mac will knock your socks off, and the M3 models will enjoy a longer lifespan than their M2 counterparts. * For those'like me'with an M1 MacBook Air, the main reason to upgrade is if you need more performance than the M1 chip can provide. The M3 benchmarks show it to be [7]25% to 35% faster than the M1, and Apple cites [8]more specific examples with larger gains. But if performance is a concern, also consider an M3 Pro model of the MacBook Pro. * If you have an M2 MacBook Air, the M3's [9]performance gains of 10% to 20% probably aren't worth upgrading. * Regardless of what you have now, if you want to drive two external displays from a laptop, the M3 MacBook Air models are a great buy. They're much cheaper than the M3 Pro MacBook Pro models you'd otherwise need'they start at $1999 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro and $2599 for the 16-inch model. Are you planning to buy one of these new MacBook Air models? References 1. https://tidbits.com/2023/11/01/m3-chip-family-boosts-performance-for-macbook-pros-and-24-inch-imac/ 2. https://www.apple.com/macbook-air/ 3. https://www.apple.com/macbook-air/specs/ 4. https://www.wired.com/story/what-is-wi-fi-6e/ 5. https://www.wired.com/story/what-is-wi-fi-7/ 6. https://history-computer.com/bluetooth-5-3-vs-bluetooth-5-0/ 7. https://nanoreview.net/en/cpu-compare/apple-m3-vs-apple-m1 8. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/03/apple-unveils-the-new-13-and-15-inch-macbook-air-with-the-powerful-m3-chip/ 9. https://nanoreview.net/en/cpu-compare/apple-m3-vs-apple-m2 .