Latest news with #ZenbookA14
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Time of India
Asus Zenbook A14 Review: Sleek, Powerful and Lightweight
Looking for a powerful, portable, and stylish ultrabook? Meet the Asus Zenbook A14! In this video, we take a deep dive into this sleek laptop that combines high-end performance with a lightweight design, making it perfect for professionals, students, and creatives on the go. From the stunning OLED display to its impressive battery life, we'll show you why the Zenbook A14 is a top contender in the ultrabook category. Read More
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Business Standard
01-05-2025
- Business Standard
Asus Zenbook A14 (Snapdragon X) review: A sleek AI PC with stellar battery
Asus recently launched the Zenbook A14 in India, a sleek and lightweight laptop powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon X platform. Being a Copilot Plus PC, the laptop combines AI-first features with a focus on all-day battery life and ultra-portability. But beyond its stylish exterior and forward-looking chipset, how well does it perform in real-world use? And does it manage to balance usability, and performance for everyday users? Let's find out. Design The Asus Zenbook A14 stands out for its lightweight and compact build. The Zabriskie Beige colourway, combined with a matte stone-like texture, gives it a distinctly premium look and feel. It's also slim and lightweight, thanks to Asus' proprietary 'Ceraluminum' chassis — a blend of ceramic and aluminium reinforced with magnesium. According to Asus, this material makes the chassis 30 per cent lighter while being up to three times stronger than standard aluminium. After over a month of daily use, the durability holds up — not even a faint scratch has shown up on the body. Asus also includes a vegan leather sleeve in the box, which not only complements the design but also enhances portability — already one of this device's strongest suits. That said, the matte texture and light beige finish tend to attract smudges and dirt quite easily, necessitating frequent wiping. Another minor drawback is the bottom rubber grips: although they run across the base for better traction, the laptop occasionally slides around on smoother surfaces. Lastly, the hinge design doesn't allow the lid to open a full 180 degrees, which can be slightly inconvenient, especially if you're using an external monitor but still need access to the laptop's keyboard. Display and audio Also Read The display is another strength of the Asus Zenbook A14. It features a 14-inch OLED panel with a 1920 x 1200 resolution, which is sharp enough for reading text and viewing content in detail. The OLED screen delivers excellent contrast and deep blacks, making it well-suited for both productivity and media consumption. Colour accuracy holds up well across different types of content, and the claimed peak brightness of 600 nits is reflected in real-world use. The display remains bright and legible in most indoor lighting conditions and holds up reasonably well outdoors too. That said, the refresh rate is capped at 60Hz, which might feel like a step down if you're used to faster panels. Another minor drawback is the plastic bezel around the screen. While it does not look cheap, it detracts from the overall fit and finish of the device. The built-in, bottom firing, dual speakers on the Asus A14 deliver fairly typical laptop audio—serviceable, but not particularly impressive. The output is fine for casual streaming, video calls, and watching YouTube or Netflix, but it lacks the depth and clarity needed for music or dialogue-heavy movies. For anything beyond basic use, you'll likely want to plug in headphones or connect an external speaker. Features and ports The 1080p webcam delivers a relatively sharp image, though colours tend to be oversaturated. It does include an IR sensor for Windows Hello facial recognition, which is convenient for quick logins. However, there's no fingerprint scanner, so facial recognition remains the sole biometric option. Despite the slim profile, the Zenbook A14 includes a practical selection of ports. You get one USB-A port, two USB4 Type-C ports, an HDMI 2.1 output, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Charging via USB-C adds flexibility, especially for users who prefer a single charger for multiple devices. Keyboard and Touchpad Typing on the Asus Zenbook A14 is comfortable despite the absence of a dedicated number pad. The keys are well spaced and provide a firm response, though key travel is on the shallow side. The sturdy keyboard deck prevents flex, which helps maintain a snappy feel when typing. The touchpad is generously sized and supports smart gesture controls along the edges. These can be used to adjust brightness, volume, or scrub through video playback. While I mostly relied on the function keys—especially since the A14 includes dedicated ones for brightness and volume—I did find the touchpad's video scrubbing gestures accurate and occasionally useful. Performance The Asus Zenbook A14 is among the first laptops to feature Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X processor. While it handles general tasks smoothly, its performance lags behind some of the more powerful Copilot Plus PCs powered by Snapdragon X Plus or Elite chips. That said, the Zenbook A14 comes with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD, which keeps everyday performance fairly solid. In day-to-day use, it managed typical workloads with ease, but I did notice occasional slowdowns during heavier multitasking—particularly when juggling multiple Chrome tabs alongside video playback. Attempting to run demanding games like The Witcher 3 led to immediate crashes, underlining the ongoing compatibility limitations of Windows on ARM. On the positive side, thermal performance is impressive. The laptop stayed cool even under pressure, with no noticeable heating during extended use. Software and AI The Asus Zenbook A14 is built on Microsoft's Copilot Plus AI PC platform, bringing a suite of AI-powered features that are exclusive to this new category of Windows devices. Some of the standout capabilities include Studio Effects for enhancing video calls, Cocreate and Restyle tools in Paint and Photos for creative tasks, and live captions that translate spoken content from audio or video into English subtitles. While many of these AI tools have been around in some form, a few new ones have recently rolled out. These include Super Resolution in Photos, which lets you upscale low-resolution images, and an improved Windows search that allows you to find local files using natural language phrases. Some features, like Windows Recall, are still on the way, but what's currently available already adds meaningful functionality. Asus also brings its own layer of AI enhancements. Notable among them is AI Noise Cancelling, which filters out background sounds during conference calls. This feature comes with different modes like Basic, Single Presenter, and Multi-Presenter, allowing it to adapt to different meeting scenarios. Battery Life Battery life is one of the Zenbook A14's biggest strengths. It packs a 70Wh battery and charges via a 65W USB-C adapter. In my daily usage—regular split-screen multitasking, occasional video playback, and web browsing—the laptop comfortably lasted around 18 hours on a single charge. Asus seems to have done a good job with power optimisation as well, with the laptop managing to run for nearly six hours even with just 25 per cent battery remaining. Verdict The Asus Zenbook A14 ticks most of the right boxes for anyone looking for a reliable and highly portable laptop for everyday use without compromising on efficiency. At Rs 99,990 for the Snapdragon X-powered model, it delivers solid build quality, premium design, an enjoyable typing experience, and excellent battery life. However, there are some compromises such as the lack of a fingerprint sensor, display locked at 60Hz refresh rate, and underwhelming speakers. Performance also has its limits, especially if you push it with demanding workloads or legacy software.
Time of India
22-04-2025
- Time of India
Asus Zenbook A14 review: Premium design meets performance in a thin package
Raiting: 3.5/5 Asus continues to refine its Zenbook series, bringing sleek design and powerful performance in a compact form factor. The Zenbook A14 is no exception, catering to users who need a lightweight yet capable laptop for productivity, media consumption, and light gaming. Priced at Rs 1,29,990, the Asus Zenbook A14 is targeted at professionals, students, and creatives. This laptop promises a premium experience with a high-resolution OLED display, robust internals, and long battery life. Wondering how this compact laptop performs? Read our complete review of the Asus Zenbook A14. Design The Asus Zenbook A14 stays true to the Zenbook legacy with its minimalist and premium aesthetic. The sleek Ceraaluminum chassis (mix of aluminum and ceramic materials) not only looks stylish but also feels durable. At just 1.3 kg, it's ultra-portable, making it ideal for professionals and students who need to work on the go. The matte finish resists fingerprints, ensuring it maintains a clean look even with frequent handling. Despite its slim profile, Asus has managed to include a respectable set of ports, including USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, and a microSD card slot, catering to diverse connectivity needs. The laptop is equipped with a ErgoLift hinge that subtly raises the keyboard for better typing ergonomics. The design also helps improve airflow to regulate the laptop's temperature. The keyboard on the Zenbook A14 are well-spaced keys with decent travel distance, offering a comfortable typing experience. Further, the keyboard is backlit, making it convenient for late-night work sessions. The feedback is tactile enough for long typing sessions, though users accustomed to mechanical keyboards may find it a tad soft. The trackpad is generously sized and supports Windows Precision drivers, ensuring smooth navigation with accurate gestures. Asus integrates its NumberPad 2.0, transforming the touchpad into a numeric keypad for quick data entry—a useful addition for professionals working with spreadsheets. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo Display Display is one of the standout features of the Zenbook A14. The Asus ZenBook A14 sports a 14-inch FHD OLED display with 1920x1200 pixel resolution. The display comes with 16:10 aspect ratio and 90% screen-to-body ratio. With 100% DCI-P3 color accuracy. The screen ensures life-like color reproduction, making it ideal for content creators, designers, and professionals who demand precision in their visuals. The thin bezels contribute to an immersive viewing experience, enhancing productivity by maximizing screen real estate. The OLED technology provides true blacks and higher contrast ratios, significantly improving the depth and richness of images compared to traditional LCD panels. Whether watching high-resolution videos, editing photos, or working on text-heavy documents, the display offers superior sharpness and reduced eye strain with its anti-glare coating and low blue light emission. The addition of HDR support, including VESA DisplayHDR certification, ensures dynamic visuals with striking highlights and improved shadow details. Despite its 60Hz refresh rate, which may not cater to high-frame-rate gaming, the display is optimised for smooth animations and crisp text rendering. Asus has also incorporated glare-free technology, reducing reflections and improving visibility in bright environments. This makes the ZenBook A14's display not only a treat for casual entertainment but also a reliable tool for professional work, where colour accuracy and visual clarity matter most. Performance and battery Asus ZenBook A14 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor paired with 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD space. The Snapdragon chipset of the Asus laptop ensures seamless multitasking, handling productivity applications, light creative work, and entertainment without hiccups. With up to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, switching between multiple tasks—from browsing to video editing—is fluid and lag-free. The inclusion of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage guarantees swift boot-up times and rapid file access, further boosting efficiency. The Qualcomm Adreno X1-45 graphics provide smooth visuals, making the laptop capable of handling moderate creative workloads, such as photo editing, and even casual gaming. Whether running Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, or streaming high-resolution content, users experience responsiveness without delays. The advanced cooling system, supported by Asus' precision hinge design, maintains optimal temperatures, preventing thermal throttling during heavy usage. Despite its compact form factor, the ZenBook A14 efficiently balances power with energy efficiency, ensuring reliable day-to-day operation. While high-end gaming and intensive video rendering may require a more robust system, this ultrabook excels in productivity-driven tasks, offering speed, reliability, and smooth user experience without compromising on the portability. The Asus ZenBook A14 delivers a smooth and refined software experience, optimising productivity and efficiency through Windows 11 and Asus' custom enhancements. Preloaded with Windows 11 Home, the laptop benefits from advanced multitasking capabilities, including Snap Layouts, seamless virtual desktops, and deep integration with Microsoft 365 for enhanced workflow management. The system runs efficiently, thanks to well-optimised drivers that ensure stable performance across various applications, whether for business tasks, content creation, or entertainment. Asus has also incorporated proprietary utilities like MyASUS, which offers AI-powered noise cancellation for clearer calls, system diagnostics, and battery health optimisation. Additionally, Windows Hello facial recognition speeds up secure logins, further enhancing the device's usability. The ZenBook A14 takes advantage of Copilot+, Microsoft's AI-powered assistant designed to enhance productivity, creativity, and everyday tasks. Integrated directly into Windows 11, Copilot+ provides context-aware suggestions, real-time assistance, and smart automation, helping users streamline complex workflows. Whether summarising lengthy documents, generating creative content, or optimising settings for peak performance, Copilot+ serves as an intuitive digital assistant tailored for professionals and students. With AI-driven enhancements, search functionality becomes faster, voice commands improve accessibility, and tasks like organising files, editing text, or even coding become more efficient. Battery life on the Zenbook A14 is impressive. In our testing, the laptop managed to deliver nearly 12 hours on a single charge—sufficient for a full workday. Asus optimises battery efficiency with intelligent power management, allowing users to extend their usage further when needed. The 65W USB-C fast charging capability allows the laptop to reach 50% charge in just under 45 minutes, ensuring minimal downtime. With eco-conscious power settings, users can conserve battery life while maintaining productivity. Verdict Priced at Rs 1,29,990, Asus Zenbook A14 is a solid choice for those seeking a portable, stylish, and capable laptop. Its premium design, OLED display, strong performance, and impressive battery life make it ideal for students, professionals, and casual creators. While gaming and high-end creative tasks may require a more powerful alternative, the Zenbook A14 shines in everyday productivity, entertainment, and portability. If you're after an ultrabook that balances power with elegance, this is definitely worth considering.
Telegraph
14-04-2025
- Telegraph
Asus Zenbook A14 review: This Windows laptop is gunning for the MacBook Air 13
This article contains affiliate links. The products or services listed have been selected independently by journalists after hands-on testing or sourcing expert opinions. We may earn a commission when you click a link, buy a product or subscribe to a service. Our Rating: 9/10 We like: Light and compact Colourful OLED display All-day battery life We don't like: Unimpressive speakers 60Hz display Webcam could be better £1,099.99 Buy now Price at Asus What is the Asus Zenbook A14? In my view, the Asus Zenbook S16 is one of the most attractive and capable laptops currently on sale in the UK. It's also great value but of course, that's not the same as saying that it's affordable. In the Zenbook A14, Asus has attempted to distil the essence of the S16 into a laptop with a price that's closer to £1,000. Asus clearly had the latest M4 13.6-inch MacBook Air in its sights when it designed and priced the A14. In size, they are almost identical and the MacBook only has the edge in terms of pricing if you are prepared to put up with a small 256GB hard drive. Specify a basic M4 MacBook Air with the Zenbook A14's 1TB SSD and the price jumps from £999 up to £1,399. JUMP TO: How we test laptops I have been a technology journalist for over 15 years, testing everything from laptops and electric cars to tablets and audio systems. Over the years, I've used and tested devices running all of the major operating systems, settling these days with Windows, Linux and Android. When I test laptops here at the Telegraph, I focus on five testing metrics: design and usability, keyboard and touchpad, display and audio, performance and configurations and battery life. However, I don't just look at scores on a spreadsheet. I use the laptops I'm testing as my primary device, which in my case means a lot of typing, using them on the go, general web browsing, emails and other basic productivity, as well as gaming – the latter especially if the laptop has a graphics card. This gives me a good idea of what the laptop is capable of, how long the battery lasts and how it can handle intense tasks. Why you can trust Telegraph Recommended Our tech experts continuously conduct in-depth, independent, real-world tests, scoring devices against pre-set testing metrics and industry benchmarks, so we can deliver definitive and comprehensive buying advice. Telegraph Recommended reviews are never shared with product manufacturers before publication, we don't accept payment in exchange for positive reviews, nor do we allow brands to pay for placement in our articles. Visit our Who We Are page to learn more. Design and usability Score: 8/10 The Zenbook A14 is impressively light and compact, even for a 14-inch laptop. At 860g, it makes the 1.24Kg MacBook Air feel almost leaden. It measures 311 x 214 x 13mm, which makes it a similar size to the Apple machine. Yet despite the low weight, the A14 doesn't feel flimsy or bendy. The body is made from Asus' bespoke 'Ceraluminium' material like the Zenbook S16, though it lacks the slightly matte-effect finish and chrome pinstriping that makes the more expensive machine such a design classic. There are two colours available: Zabriskie Beige and Iceland Gray. I wouldn't dare say that the A14 is an ugly machine but it's obviously been designed to be just a little less pretty than than the S16. The good news is that the A14's shell is equally good at keeping fingerprints at bay and it still meets the US MIL-STD 810H military-grade standard for resistance to particle ingress, shock and extreme temperatures. For a skinny compact laptop, the A14 has a decent range of ports with two USB-C 4.0 data/video sockets on the left, along with an HDMI 2.1 video output and a 3.5mm audio jack. On the right, you'll find a solitary 10Gbps USB-A port. Unlike the MacBook Air, which has two Type-C ports and a MagSafe charge port, you'll need to use one of the A14's Type-C ports to connect the 65W power supply. Wireless communications are handled by a Qualcomm 6900 card that supports 6GHz Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. Removing the base panel from the A14 is a straightforward job but there's little point because once inside, all you can do is swap out the battery and the 2280 M.2 SSD. Speaking of the SSD, the 1TB Crucial card in the A14 proved to be nippy, recording impressive sequential read and write speeds of 4,700MB/s and 2,250MB/s respectively. Keyboard and touchpad Score: 9/10 I can't imagine anyone finding fault with the A14's keyboard. The slightly rubberised keys are pleasant to the touch and their action is nigh on perfect, the 1.3mm of travel ending in a precise but well-cushioned end-stop. The white-on-grey keycap graphics are easy to read with or without the three-position white backlight turned on. The keyboard deck is unusually solid for a slim and compact laptop, with even hard presses on the central keys only causing a small amount of movement in the keyboard base. At 130 x 80mm, the touchpad is on the larger side for a 14-inch laptop and it feels smooth. The mechanical click-action that works across the lower 80 per cent of the pad is perfectly calibrated and also quiet. You can use it in a library with no fear of getting disapproving looks from other patrons. Early samples of the A14 were criticised for having a webcam that misbehaved when a strong light source was in shot, but Asus seems to have fixed the problem because it wasn't something I could replicate. Generally speaking, the A14's 1080p camera does a decent job. Video looks sharp and colourful even in less-than-ideal lighting conditions and there is support for Windows Hello facial security along with the usual raft of Windows Studio Effects image enhancements. That said, the 1440p webcams that Acer currently fits to some of its compact laptops and the 12MP Center Stage camera Apple uses on the MacBook Air are better. Display and audio Score: 8/10 The Zenbook A14's 14-inch display is a detuned version of what you'll find on the S14, so you have to make do with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 rather than 2.8K, a 60Hz refresh rate rather than 120Hz and no touch interface. Otherwise, it's every bit as good as the S14. The difference in resolution is hard to detect in everyday use unless you have your nose pressed right up against the screen or have the eyesight of an eagle. The drop in pixel density from the Zenbook S4's 237dpi and MacBook Air's 224dpi to the A14's 161dpi sounds more precipitous than it looks. Peak brightness is a good 395 nits and that jumps to 610 nits when displaying HDR (High Dynamic Range) content. Asus makes some of the most colour-accurate displays on the market and the A14 is no exception, with Delta E variances of 0.63 versus the DCI-P3 profile and 0.89 against sRGB. Here, a number less than 1 indicates excellent levels of colour performance. The screen has a high-gloss finish that gives on-screen proceedings a sumptuous and limpid quality, though slightly at the expense of increased reflections, so I wouldn't describe it as ideal for use outdoors in direct sunlight. The speaker system is a basic stereo affair without the Harmon/Kardon branding of more expensive Zenbooks. There's plenty of volume on tap, but at higher volumes, the sound is overly brittle and forward. Performance and configurations Score: 7/10 The Zenbook A14 comes with two processor options; the 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100 and the 12-core X Elite X1E-78-100. With all else being equal, I'd suggest the everyday performance difference isn't worth the extra £200 the Elite machine will set you back. In the CineBench R24 rendering test, the A14 scored 704 points in multi-core and 95 in single-core. The M4 MacBook Air has the A14 handily beat in the single-core test, but when it comes to multi-core, there's not much in it: the Apple machine only enjoys a seven per cent advantage. Apple's M4 is the better choice when it comes to graphics work because the GPU in the X1-26-100 is simply less powerful. The A14 scored 9,610 in the Geekbench 6 OpenCL test, which is less than a third of what you can expect from an M4-powered MacBook Air. The dry numbers aside, the Zenbook A14 never feels anything less than quick and in 95 per cent of usage scenarios, you simply won't notice the performance giveaway to nominally more powerful machines like the M4 MacBook Air or Intel Core Ultra S2-powered Zenbook S14. Where you will notice the difference between the A14 and the MacBook Air is noise, since the latter is fanless and the former is not. Even when under severe stress, the A14's fans are not loud or intrusive, but it's not as deathly quiet as the MacBook Air. Battery life Score: 9/10 Qualcomm's Windows-on-ARM chipsets continue to impress with their balance between efficiency and performance. A full charge of the A14's 3-cell 70Wh battery kept the lights on for 19 hours and 10 minutes in our battery test. That's around four hours more than you'll get from a MacBook Air. This time last year, the MacBook Air was the acknowledged master of laptop battery life but how times have changed. Technical specifications The Zenbook A14's primary competition with regards to both internal specifications and price comes from Apple's corner. The new MacBook Air 13 (M4) is £100 less but this is only for the entry-level model with 256GB of storage. If you want to match the Zenbook's 512GB SSD, you'll have to pay an additional £200 £1,199). Should you buy the Asus Zenbook A14? The Asus Zenbook A14 is the closest thing to a Windows MacBook Air killer that I've seen. Compared to the MacBook, the A14 is better value once you've factored in a matching SSD, has a more colourful and larger albeit lower-resolution display, a better keyboard and more ports. It's also lighter and has better battery life. The MacBook counters this with more power, especially when it comes to graphics and a better camera and speakers. Picking between the two is difficult because it's not so much a damned close-run thing as a dead-heat. It simply comes down to whether you prefer using a Windows or Mac machine. Yes, if You want an ultralight laptop You want a highly accurate OLED display You want all-day battery life No, if You want a touchscreen You want a screen refresh rate higher than 60Hz You want a great rather than good webcam FAQs What is the price of the Asus Zenbook A14? The entry-level model with the 8-core Snapdragon X processor and 16GB of RAM is £1,099, while the version with the 12-core Snapdragon X-Elite processor and 32GB of RAM is £200 more at £1,299. The cheaper version is the one to go for because, chipset and memory aside, they are identical and the performance differences are minor. Is the Zenbook A14 better value than the MacBook Air? In its cheapest form, the MacBook Air is £100 less but that comes with a 256GB SSD. Doubling the storage capacity costs £200 and quadrupling it costs £400. An M4 MacBook Air with a 1TB SSD and 32GB of RAM will cost £1,799 compared to £1,299 for the equivalent Zenbook A14. What is the software compatibility for Windows-on-ARM? The vast majority of users needn't worry about the A14 being an ARM machine. The majority of popular software will run natively on ARM chipsets, or under Microsoft's Prism emulation tool. The Google Drive desktop sync tool was a notable holdout but even that is now available in ARM form. If you need to run a piece of unusually old or esoteric software, you may encounter issues, but most don't need to worry.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Yahoo
Apple MacBook Air M4 13-inch and 15-inch review: Minimal upgrades at a much better price
At the risk of repeating myself from Engadget's MacBook Air M1, M2 and M3 reviews: The M4-equipped MacBook Air is a nearly flawless ultraportable. Even better, it now starts at $999, which is $100 less than before. While I'd still like to see more ports and a faster screen refresh rate, the MacBook Air still remains heads and shoulders above the competition. And when companies try to one-up Apple, as ASUS did with its 2.2-pound Zenbook A14, it only proves how much better-designed Apple's hardware actually is. It's easy to take the MacBook Air for granted, since its design hasn't changed since the M2 model arrived in 2022. It's still a remarkable machine today, one that's fast, light and well-built. The only major downside is that there's a bit of a learning curve for Windows users jumping ship for the first time. But aside from that, the MacBook Air is a no-brainer purchase if you're looking for a new ultraportable. Apple 92 100 Expert Score MacBook Air M4 Once again, Apple's MacBook Air is the ideal ultraportable for most users. It's slightly faster, thanks to the M4 chip, and also a bit cheaper with a new $999 starting price. Pros Fast performance Thin and light design Great keyboard Best-in-class touchpad Excellent battery life Cons Could use more ports Screen is only 60Hz $999 at Amazon Hardware Once again, both the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models feel impressively thin (measuring 0.44 inches thick) and light, weighing in at 2.7 pounds and 3.2 pounds, respectively. Last year, I noted "Its unibody aluminum case feels as smooth a river stone yet as sturdy as a boulder. It's a computer I simply love to touch." All of that remains true with the M4 models. Advertisement In fact, it's even more impressive that Apple holds such a commanding design lead when competitors have had a chance to catch up. As much as we like the Surface Laptop, XPS 13 and ASUS' Zenbook S14, Apple still maintains a level of polish that PC makers can't quite match. The MacBook Air's case feels more luxurious than the rest, its keyboard is a dream to type on and it has one of the best trackpads around. (And before you go calling me an Apple fanboy, I'm still primarily a Windows desktop user.) Apple MacBook Air M4 Apple's M4 chip — which sports a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine (or what you'd call an NPU in a PC) — is the main upgrade with these new MacBook Airs. It's also worth noting that the base $999 13-inch model has a slightly slower 8-core GPU, which will slightly hamper gaming and media creation performance. Aside from a new Sky Blue option, there aren't any physical design changes. Apple also upgraded the webcam to a new 12-megapixel Center Stage shooter, which could be particularly helpful if you want to show off the contents of your desk. (More on that later.) The 13-inch MacBook Air features a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina Display, which practically feels like a 14-inch screen, while the larger model has a 15.3-inch display. They're still limited to 60Hz — an annoyance since plenty of PC ultraportables are shipping with faster and smoother screens — but they're impressive displays nevertheless, with support for the P3 wide color gamut and 1 billion colors. Both screens can also reach up to 500 nits of brightness, which is enough to be usable on a sunny day. Apple MacBook Air M4 In use: Fast and light Both the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Airs handled my basic workflow without a sweat: juggling browsers with a ton of open tabs, Slack, Spotify, messaging apps and the Pixelmator photo editor. But that was no surprise, as the previous models were similarly zippy. Still, after testing the sluggish Zenbook A14 recently, it felt refreshing to be using laptops that seemed eager to get to work. Advertisement I couldn't actually feel a difference with the jump to the M4 chip, but according to the Geekbench 6 benchmark, it's 19.5 percent faster than the M3 for single-threaded tasks, and 21 percent faster for multi-threaded tasks. That's a typical incremental jump for CPU improvements, so I won't knock Apple too much there. The M4's GPU gains were far less impressive, scoring just 6 percent higher than the M3 in the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme benchmark and 16.3 percent better in the Geekbench GPU test. Geekbench 6 CPU Geekbench 6 GPU Cinebench 2024 Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4, 2025) 3,784/14,745 36,273 172/660 GPU: 3,465 Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4, 2025) 3,874/14,873 36,131 171/748 GPU: 3897 Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M3, 2024) 3,190/12,102 30,561 N/A Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024) 3,797/14,571 37,869 172/979 GPU: 3770 Surface Laptop 7 (Snapdragon X Elite) 2,797/14,400 19,963 123/969 GPU N/A You likely won't be doing much serious creative work on the MacBook Air, especially since there's no fan to cool things down. But you can still squeeze out a bit of performance in a pinch. I was able to transcode a 4K clip to 1080p in 27 seconds using the M4's CPU in Handbrake, while using the GPU took just 17 seconds. In comparison, the Dell XPS 13 Copilot+ system took 32 seconds with its CPU and 24 seconds with its GPU. The graphically intense Lies of P ran at a smooth 60 fps in 1080p with high settings. That was also true of the M3 MacBook Air, but this time around the performance seemed a bit more consistent. While I'd never recommend buying a MacBook Air with gaming in mind, it's nice that it can handle a bit of playtime, at least. While jumping between the 13-inch and 15-inch models, I found a lot to like about them both. The smaller one is definitely easier to travel with, but I also loved the immersive screen on the 15-inch. Ultimately, choosing between them comes down to what's most important to you. Advertisement Similarly, the leap to a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera isn't exactly Earth-shattering, but I appreciated having a slightly better picture during video calls. I typically turn off the actual Center Stage feature on Macs, but I'm sure some will appreciate its ability to track you around a room. The new camera also supports Desk View, which projects a slightly skewed view of the area directly in front of the MacBook Air. As for battery life, both MacBook Air models lasted for more than 18 hours while playing an HD video. The 13-inch Air lasted for 18 hours and 15 minutes, while the 15-inch notebook went for 18 hours and 23 minutes. Apple MacBook Air M4 MagSafe and USB-C ports How can Apple improve the MacBook Air? As much as I love the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air, there are still plenty of ways Apple can refine them down the line. As I mentioned above, it'd be great to have higher refresh rate displays, which makes scrolling through documents far easier on your eyes. And while I don't need Apple to go all-out with ports, it'd be nice to have at least one USB-C connection on the right side of the Air to allow for easier charging. Right now, you're stuck with a MagSafe charging port and two USB-C connections on the left side. Of course, I don't really expect Apple to actually deliver those upgrades anytime soon. I'd bet the company would nudge more demanding users to the $1,599 14-inch MacBook Pro, which has a ton of ports and a high refresh rate ProMotion screen. Still, a geek can dream. Apple MacBook Air M4 keyboard and touchpad Advertisement Should you buy the M4 MacBook Air? If you can't tell by now, I think the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air are the ideal ultraportables for most people. So sure, if you're in the market for a sleek laptop, they're worth considering. And if you're a Windows user who's hesitant to make the jump, I'd recommend trying an Air for a while. It's not that hard to learn the basics of macOS, and if you're not satisfied you can always return it (just be sure to double-check retailer return policies). While I'd bet most users would be fine with the base $999 13-inch MacBook Air with 256GB of storage, it may be worth jumping up to the $1,199 model with a 10-core GPU and 512GB SSD if you plan to do light media work. Or just jump straight to the $1,199 15-inch model, which comes with a 10-core GPU. As usual, I'd also recommend avoiding paying Apple's absurd upgrade fees for components. If you're considering spending $400 more for 32GB of RAM, you should probably be considering a MacBook Pro instead. If you're looking to save some cash, several retailers are still selling the M2 MacBook Air at a steep discount of $700. Even though it's an older chip, that laptop could still serve most users well for several years (just make sure you're getting 16GB of RAM). Apple MacBook Air M4 Wrap-up Once again, the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air are basically everything we want from ultraportable notebooks. They're zippy, wonderfully light and can last well beyond a full day of work. While the M4 chip isn't a transformative upgrade, it helps Apple keep pace with evolving PC notebook chips. And now that the MacBook Air starts at $999, even Windows users should consider making the jump.
