MacBook Air gets surprise AI upgrade with more RAM
While it's not the M4, Apple did upgrade the base model of the MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM
💻 Apple gave the MacBook Air a surprise upgrade just in time for Apple Intelligence
🤖 The base model of the Air now comes with 16GB of RAM
💨 This will help AI features and your workflow run more efficiently
💰 The price isn’t going up; the M2 still starts at $999, and the M3 starts at $1,099
Apple has been unveiling new Macs left and right (like the iMac M4 and Mac Mini M4) during its week of announcements, and today it was time for the M4 MacBook Pro to take the spotlight. But hidden in Apple’s press release announcing the new laptop was a small tidbit about the MacBook Air, and it’s a much bigger deal than the company has let on: it now comes with 16GB of RAM by default, which instantly makes it a better value than ever before.
For context, the base MacBook Air has shipped with 8GB of RAM for years. As tech reporters, we’re obligated to tell you that sometimes, 8GB isn’t enough, especially if you’re doing anything more than basic web browsing. And while it would’ve been nice to see this change sooner, the Apple Intelligence era has begun, which means Apple needs to equip its devices with more RAM to handle the load, and that’s what happened here.
To help Apple Intelligence run more efficiently in macOS Sequoia on the MacBook Air, Apple has doubled the amount of RAM in the base model. This means you now get 16GB of RAM if you buy the $1,099 M3 Air or the $999 M2 Air, which is the best news of it all. Suddenly, the cheapest MacBook Air you can get is an even better value and ready for an AI future.
Of course, those with older MacBook Airs won’t need to worry about AI support. Every MacBook Air dating back to the M1 model from 2020 is supported, so you’ll get to take advantage of features like writing tools, notification summaries, and an improved Siri experience. But if you want even better performance, you’ll have that option at the same price as before.
What about the M4 MacBook Air?
While the RAM upgrade is nice to see, many are curious why the MacBook Air didn’t get the same M4 upgrade as the rest of the lineup. According to reports, the Air isn’t expected to get a chip update until early 2025. It’s unclear why Apple is holding off from adding the new processor to its thin-and-light laptops, but we should find out more over the coming months.
The upgraded MacBook Air M2 and MacBook Air M3 are available for purchase today from $999 and $1,099, respectively.