As expected, Apple has just announced its latest MacBook Air which comes in both 13″ and 15″ sizes. The new MacBook Air 13 and 15 for 2024 get bumped up from M2 to a more powerful M3 chip along with a couple of notable upgrades. What’s interesting is despite Malaysia’s unfavourable currency exchange rate against the US Dollar, the MacBook Air M3 still manages to get a lower starting price of just RM5,199 compared to the M2 version at the time of launch.
The M3-powered MacBook Air 13 and 15 have appeared on the Malaysian Apple online store but it isn’t available yet. However, they have revealed the official Malaysian pricing for its preset models.
MacBook Air 13 M3 Malaysia Pricing
Here’s the official pricing for the M3-powered MacBook Air with a 13.6″ Liquid Retina display in Malaysia:
- MacBook Air 13 (M3 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU) with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD – RM5,199
- MacBook Air 13 (M3 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU) with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD – RM5,999
- MacBook Air 13 (M3 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU) with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD – RM6,799
MacBook Air 15 M3 Malaysia Pricing
If you need a larger screen, the M3-powered MacBook Air with a 15.3″ Liquid Retina screen is priced as follows in Malaysia:
- MacBook Air 15 (M3 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU) with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD – RM6,199
- MacBook Air 15 (M3 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU) with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD – RM6,999
- MacBook Air 15 (M3 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU) with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD – RM7,799
What’s new with the MacBook Air 2024 powered by M3?
With the new M3 chip, the latest MacBook Air provides more performance and Apple claims that it is 1.6x faster than the M1-powered MacBook Air. It doesn’t sound a lot considering the M2-powered MacBook Air is 1.4x faster than the M1-powered version. Across the board, the new MacBook Air models get an M3 chip with an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, except for the base MacBook Air 13 which only comes with an 8-core GPU. Similar to the last generation, you can customise your MacBook Air with up to 24GB of unified memory and up to 2TB of storage. The M3-powered MacBook Air still offers up to 18 hours of battery.
The dimensions and screen remain unchanged as you still get a 13.6″ (2560×1664) display for the 13″ version and a 15.3″ (2880×1864) display for the 15″ unit. Both Liquid Retina displays boast up to 500 nits of brightness and come with True Tone technology.
Another upgrade is that the new M3-powered MacBook Air now supports up to two external displays, but only with the lid closed. As a comparison, the previous generation M2-powered MacBook Air only supports a single external display.
On top of that, WiFi connectivity has been upgraded to support WiFi 6E. According to Apple, WiFi 6E provides 2x faster speeds than WiFi 6, but of course, provided that you have a faster internet connection and a WiFi 6E router.
Similar to before, the MacBook Air M3 will be available in four colours – midnight, starlight, space grey and silver. The M2-powered Macbook Air 15 has been discontinued. However, Apple is still keeping the 13″ version around as their new “entry-level” MacBook Air, replacing the older M1-powered MacBook Air. The 13″ MacBook Air with M2 has been slashed from RM5,199 to RM4,799. It is also offered under its Education programme for RM4,329.
Related reading
- I replaced my MacBook Air M2 with a MacBook Pro, and M3 Pro isn’t even the best part
- MacBook Pro M2 Max Malaysia video editing test: Can it replace my Mac Studio?
- I replaced my Windows laptop with an M2 MacBook Air, then installed Windows 11 on it
- Apple’s M2-powered MacBook Air 13 gets a price cut of up to RM900
