Is the new M3 MacBook Air just another laptop? Well, I’ve been using it for the whole month, and if you want to see a synthetic benchmark test or a thermal throttling test, this is NOT the video for you to watch because I’m not going to be doing that. Yeap, because I’ll be talking about a real user experience, and trust me, it is better than you think!

Design & Build

So the experience all starts from the outside. Apple has decided to keep things looking the same as before because this classic design is hard to beat. So much so that other laptops are slowly following or have been following the same exact design. 

And you know what? I’m with them because this particular design has stood the test of time and has been very premium and has a very beautiful slim package.

But the big news here is the Midnight finish because the new anodization seal is a significant improvement in reducing fingerprints compared to the previous Midnight finish on the M2 MacBook Air. 

But remember, the keyword here is REDUCE, so don’t expect it to be totally fingerprint-free, as darker colors tend to attract fingerprints in laptops in general.

Then, of course, this 13-inch model is incredibly portable and easy to carry around. So much so that I’ve been using this laptop on my lap, the way how laptops are supposed to be used. 

Display

So smaller size obviously means a smaller display but don’t let the smaller screen shy you away because coming from a frequent user of the 15-inch MacBook Air, my initial prediction was I was not going to be used to the size of the screen since it’s 15-inch to 13-inch, so that was quite a difference.

But the good news is that the moment you carry around this laptop, your brain already sends you a signal that you would expect a smaller size screen. And because of how thin the screen is, with the viewing area almost edge to edge, I felt as though I was using an iPad with macOS on it, which is still on my wish list for an iPad. 

But it has a similar great brightness as the 15-inch variant at 500 nits, and the color accuracy for video consumption, video editing, and some photo editing was really good. 

However, you will feel the difference when it comes to spreadsheets, as you will notice the smaller screen real estate compared to the 15-inch variant.

But then again, if you need an additional screen, you can always use the iPad as a Sidecar display or connect it up to two external displays using the laptop closed.

This is because if you want to use the laptop screen and then use another external display, you can only connect up to a single external display, so keep that in mind. 

Audio

So one area that you would definitely tell a difference is the speakers on this 13-inch variant, as it comes with a four-speaker system instead of six on the 15-inch variant. And the largest sibling of the 15-inch also has force-cancelling woofers as well. 

So if sound quality is your utmost importance, then you should go with the 15-inch variant instead. But the good news is that the support for Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos is present on this 13-inch, and the quality of the microphone is also the same.

Performance

As for the laptop’s performance, just for context, I’ll put the exact specs variant that I have for you to get an idea of which configuration that I’m using. 

And since I’ve already spoken about how fast the M3 chip is in my review of the M3 iMac, it was the same over here like how my experience was on Final Cut Pro editing on 6K resolution files, opening multiple browser tabs, and more. So do watch that if you haven’t done so because this is probably the only time that I go into the numbers.

In a nutshell, this new 3nm chipset or 3-nanometer chipset on the M3 chips has a 35% faster CPU than the previous M1 MacBook Air and whooping 65% faster graphic performance than the M1 chip. So if you’re coming from the previous M1 chip to this M3 chip, it is a huge yes. But if you’re using the M2 Chip, it’s probably best for you to wait for a while. 

But you know what, one thing that I was eager to test out is the gaming performance of this laptop since Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 is coming on the Mac and I’ve got a beta version of that, which we will dive into next.

Gaming

So let’s go into the gaming performance. Starting off with Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2, the experience was super smooth at the highest settings and 60fps. Despite being fast-paced and having more flashy animations compared to Genshin Impact, the performance was super smooth without any lag or stuttering, even when I was playing without the charger being plugged in. 

And it’s lovely to know that the game is finally coming soon to the Mac and hopefully Genshin Impact will be coming soon too, to test the Mac’s potential even further.

Next, I was playing Hades. It worked extremely well with the default resolution and there were no battery drain issues. But it did get a tiny bit warm about 15 minutes in. There were no lags at all and the game worked well without plugging in the charger as well. 

Then the third game that I tried was Baldur’s Gate 3, and it was truly amazing to know that it ran superbly with a resolution of 1710 x 1068 with a depth of field of Gaussian and bloom turned on. 

However, there were times when it was a little slower than usual, especially on heavy battles. But when I lowered the resolution just a notch, it was smooth sailing all the way. So this was also a little warm after 15 minutes and it is to be expected since this is a AAA game, but it’s great to know that you can have a casual gaming break while working, probably like a side quest during your lunch break. 

So yeah, who would have thought that you could game so much on a MacBook Air right?

Battery Life

Battery life is still a standout feature over here because it’s one of the reasons why this is the world’s best-selling laptop. 

Now, before I go into the battery test on this laptop, I have to give HUGE credit to the idle time on this MacBook Air because it’s been a crazy busy month with us moving studios and all, so after I unbox this laptop, I used it for a bit and I left it untouched on my table for three whole days, and it didn’t lose a single percentage of battery! 

Now, what’s interesting is that even though it has a smaller watt-hour battery, the battery life was extremely close to the average that was getting on the 15-inch version where it was averaging close to 11 to 13 hours and sometimes even more of watching videos and doing some regular social media, spreadsheet, or script work. 

So yes, the battery life on this? CANTIK! (Nice) 

And this is surely one of the main reasons why you should consider getting this laptop! 

Conclusion

So after using the laptop for a month, I am very impressed because it’s not about the big changes but refining what is already working and making everything very well balanced.

The performance is definitely better, battery life is amazing, portability is second to none, and it is the most affordable way for you to get the Mac. 

And speaking of experience, if you want to know which variant that you should get, check out my video review of the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air over here: https://youtu.be/V6FubKITJdQ

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