Still, the new M4 MacBook Air is impressively powerful. I put it through GeekBench's CPU test and got great results: a 3,778 single-core score, and a 14,992 multi-core score. That's considerably faster than any earlier Mac when it comes to single-core operation, and roughly on par with an M2 Max when it comes to multi-core operation.

The new MacBook Air M4 offers a more powerful chip, sharper 12MP camera and up to 18 hours of battery life for $100 less than the MacBook Air M3.

The screen on the 15-inch MacBook Air M4 is a 15.3-inch Liquid Retina Display. That gives you a 2880x1864 pixel resolution (the 13-inch is 13.6-inch at 2560x1664 pixels) and 500 nits of brightness. This is one area where the Air lacks compared to the MacBook Pro – which gives you up to 1600 nits peak HDR brightness and 1000 nits sustained.