Torque king in the Air

Apple's speedy M4 chip has made its way into the entry-level MacBook... and there are other improvements too, as well as a lower starting price

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The iPad Pro, iMac and MacBook Pro have already had the M4 treatment, so it's time for Apple's everyday laptop to get the firm's latest top-end hardware.

New chip aside, this year's Air is very similar to the M2 version from 2022, which was the first to introduce the squared-off design to match the MacBook Pro. When the M3 upgrade came around last year, Apple kept the M2 on sale as a cheaper option; now it's discontinued both the M2 and M3. Outraged? Don't be: it's actually dropped the starting price to ₹99,900.

Unlike the Pro, the Air is only available with the 'basic' M4 processor: there's no M4 Pro or M4 Max option. The only variable in processing terms is that the very cheapest version (13in with 256GB storage) has 8-core graphics rather than 10-core. That one also gets, weirdly, a 30W power adapter rather than a 35W one.