Is the 15-inch MacBook Air M3 worth it over the 13-inch?

If you want a bigger screen and louder speakers for writing, spreadsheets and video calls, yes. The 13-inch is lighter and easier to carry, and both use the same M3 chip.

How does it compare with the 14-inch MacBook Pro?

The Air is thinner, lighter and silent, with a bigger screen for the money. The Pro has a brighter mini-LED display, a fan for sustained work and more ports.

How long does the battery last?

Apple rates it at up to 18 hours, and reviewers get through a full working day of browsing, email and documents. Heavy video work cuts that sharply.

Can it handle video editing?

It handles 4K timelines and photo editing well in short sessions. Long exports and heavy effects slow down because there is no fan, so sustained work suits the MacBook Pro better.

The laptop, a USB-C charging cable and a power adapter. It has two Thunderbolt ports and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

No. The M3 runs without active cooling, which keeps it silent but limits performance on long, heavy tasks.

Where is the Apple MacBook Air M3 15-inch cheapest?

At Macpro-la, for $884.00, 31% off, as of our latest check.

What do buyers say about the Apple MacBook Air M3 15-inch?

Rated 4.7 out of 5 from 1,100 ratings.

Where can I buy the Apple MacBook Air M3 15-inch?

14 stores we checked sell it, including Techable, Walmart, Quick Ship Electronics, Best Buy, BarcodesInc.

Apple MacBook Air M3 15-inch

Best price now

$884.00at Macpro-laChecked 4 h ago

Deal: 31% off at Macpro-la →

Compared across 14 stores. Prices are checked against each store and labelled with when.

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What reviewers say

4.7 / 51,100 ratings

Rated 4.7 out of 5 across about 1,100 ratings, the 15-inch Air is praised for its silence, battery life and big, sharp screen. Critics focus on the limited ports, the base storage and memory, and slowdown on sustained heavy tasks.

What people mention

Fanless designPraisedOwners say it stays completely silent in everyday use because it has no fan.
Battery lifePraisedReviewers report it lasting a full day of mixed work on one charge.
DisplayPraisedThe 15.3-inch screen is called sharp and bright, though dimmer than the MacBook Pro's.
PortsCriticisedTwo Thunderbolt ports are described as tight for monitors, drives and card readers.
Sustained performanceMixedShort bursts are fast, but long exports and renders slow down without active cooling.
Base storageCriticisedBuyers say the starting storage and memory fill quickly with photos, video and apps.

About the Apple MacBook Air M3 15-inch

The Apple MacBook Air M3 15-inch is a laptop powered by the Apple M3 chip, with a 10-core GPU, hardware-accelerated ray tracing and Dynamic Caching. The chip provides 100GB/s of memory bandwidth, and graphics use shared memory. It runs macOS 14 Sonoma.

It has a 15-inch Liquid Retina display with a 2880-by-1864 native resolution at 224 pixels per inch and a 16:10 aspect ratio. Brightness is 500 nits, and True Tone technology is included.

The 1080p front camera uses an advanced image signal processor with computational video. Battery life is up to 18 hours from a 66.5-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery. Wireless connections are Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5.3.

Processor

Apple M3 chip, 64-bit, up to 4.05 GHz

Graphics

Integrated 10-core GPU, shared memory, hardware-accelerated ray tracing

Cache

Dynamic Caching

Memory bandwidth

100GB/s

Operating system

macOS 14 Sonoma

Display size

15-inch Liquid Retina display