Apple MacBook Air M3: price, release date, and how to preorder

There’s a new MacBook in town. Following months of rumors, Apple has announced a new pair of entry-level laptops, both equipped with Apple’s latest M3 chip. The 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air will start shipping tomorrow, March 8th, but you can still preorder them today for $1,099 and $1,299, respectively.

According to Apple, the M3-powered MacBook Airs are faster than their M2-equipped predecessors, which is likely true in our limited testing (albeit by a small margin). Thanks to the new chip, the laptops also feature an improved 16-core Neural Engine that can “run optimized AI models,” along with hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading. They both include a Liquid Retina display and up to 500 nits of brightness, as well as MagSafe charging and two Thunderbolt ports.

Along with the GPU upgrades, both laptops support up to two external displays when closed. They’re also more futureproof and support faster download speeds thanks to Wi-Fi 6E and a 6GHz band, and they come in four colors: starlight, space gray, silver, and midnight. The latter shade is built with an anodization seal that should reduce fingerprints — something that plagued the previous midnight models.

You can currently preorder the 13-inch MacBook Air from Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, and B&H Photo starting at $1,099 with 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage. Best Buy is also offering its My Best Buy Plus members a $50 discount on all configurations, lowering the starting price to $1,049.

Alternatively, the laptop is also available with an upgraded 512GB of storage for $1,299, 1TB of storage for $1,499, or with 2TB of storage for $1,899. You can also buy it with 16GB RAM and 256GB of storage for $1,299, or you can combine the extra RAM with 512GB of storage for $1,499, 1TB of storage for $1,699, or 2TB of storage for $2,099.

You can also choose to configure the 13-inch laptop with 24GB of RAM. That starts at $1,499 for 256GB of storage, or you can buy it with 512GB of storage for $1,699. The 24GB laptops are also available with 1TB of storage for $1,899 or 2TB of storage for $2,299.

One thing to note is that the laptops come with different power adapters, depending on the model, when you purchase them directly from Apple. Most upgraded versions come with the option of a 70W adapter included in the price. The base model, however, currently only ships with a 30W USB-C power adapter, though you can upgrade to a 35W dual-port adapter or a 70W adapter for $20 more through Apple.

The 15-inch MacBook Air is almost identical to the 13-inch model but is outfitted with a larger, sharper display. It also sports a six-speaker sound system, as opposed to four-speaker array, and is slightly heavier than the 13-inch model.

Like the 13-inch Air, the base 15-inch Air is available for preorder from Amazon, Best Buy, B&H Photo, and Apple (with either a 35W dual-port adapter or 70W adapter) starting at $1,299 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Once again, Best Buy is taking $50 off all configurations for My Best Buy Plus members, so you can potentially buy the laptop starting at $1,249.

If you need a higher-specced model, you can also buy the 8GB RAM base model with an upgraded 512GB of storage for $1,499, 1TB of storage for $1,699, or 2TB of storage for $2,099. If you want 16GB of RAM, you can buy the 15-inch Air starting with 512GB of storage for $1,699, 1TB of storage for $1,899, and 2TB of storage for $2,299. The 15-inch model is also available with 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for $1,899, with 1TB of storage for $2,099, or with 2TB of storage for $2,499.

Update March 4th, 5:04PM ET: Added preorder links for Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H Photo.

Update March 4th, 5:21PM ET: Updated article to specify that only Apple offers multiple power adapter options.

Update March 7th, 3:53PM ET: Updated article with information about Best Buy’s $50 discount for My Best Buy Plus members.