The MacBook Air’s free RAM upgrade was sneakily the best announcement during Apple’s Mac event

Apple formally revealed the M4 MacBook sequence earlier at the moment, however within the shadow of this announcement is different information that is arguably simply as vital. The corporate has elevated the bottom reminiscence of its M2 and M3 MacBook Air fashions to 16GB of RAM. The perfect half? The beginning worth for these laptops stays $999.

The tech large is not going to cost additional for the efficiency enhance, which applies solely to the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air and the 13-inch and 15-inch M3 MacBook Air fashions. The 15-inch M2 MacBook Air is not going to see any upgrades, as its base reminiscence will stay 8GB of RAM. 

Additionally, there’s now a configuration for the M3 MacBook Air housing 24GB of RAM. Costs for this new mannequin begin at $1,699, identical to the earlier high-end possibility. Past the {hardware} replace, the sequence will stay unchanged. They’re going to hold the identical storage choices, Liquid Retina shows, and can be obtainable in the identical colours.

Further reminiscence makes these unbelievable laptops even higher and extra attractive. Extra RAM means the pc will ship quicker web looking, smoother app operation, and higher multitasking functionality. 

Past merely enhancing person expertise, I imagine Apple has two different causes for providing the additional reminiscence. The primary motive issues Apple Intelligence. Generative AI usually calls for numerous sources from the system operating it, so an improve might have been deemed obligatory.  

Granted, current iPhones, just like the iPhone 16, can run the tech large’s AI options on simply 8GB of RAM. Apple Intelligence on cellular could also be a unique construct that is not notably taxing on the smartphone. In the meantime, the MacBook model is extra succesful and highly effective however wants additional sources to run easily.

The second motive is that Apple has no plans to launch an M4 MacBook Air — a minimum of not proper now. It is solely been about eight months because the M3 MacBook Air launched, and the corporate might need thought it was too quickly to launch a follow-up.

Launching a brand new laptop computer may eat into gross sales of the older mannequin. There is a good probability we can’t see an M4 MacBook Air till early 2025 — maybe subsequent March or April.