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The M3 MacBook Air: Two Displays, Faster Wi-Fi, and Better Performance

There’s not much to say about the M3 MacBook Airs that Apple revealed earlier this week. Last year’s M2 redesign was universally praised, and this year’s M3 version one-ups it with support for two displays, faster Wi-Fi 6E, and performance improvements, thanks to the M3 processor.

But, as Jason Snell of Six Colors explains, that’s okay:

The truth is, unless you’ve been waiting to plug in a second monitor to a MacBook Air, this upgrade isn’t going to blow anyone away—and that’s okay. The chips keep getting faster, 2022’s MacBook Air design refresh remains great, and the 15-inch model offers a large screen for people who don’t need MacBook Pro prices or features. The MacBook Air is Apple’s most popular Mac, and now it’s even better.

One additional tidbit from Jason about the exterior design that I found interesting is the new coating on the midnight MacBook Airs:

The single change to the exterior of the M3 Air to previous versions is a new fingerprint-resistant anodization seal on the dark “midnight” models, which do show fingerprints more than the others. This is apparently the same approach that Apple took with the Space Black M3 MacBook Pro.

Be sure to check out Jason’s full review for more details on the screen resolutions supported by the new Airs and benchmark tests.

Vision Pro App Spotlight: GameTrack Updated with Built-In Cloud Streaming

Late last week, Joe Kimberlin released GameTrack 5.4, an update to the iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS versions of the app that enables new ways to access your favorite games and navigate the app’s UI. Of course, the Vision Pro version of GameTrack is completely new since the last time I wrote about the app, too. So, let’s take a closer look at the latest iOS and iPadOS updates, as well as the visionOS version, which has become one of my favorite media management apps for Apple’s headset.

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Magic Rays of Light: Napoleon and Oscars Predictions→

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon are joined by MacStories Managing Editor John Voorhees to take another look at Ridley Scott’s Napoleon upon the film’s streaming debut. They also dive into March releases on Apple Arcade and share who they think will take home the gold at this weekend’s 96th Academy Awards.

Show Notes

Download our 2024 Oscars Predictions ballot and submit your predictions to [email protected] before the Academy Awards ceremony begins on Sunday.

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Devon Dundee | Follow Devon on Mastodon or Threads

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FinanceKit Opens Real-Time Apple Card, Apple Cash, and Apple Savings Transaction Data to Third-Party Apps→

Ivan Mehta, writing for TechCrunch:

Apple’s iOS 17.4 update is primarily about adapting iOS to EU’s Digital Market Act Regulation. But the company has also released a new API called FinanceKit that lets developers fetch transactions and balance information from Apple Card, Apple Cash, and Savings with Apple.

If you use an Apple Card and a budgeting and financial tracking app, you’ll know why this is a big deal. I’ve been tracking my expenses with Copilot for over a year now, and I was pleased to see in Mehta’s story that Copilot, along with YNAB, Monarch, have teamed up with Apple to be the first third-party apps to use FinanceKit.

Before FinanceKit, I could only track my Apple Card expenses by importing a CSV file of my transactions one time each month when a new statement appeared in the Wallet app. Not only was that laborious, but it defeated the purpose of an app like Copilot, which otherwise lets you see where you stand with your budget in real-time. The process was such a bad experience that I used my Apple Card a lot less than I would have otherwise. Now, those Apple Card transactions will be recorded in Copilot, YNAB, and Monarch as they’re made, just like any other credit card.

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Apple Releases iOS and iPadOS 17.4 with Major Safari and App Store Changes in the EU, Transcripts for Podcasts, New Emoji, and More

Today, Apple released iOS and iPadOS 17.4, the fourth major updates to the operating systems that launched in September and Federico reviewed on MacStories.

iOS 17.4 is a significant release, bringing major platform changes to iOS in Europe as part of Apple’s response to the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), as well as a handful of new features, including transcripts in Apple’s Podcasts app, new emoji, multilingual updates to Siri, and more.

Let’s dive in, starting with the main changes for iPhone owners in the EU.

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AppStories, Episode 373 – Introducing the MacPad→

This week on AppStories, Federico introduces the world to the MacPad, a hybrid Mac/iPad that he built from an M2 MacBook Air and 11” iPad Pro, and I quiz him on the build process, software involved, and what it’s like to use.

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The MacPad

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On AppStories+, we discuss Apple’s reversal on removing progressive web apps from iOS 17.4 in the EU.

We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.

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MacPad: How I Created the Hybrid Mac-iPad Laptop and Tablet That Apple Won’t Make

Hello, MacPad.

Hello, MacPad.

It all started because I wanted a better keyboard for my Vision Pro. I had no idea that, in looking for one, I’d accidentally create the hybrid Apple computer of my dreams.

As I quickly discovered after working on the Vision Pro daily, you can get by without an external trackpad, but a keyboard is necessary if you want to type something longer than a passcode. That’s where my journey began: if I wanted to write and edit articles on the Vision Pro, what would the best keyboard-trackpad setup be?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve tested all the options at my disposal. I started with an Apple Magic Trackpad and Keyboard, which I then placed inside a Twelve South MagicBridge (it was too uncomfortable to put on my lap for longer stretches of time). Next, I tried using different types of “trays” for these two accessories that offered a laptop-like layout (comfort was better, but lack of palm rejection was an issue). I even attempted to revive an old Brydge keyboard and use it with the Vision Pro, but, alas, third-party trackpads aren’t supported on visionOS at the moment.

Eventually, I settled on the solution that I should have known was coming for me all along: the best keyboard and trackpad combo for a Vision Pro is a Mac laptop. So I started using my MacBook Air every day, taking advantage of Mac Virtual Display and Universal Control to get work done with the Vision Pro in a mix of classic desktop apps and new visionOS experiences. I’ll write more about this soon, but, so far, it’s felt powerful and flexible in a way that iPadOS hasn’t made me feel in a while.

But something kept nagging me.

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Apple Releases New Spring Colors for iPhone Cases and Watch Bands

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

As has become a tradition, Apple released new colors of some of its cases and Apple Watch bands today. The new Silicone Case colors are Soft Mint, Sunshine, Light Blue, and Pink and come in all iPhone 15 model sizes. No new colors are available for the FineWoven cases.

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Apple also released 23 new bands. There are bands that match the new iPhone 15 case colors, as well as a dozen new Hermès bands. There are no new Apple Watch Ultra bands, the selection of which is still limited to a woefully inadequate selection of three styles and nine choices.

Apple Introduces New M3 MacBook Airs

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Apple has unveiled new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Airs that feature the M3 processor, Wi-Fi 6E, support for two external displays, and up to 18 hours of battery life.

The M3 chipset features an 8-core CPU, up to a 10-core GPU, and up to 24GB of unified memory. Apple says that makes the new Airs up to 60% faster than the M1 Air and 13x faster than the fastest Intel-based Air, but they do not compare it to the M2 Air. The M3 MacBook Airs also include Apple’s latest media engine, which supports AV1 decoding for video streaming services.

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Apple provided other points of comparison between the new M2 MacBook Airs and the M1 and fastest Intel models based on tests conducted in January:

  • Game titles like No Man’s Sky run up to 60 percent faster than the 13-inch MacBook Air with the M1 chip.

  • Enhancing an image with AI using Photomator’s Super Resolution feature is up to 40 percent faster than the 13-inch model with the M1 chip, and up to 15x faster for customers who haven’t upgraded to a Mac with Apple silicon.

  • Working in Excel spreadsheets is up to 35 percent faster than the 13-inch model with the M1 chip, and up to 3x faster for customers who haven’t upgraded to a Mac with Apple silicon.

  • Video editing in Final Cut Pro is up to 60 percent faster than the 13-inch model with the M1 chip, and up to 13x faster for customers who haven’t upgraded to a Mac with Apple silicon.

  • Compared to a PC laptop with an Intel Core i7 processor, MacBook Air delivers up to 2x faster performance, up to 50 percent faster web browsing, and up to 40 percent longer battery life.

In its press release, Apple also says the M3 MacBook Air’s 16-core Neural Engine and CPU and GPU machine learning accelerators make it the best laptop for AI, too.

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

The new 13-inch MacBook Airs start at $1,099 ($999 for education customers). The new 15-inch models start at $1,299 ($1,199 for education customers). Both models are available to order today in midnight, starlight, silver, and space gray, with deliveries and in-store availability beginning Friday, March 8th.

In addition, Apple has dropped the price of the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air to $999 ($899 for education customers).