Apple upgraded several Macs to the M4 chip a few weeks ago, including the MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini. The former is easily the most exciting of the three, as Apple gave fans a much-needed upgrade. The M4 MacBook Pro comes with 16GB of RAM instead of 8GB, effectively reducing the laptop’s price for those who would spend extra money for more memory.
It’s all in the name of Apple Intelligence, a suite of genAI features still in its early days. Apple is ensuring that all its devices will have the resources to handle AI and one’s non-AI computing needs.
I said at the time that Apple had no choice but to give the M4 MacBook Air the same 16GB memory upgrade. Apple practically confirmed this during the M4 Mac launch week when it said that existing M2 and M3 MacBook Airs will also come with 16GB of RAM as the new default.
Apple didn’t reveal the M4 MacBook Air release date at the time, but leaks said the 13-inch and 15-inch laptops would drop at some point in the first quarter of 2025. A new update from an insider teases an even faster launch than expected, as Apple might not want to wait until the iPhone SE 4 and iPad 11 are also ready to launch.
After the iPhone 16 launch event, we thought we’d get a Mac-centric keynote for the M4 Macs. Apple chose to announce the laptops via press releases, though it also posted extended presentations on YouTube for each of the three Macs that got the M4 treatment.
Before Apple’s announcements in the first quarter of 2025, reports said that the iPhone SE 4 would drop in March. That’s also going to be a rather exciting iPhone for certain buyers.
Considering the mid-ranged iPhone’s rollout expectations and what Apple did with the M4 Macs, it’s easy to assume the company would repeat the play: Pick a week in March and announce a new product each day. We’d get the M4 MacBook Air, the iPhone SE 4, and the iPad 11, in whatever order Apple chooses to do it.
However, Mark Gurman said on X that the M4 MacBook Air launch is coming sooner than expected. He didn’t divulge an actual release date for the M4 MacBook Air models, but he said that the laptops will precede the iPhone SE 4 and iPad 11:
As I wrote in October, new entry level iPads (J481 and J482) are coming in the spring. iPhone SE, new iPad Air are on the same general timeline. The M4 MacBook Air will be earlier.
The Bloomberg reporter also penned a newsletter over the weekend, where he also addressed Apple’s tentative roadmap for the M4 Macs. He said the M4 MacBook Airs will arrive early next year, without mentioning the iPhone SE 4 and iPad 11:
But the real meat of the Mac lineup will get refreshed in the first three quarters of 2025. Things will kick off pretty early next year with M4 versions of the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air (these models are already deep into the manufacturing phase). As the year progresses, there will be a new Mac Studio with a high-end M4 chip. The M4 transition will get completed later in the year with a version of the Mac Pro. This will mark the first time since Apple began using in-house chips that its entire computer portfolio moved to a new M-series generation.
The tweet above gives us a better estimate of when to expect the new MacBook Airs. That said, we have no release dates, so it’s unclear how soon the M4 MacBook Airs will arrive.
Finally, I’ll remind you that Apple has confirmed the M4 MacBook Air in a recent software update. Given Gurman’s claims, Apple’s accidental reveal makes sense if the launch is imminent.
