With how much the laptop can do, it’s no wonder that Apple starts its promo by calling it “the world’s most popular laptop.” No matter where you are, be it a café or the airport, chances are you could catch a glimpse of someone typing away on a MacBook. Earlier this month, the tech powerhouse launched the latest version of its iconic laptop, and we’ve got the Apple MacBook Air with M4 Chip review for you, from the perspective of a digital writer.
As usual, we always appreciate the portable quality of a MacBook Air. After all, even the most stylish work bags of today have been tailored to fit the laptop, and with its weight being a little over 1kg, it is not at all a burden to carry—even with your additional accoutrements. It’s also ultra-thin (measuring at only 1.13cm in height!), so you won’t have to shuffle your belongings around to make space for it.
But just because it’s light doesn’t mean that the MacBook Air is lacking in other areas. The first thing you will notice is its incredible battery power. With up to 18 hours of battery life, we can get away with leaving the charging block at home and be on our merry way for the entire day. In our tryout, the laptop has survived a full shoot day, as well as mobile working when our calendar is filled with meetings and appointments, all without an anxiety-inducing low-battery warning. Even when you do find yourself needing to replenish the supply, a single 30-minute charge will get you to 50 per cent, and that theoretically will have the laptop up and running for up to another nine hours. That alone can cover a whole day’s work.
Those aside, the real game changer lies in the Apple Intelligence integration with the latest macOS Sequoia. As journalists, our day-to-day involve a heavy dose of emails, messages, and, well, writing. The feature simplifies many minute processes that it allows us to be extra efficient with the small and gradual assistance here and there. Incoming messages will come with Smart Reply options, all relevant to the context of the conversation. The same goes for emails.
Speaking of emails, summaries are available for both existing threads as well as new emails. If you think quickly skimming through can achieve the same outcome, think again. Instead of having to scroll and potentially miss important pointers, the “summarise” button captures every important and actionable items in the mail in a succinct way—all a quick click away. And if you compound that with all the tens to hundreds of emails we receive each day… well, it adds up.
Once we’re sat down to tackle the day’s writing task, the Writing Tools come in handy in more ways than one. We always find ourselves using the Proofread option for every single one of our drafts, because when we’re speedily typing away our thoughts, the rules of grammar tend to find themselves in the backseat. But that’s okay—that’s what drafts are for, after all. For us to go back and give it a reread once the whole idea has been penned down successfully. The best part? The feature offers suggestions first, so we can vet the copy before wholly accepting the changes.
But the one thing that truly puts the MacBook Air with M4 chip at the zenith of its category is the fact that we can totally be immersed in our writing through its Focus and Continuity features, all without having to worry about potentially missing out important or time-sensitive notifications. Instead of putting a blanket do-not-disturb protocol, Focus will alert us on messages that would typically require speedy replies. It also comes with Intelligent Breakthrough & Silencing options. An example of it working its magic is when we received a food delivery notification even when in Focus mode. That way, we’re really only taken out of our work for what really matters.
Another feature that totally keeps us glued to the screen is the iPhone Mirroring app, which does exactly what it says: mirroring our phone screen on the laptop screen, in a little iPhone-shaped window. This allows us to engage with all of the apps on the iPhone, even those that are not necessarily compatible with the MacBook, all without turning away from our work. It behaves just like a phone does too, responding to swipes to navigate the Home Screen and pinches to zoom in on a photo on both the Photos app and Instagram. And whenever we need to pull images from the phone, it can be as easy as dragging it from the Mirroring app to any pages we want it on—with zero need to fiddle and rifle through the phone itself.
Of course, there are more features that can be explored on the MacBook Air with M4 chip, but we leave all those for you to discover. Whether you’re tackling a math assignment (Maths in Notes comes in clutch for this one) or a in the mood for playing with the imagination (Image Playground will be a wonderful source for your visual needs), this laptop comes equipped with plenty of features to keep any creative’s juices flowing, and then some.
The MacBook Air with M4 chip starts at RM4,499, with up to 2TB storage, and comes in Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and the all-new Sky Blue. Shop here.
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