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I won’t lie, I’ve always lived by the mantra: MacBook for productivity, and Windows for entertainment. I’ve had a few encounters with MacBooks as a student, and after working with numerous other Windows-based laptops for my work since then, it’s safe to say I understand why working professionals highly favor MacBooks instead.
With that said, one of the few reasons that stopped me from fully swapping over to a MacBook was the fact that it isn’t quite built for the kind of gaming I enjoy. I personally enjoy not having to carry around or set up multiple devices just to get different things done, and I’m sure most won’t either.
But are all my qualms with a MacBook about to change? I took a first impression look at the latest MacBook Air with the M3 chip, and I have to say, I think I might have to change my mantra.
Macbook Air M3 Specifications
- Display: 15.3” Liquid Retina
- CPU: M3 chip
- Memory + Storage: 16 + 512 GB
- Ports: MagSafe 3 charging port, 2 Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, 3.5mm headphone jack
- Weight: 1.51kg
- Size: 340.4 x 237.6 x 11.5 mm
Sleek, Lightweight, & Less Struggling
This is the first time in a very long time that I’ve used a MacBook Air, and if my 7-year-old laptop is any comparison, this is a major upgrade to my working environment.
The Macbook Air M3 is the newest and has the highest-performing chip on the MacBook Air series to date. With its 15-inch Liquid Retina display, I’ve got to say that these are some of the best displays I’ve seen in a while. Plus, the Midnight colorway is sleek and provides an elegant flair to my otherwise beige-themed desk.
Of course, the fact that it’s a MacBook Air means that it’s super lightweight, and as someone with a weak wrist, I can attest to that fact. I can pick it up easily with just one hand (and my non-dominant one at that), and I don’t even tremble to hold it up.
I also love the one-handed screen lift, which I find to be particularly useful as I don’t have to struggle like a fool to open it. Apart from that, the trackpad size is comfortably large, which again is a nice upgrade when compared to my previous laptop.
Work Hard, Play Hard
One of the things I’m most looking forward to is putting the M3 chip to the test. I’ve previously refrained from doing any intense video editing or gaming on my laptop, but with the MacBook Air M3, it’s safe to say I can finally start to unleash my full potential.
The M3 processor is supposedly capable of pretty good gaming performance, which is something I’ll definitely be testing. In fact, I even paused playing Genshin Impact purely because my old laptop would turn into a helicopter whenever I so much as ran Genshin’s start screen. So how exactly would it hold up against performance-intensive games like that? That's what I'd like to find out.
And though I have yet to load up my Steam library on it, I’ll be scrutinizing exactly how much gaming this portable device is claimed to be capable of running.
Not just that, from Adobe suites to the more intense gaming, it seems like the MacBook Air M3 is quite capable of handling whatever I throw at it. While I’ll be doing more intense testing (especially for gaming) in the future, I’ll have to say that I’m already quite pleased with the M3’s performance thus far.
Of course, this is far from the full extent of what the new MacBook Air is capable of. We’ll just have to keep using it to see how well it can withstand the tests I’ll undoubtedly be putting it through, so stay tuned for the full review on our website when it's out!