Apple Announces MacBook Air Now Starts With Increased 16GB of RAM With No Price Increase

Apple today in its new MacBook Pro press release announced that the MacBook Air lineup now starts with 16GB of RAM, up from 8GB previously.

m3 macbook air blue
This change applies to the 13-inch model with the M2 chip, the 13-inch model with the M3 chip, and the 15-inch model with the M3 chip.

In the U.S., the MacBook Air lineup continues to start at $999, so there is no price increase associated with the boost in RAM.

Apple:

MacBook Air is the world's most popular laptop, and with Apple Intelligence, it's even better. Now, models with M2 and M3 double the starting memory to 16GB, while keeping the starting price at just $999 — a terrific value for the world's best-selling laptop.

In addition, the highest-end MacBook Air configurations now include 24GB of RAM at no extra cost, as part of a corresponding lineup adjustment.

This increase comes after Apple announced new iMac, Mac mini, and base 14-inch MacBook Pro models this week with a minimum of 16GB of RAM as well, ending the 8GB of RAM era for the Mac after years of criticism from a vocal contingent.

No other changes beyond RAM were announced for the MacBook Air today.

The latest 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with the M3 chip were released in March, and new models with the M4 chip are expected in March again next year.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Related Forum: MacBook Air

Popular Stories

apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

iPhone Driver's Licenses: These 17 U.S. States Offer Them or Will Later

Thursday June 19, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states and Puerto...
iPhone 16 Battery Life Feature

iOS 26's New Battery Life Mode Available Only on These iPhone Models

Saturday June 21, 2025 9:02 am PDT by
Last week, we reported that iOS 26 introduces an opt-in Adaptive Power Mode on the iPhone, alongside the existing Low Power Mode. Apple says that Adaptive Power Mode can make "small performance adjustments" when necessary to extend an iPhone's battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to "take a little longer." The full description of...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
ios 26 call holding

iOS 26 Beta is Hiding a New Ringtone — Here's What It Sounds Like

Thursday June 19, 2025 7:25 pm PDT by
Apple is hiding a new ringtone within iOS 26. The new ringtone is an alternative version of the existing Reflection ringtone, which has been the default ringtone since the iPhone X was released in 2017. It was discovered within the code for the first developer beta of iOS 26, but it remains hidden, so you will not find it in the list of ringtones available in the Settings app for now. It...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Wednesday June 18, 2025 10:24 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a few days after Apple provided the betas to developers. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. When the...
General Spotify Feature

Spotify Preparing to Launch Long-Awaited Lossless Audio Tier on iPhone

Thursday June 19, 2025 1:46 pm PDT by
Spotify appears to be gearing up to launch its long-awaited lossless music tier. Chris Messina (via TechCrunch) and Spicetify (via The Verge) spotted new lossless references within the code for Spotify's desktop app and web player. With assistance from Aaron Perris, MacRumors has confirmed that the latest beta of the Spotify app for the iPhone also contains new lossless-related code....
airpods 4 blue

Apple Offering Free AirPods — Here's How to Get Them

Tuesday June 17, 2025 6:33 am PDT by
Apple is running a new promotion that offers free AirPods to qualifying customers. Now through September 30, college and university students in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Singapore can receive free AirPods 4 when they purchase an eligible new Mac or iPad from Apple. AirPods Pro 2 are also available at a discount. If you do not want AirPods, the promotion also offers various other...
Craig Federighi No

John Gruber Reacts to Apple Declining His Interview After His Criticism

Wednesday June 18, 2025 8:10 pm PDT by
Every year between 2015 and 2024, at least one Apple executive agreed to be interviewed by Daring Fireball's John Gruber for a special WWDC episode of his podcast, The Talk Show. Last year, for example, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi, marketing chief Greg Joswiak, and top AI researcher John Giannandrea joined Gruber on stage at the California Theatre in San Jose to discuss...

Top Rated Comments

DrJR Avatar
9 months ago
That's great, but I heard they have moved the charge port to the bottom of the machine.
Score: 81 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
9 months ago
If I only had a nickel for how many defender posts I've read making Apple RAM out to be super special and thus rationalizing $200 for 8GB more vs. commoditized RAM available at retail for quantity 1 unit at peanuts. Here's absolute evidence that Apple RAM is not so expensive because we know they don't just throw away "nearly $200" cost for nothing.

And once again, I'm looking for those defenders who wrote thousands of posts about how 8GB was plenty for nearly all users to now rip into Apple for "forcing too much" RAM on all buyers. But I haven't even seen 1 such post yet... as if they didn't really mean what they were writing but just pushing whatever the company was selling. If they believed what they wrote as recently as last few weeks (and often throughout 2024), they should now find fault with Apple for "forcing" too much. Where's those comments? (rhetorical- we know- as Apple makes such hops, so evolves their passionate opinions to align with the Corp).

Congrats to all who look forward to buying base spec Macs at third party retailer sale prices. We finally were thrown a consumer bone instead of having every bit of focus on shareholder maximization. More of this Apple! More!

A magical side effect of delivering more consumer value is that it can move customers to BUY MORE and/or BUY NOW... which then benefits them shareholders too via volume accumulations instead of squeezing every penny out of each transaction.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cczhu Avatar
9 months ago
impress me with 512GB storage as base
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mysticmanix Avatar
9 months ago
Tim can I get a $200 refund for the cash I spent to upgrade to 16GB?
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Aka757 Avatar
9 months ago
The M2 13" MBA with 16GB RAM for $899 from the education store brand new seems like a really good deal to me!
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vertsix Avatar
9 months ago
Very nice but 256GB storage is still laughably low...
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)