Apple Says New MacBook Air Up to 23x Faster Than Intel-Based Model, But Read the Fine Print

Apple has a staggering marketing claim for the new MacBook Air with the M4 chip.

Apple MacBook Air hero
Specifically, Apple says the new MacBook Air is up to 23x faster than the last Intel-based model. However, there are some details in the fine print to be aware of.

First, Apple said it compared a new 2025 MacBook Air with a 10-core M4 chip and 32GB of RAM to a 2020 MacBook Air with a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM. Both of the MacBook Air models were configured with a 2TB SSD. These are the best specifications that are or were available for each of these MacBook Air models.

So, Apple compared the new model to the fastest-ever Intel-based MacBook Air. That's fair.

MacBook Air 23x
Second, Apple said its test consisted of using the Super Resolution feature on a 4.4MB image in image editing app Pixelmator Pro — which it now owns. The feature uses machine learning to increase the resolution of images, while preserving sharpness and details.

So, the up to 23x faster performance claim is tied to quite a specific task.

Here is what Apple's fine print says in full:

Testing conducted by Apple in January 2025 using preproduction 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air systems with Apple M4, 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and 32GB of RAM, as well as production 1.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-based MacBook Air systems with Intel Iris Plus Graphics and 16GB of RAM, all configured with 2TB SSD. Tested using Super Resolution with Pixelmator Pro 3.6.14 and a 4.4MB image. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of MacBook Air.

What about other tasks? Apple provided some more comparisons:

- Spreadsheet calculation performance in Microsoft Excel is up to 4.7x faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Air, and up to 1.6x faster than the 13-inch MacBook Air with M1.
- Video editing in iMovie is up to 8x faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Air, and up to 2x faster than the 13-inch MacBook Air with M1.
- Photo editing in Adobe Photoshop is up to 3.6x faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Air, and up to 2x faster than the 13-inch MacBook Air with M1.
- Web browsing is up to 60 percent faster when compared to a PC laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, and more demanding tasks get up to 2x faster performance.

Those claims seem more realistic for most users.

Ultimately, while the 23x claim might be overselling things a bit, it is true that any MacBook Air with an M1 chip or newer is dramatically faster than any Intel-based model. If you have been holding off on upgrading, you are in for a treat.

You can pre-order the new MacBook Air now on Apple's online store, and it will begin arriving to customers on Wednesday, March 12.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Related Forum: MacBook Air

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Top Rated Comments

sniffies Avatar
14 weeks ago
Also, it's 860,000x faster than iBook





Attachment Image
Score: 83 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DBZmusicboy01 Avatar
14 weeks ago
The most important thing is to make software be more stable and smooth like Snow Leopard. That will make things much better and feel much faster as well.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
14 weeks ago
well, they are documenting what they are comparing, nothing wrong with that.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm continues to use benchmarks and no real world comparison ...
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
14 weeks ago

well, they are documenting what they are comparing, nothing wrong with that.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm continues to use benchmarks and no real world comparison ...
That's fine.

It's this to be aware of: "Apple said its test consisted of using the Super Resolution feature on a 4.4MB image in image editing app Pixelmator Pro."

Very niche, specific task to achieve a mind-blowing 23x-faster marketing claim.

The other tasks that are in the 3-4x faster range are better examples of performance gains to expect when upgrading from an Intel-based MacBook Air, in my opinion.

Still very impressive, as my article concludes.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
redmac Avatar
14 weeks ago
At least they let us know exactly what device they are comparing against. Other brands compare their best products against the weakest of the current Macs, and they call it a win against Macs.

Also, I think this comparison is valid. Current owners of Intel Macs and M1 MacBook Airs are the ones who will buy these new models, not the owners of M2/M3 MBAs.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DTphonehome Avatar
14 weeks ago
I think we all want to know how much faster it is than the PowerBook G5.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)