Apple's new M3 MacBook Air: Top takeaways

Apple (AAPL) recently released its latest MacBook Air model. The new laptop has an improved battery life, the company's M3 chip, and is geared towards AI applications. It comes at a time when Apple has seen a slowdown in Mac sales.

Yahoo Finance Tech Editor Dan Howley joins the Live show for an in-depth review of the new computer, which he says is probably "the best laptop you can buy."

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Editor's note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino

Video transcript

- Well, Apple's latest MacBook is available today. Yahoo Finance's Dan Howley got his hands on it. So what do you think, Dan?

DAN HOWLEY: Yeah, that's right, Julie. This is the MacBook Air 15-inch. It is running Apple's new M3 chip. That's the big update here. I also have a cat to my left if you can't see him. He's not as interested in this. He's looking for some food.

This basically gets an update as far as the processor goes. The particular one that I have here has an M3 16 gigabytes of RAM and a 512-gigabyte storage. That's basically what I think most people are going to end up when it comes to buying something like this. It's going to be a little bit more expensive than the base model. But, you know, the higher you go as far as specs, the longer it's going to last. It's just generally the idea when it comes to computers.

So what's difference between this and last year's model? My wife and I actually bought the prior model, the same color and everything. The main difference is it has that M3 chip, which has slightly better performance in the M2 chip found in last year's model.

It also has an anodized sealing around the color. This is the midnight color. And you can see some smudging on here. Better than last year's model, though, because whenever we pick it up or my wife picks it up after I use it, it looks like someone rubbed Crisco all over the outside of it.

So thankfully, they've tamped down a little bit on the fingerprints. But overall, you know, look, the MacBook Air is one of the best laptops that you can get. It's light, relatively low priced as far as premium laptops go. And the battery just does not stop.

I mean, it doesn't matter whether it's the Air or the Pro. I have a Pro from a few years ago that I use for work that I'm connected to right now. Haven't turned it on in two days. Just have-- let it sit. It wasn't turned off, but I just let it sit there. And the battery is still going, enough for me to run everything I need right now to broadcast.

So I mean, if you can put that into perspective, the new MacBook Airs are going to last no problem. Apple rates for 18 hours, that's playing back video on iTunes. So don't expect 18 hours. But you'll be able to get through your day and then some. I managed to play a little bit of games on here.

The performance is great. The price, again, it's Apple. So it's going to be a little higher, well above the thousand-dollar mark. But as far as overall, this is the best laptop you can buy probably.

- Yeah, I mean, I guess the coating is also helpful when the cat walks across that as well.

DAN HOWLEY: You need to walk over it.

- Yeah. What are we-- do we know anything about what the demand is expected to be like for this?

DAN HOWLEY: Yeah, well, so the problem that Apple's had with the Macs recently is that they just hadn't updated them, I guess, enough. And so people weren't purchasing them. There was also, don't forget, the whole issue with COVID. As that came in, people started buying products.

But Apple, in particular, was hit by a slowdown in sales. Factories have shut down. So then we saw, you know, rather than what we saw with PCs where everything shut up and then went down, Apple was kind of low then shot up later in the pandemic and then started to fall off. So they're on a different cycle than some of the other PC makers out there.

But as far as demand goes, anytime there's a new product that comes out, Apple does see a little jump. So for them, the hope is that this will start to send sales of Macs higher for a little bit. The MacBook is really the seller for the Mac line. It's about the laptops. The desktops sell, you know, on their own, sure. But when it comes to the volume, it's really the MacBook. So getting this right, which they did, is incredibly important for that business.

- And also there were some news today, some developments with Apple and Epic Games, Dan. Tell us about that.

DAN HOWLEY: Yeah. So the day after-- a few days after we had seen that Apple had pulled Epic's license to develop for Apple's iOS system and put their own App Store into place in the EU and in the EU only-- this is part of that Digital Markets Act-- Apple released a statement saying that they had been working with Epic. And now they're going to allow Epic back in to the developer process.

So that means that Epic will be able to put together its own App Store that people will be able to purchase "Fortnite" from as well as other Epic Games apps and services. So that's a big move. And it seems to be-- you know, Apple says that it's because they had conversations with Epic.

The underlying thinking, though, is that there was some sniffing around by the European Commission, the antitrust arm of the EU. And they're already hitting Apple with a $2 billion fine, which Apple is going to appeal. But less trouble is better.

So why not just let in Epic if it's only in the EU? It's not going to be in the UK or the US or anywhere else. So, you know, the Asian countries. It's not going to be the same. So it's probably just the easier path of least resistance for them to just let "Fortnite" and Epic back in.

- All right. We'll see if that develops differently in other places. Dan, appreciate it.