Marko Zivkovic
Apple's latest M4 MacBook Air is just as repairable as the previous two iterations, as a teardown of the device shows no major changes from the M2 model.
The new MacBook Air, with an M4 system-on-chip, was announced on March 5, 2025. Though the laptop features an upgraded 12MP front camera with center stage support and is available in a new Sky Blue color option, it's practically identical to the M3 MacBook Air. The new-and-improved MacBook Air is even available in the same 13-inch and 15-inch sizes as its predecessor.
As was noted by iFixit in a teardown of the M4 MacBook Air, the device uses the same chassis as the M2 MacBook Air, which was introduced in 2022. This means that the entire disassembly process remains unchanged, with the laptop's USB-C ports being just as easily replaceable as they were before.
The battery on the M4 MacBook Air is held in place by the same stretch release tabs found in the previous generation. While the iPhone 16 range features a special type of adhesive that can be released with electricity, this change hasn't yet made its way to the MacBook Air.
The Touch ID power button, however, remains as difficult to remove as ever, as the laptop's entire top case must be disassembled before it can be taken out. The same goes for the keyboard of the M4 MacBook Air.
Though the laptop doesn't appear to have any significant structural or design changes, Apple has published a repair manual for the recently released MacBook Air. In theory, anyone should be able to replace parts on their MacBook Air, but sometimes that doesn't quite work.
iFixit swapped the logic boards between two identical M4 MacBook Airs and experienced calibration issues with the ambient light sensor. Despite using Apple's System Calibration tool, and both laptops being fully operational, the display's True Tone feature could not be activated.
Though the M4 MacBook Air offers performance improvements and better external display support over previous models, the NAND chips are still soldered onto the logic board. This means that the storage is not user-upgradeable, which is no surprise.
The consensus among reviewers is that the M4 MacBook Air is little more than a spec upgrade. It introduces some welcome changes but is otherwise unremarkable, given that it contains no surprise upgrades.
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Well, I'd argue that the performance leaps Apple is seeing with the M4 in particular but each prior generation of the M-series is kind of a continuing "surprise," in that one keeps wondering how much more double-digit increases in various scores are going to keep happening across this decade.
Apple's emphasis on energy management and cooling systems makes it the CLEAR winner across the entire industry when it comes to notebooks and their battery life. Intel and AMD just can't come close on these fronts.
I don't have access to any "Ultra" M-series chips nor any need for them myself, but the reading I've done suggests that the M3 Ultra beats the best Intel and AMD have to offer by significant double-digits overall on multi-core. That's really pretty incredible, particularly when you remember that M-chips didn't exist in the market in 2019.