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You can no longer pre-order the MacBook Air M4 as a new Apple launch product. Apple opened M4 pre-orders on March 5, 2025, and retail availability began on March 12, 2025. As of August 2026, the M5 is Apple’s current MacBook Air generation. Buyers interested in the M4 should look for remaining new stock, clearance inventory, or refurbished models instead.
Can you still pre-order the MacBook Air M4?
No. A pre-order is placed before a product’s official release. The M4 MacBook Air has already launched, so an order placed today is a regular purchase, backorder, open-box purchase, or refurbished purchase—not a pre-order.
Apple’s current store is focused on the M5 MacBook Air. M4 availability, where it exists, depends on remaining inventory at Apple or retailers and can change without notice.
When did the M4 MacBook Air launch?
Apple announced the M4 MacBook Air on March 5, 2025, when pre-orders opened in 28 countries and regions, including the United States. Retail sales and customer deliveries began on March 12, 2025. Apple’s launch announcement contains the original availability and pricing details.
#1 Best Overall
- BUILT FOR COLLEGE. AND BEYOND — MacBook Air with the M5 chip packs blazing speed and powerful AI capabilities into an incredibly portable design. And with up to 18 hours of battery life,* this thin and light powerhouse is ready to take on almost any major, just about anywhere.
- TEAR THROUGH TOUGH ASSIGNMENTS — With its faster CPU and unified memory, the M5 chip delivers even more performance and fluidity across apps, making multitasking and creative workflows smooth and responsive. A powerful Neural Engine and next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerators give you a powerful platform for AI.
- MAKE QUICK WORK OF YOUR TO-DO LIST — Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly — whether it’s for school or everyday life. With groundbreaking privacy protections, it gives you peace of mind that no one else can access your data — not even Apple.*
- UP TO 18 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Air delivers incredible battery life with amazing performance, so you can power through a full day of classes without worrying about plugging in.
- A BRILLIANT 13.6-INCH DISPLAY* — The gorgeous Liquid Retina display on MacBook Air supports 1 billion colors, making photos and videos pop with rich contrast and sharp detail, and text appears supercrisp. So everything — from class presentations to movies to games — looks truly stunning.
How the original M4 pre-order worked
These were the steps during the 2025 launch; Apple’s current store may not show the M4 as a standard new-product configuration.
- Open Apple’s regional online store or the Apple Store app. Use Apple’s store rather than an unverified search-ad landing page.
- Choose the size: the 13-inch or 15-inch MacBook Air.
- Select a finish: sky blue, midnight, starlight, or silver.
- Configure memory and storage. Options included 16GB, 24GB, or 32GB unified memory and 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB SSD storage.
- Review the power adapter and accessories. Some configurations included a 35W dual-port compact power adapter, while a 70W USB-C adapter was available as a configure-to-order option.
- Choose shipping or store pickup. The checkout estimate was more useful than the general March 12 launch date because availability varied by configuration, color, and location.
- Enter payment and delivery details, then review the order. Confirm the chip generation, size, memory, storage, keyboard language, tax, final price, and estimated arrival date before submitting.
- Save the order number. Apple orders could be tracked through its order-status page or the Apple Store app.
M4 MacBook Air configurations and launch prices
The following were U.S. launch prices from March 2025, not guaranteed current prices:
| Model | Standard launch price | Education price |
|---|---|---|
| 13-inch MacBook Air with M4 | $999 | $899 |
| 15-inch MacBook Air with M4 | $1,199 | $1,099 |
The 13-inch model had a 13.6-inch display; the 15-inch model had a 15.3-inch display. The M4 configuration included a 10-core CPU and 16-core Neural Engine. Apple offered 16GB unified memory as standard, with options up to 32GB, and SSD storage up to 2TB. Depending on the 13-inch configuration, the GPU had either eight or 10 cores; 15-inch models used the 10-core GPU configuration. See Apple’s technical specifications for model-specific details.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsRank #2
- BUILT FOR COLLEGE. AND BEYOND — MacBook Air with the M5 chip packs blazing speed and powerful AI capabilities into an incredibly portable design. And with up to 18 hours of battery life,* this thin and light powerhouse is ready to take on almost any major, just about anywhere.
- TEAR THROUGH TOUGH ASSIGNMENTS — With its faster CPU and unified memory, the M5 chip delivers even more performance and fluidity across apps, making multitasking and creative workflows smooth and responsive. A powerful Neural Engine and next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerators give you a powerful platform for AI.
- MAKE QUICK WORK OF YOUR TO-DO LIST — Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly — whether it’s for school or everyday life. With groundbreaking privacy protections, it gives you peace of mind that no one else can access your data — not even Apple.*
- UP TO 18 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Air delivers incredible battery life with amazing performance, so you can power through a full day of classes without worrying about plugging in.
- A BRILLIANT 13.6-INCH DISPLAY* — The gorgeous Liquid Retina display on MacBook Air supports 1 billion colors, making photos and videos pop with rich contrast and sharp detail, and text appears supercrisp. So everything — from class presentations to movies to games — looks truly stunning.
The M4 Air also included two Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports, MagSafe 3 charging, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Apple rated battery life at up to 18 hours under its test conditions; that is not a guaranteed real-world result.
How to buy an M4 MacBook Air now
1. Search for remaining new stock
Check Apple’s MacBook Air store, Apple Authorized Resellers, and major retailers such as Best Buy. Before paying, verify that the listing explicitly identifies the M4 chip, says the unit is new, names the retailer as the seller, and provides a clear return policy and warranty.
A lower price than the 2025 launch price may indicate clearance stock, a promotion, education pricing, open-box condition, refurbished condition, or a marketplace seller. Compare the complete listing rather than the headline price.
Rank #3
- BUILT FOR COLLEGE. AND BEYOND — MacBook Air with the M5 chip packs blazing speed and powerful AI capabilities into an incredibly portable design. And with up to 18 hours of battery life,* this thin and light powerhouse is ready to take on almost any major, just about anywhere.
- TEAR THROUGH TOUGH ASSIGNMENTS — With its faster CPU and unified memory, the M5 chip delivers even more performance and fluidity across apps, making multitasking and creative workflows smooth and responsive. A powerful Neural Engine and next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerators give you a powerful platform for AI.
- MAKE QUICK WORK OF YOUR TO-DO LIST — Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly — whether it’s for school or everyday life. With groundbreaking privacy protections, it gives you peace of mind that no one else can access your data — not even Apple.*
- UP TO 18 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Air delivers incredible battery life with amazing performance, so you can power through a full day of classes without worrying about plugging in.
- A BRILLIANT 13.6-INCH DISPLAY* — The gorgeous Liquid Retina display on MacBook Air supports 1 billion colors, making photos and videos pop with rich contrast and sharp detail, and text appears supercrisp. So everything — from class presentations to movies to games — looks truly stunning.
2. Check Apple Certified Refurbished
Apple’s Certified Refurbished Mac store has listed 13-inch and 15-inch M4 MacBook Air models. Inventory is configuration-specific and may disappear without notice, so do not assume that a particular color, memory level, or storage capacity will remain available.
Check the screen size, memory, SSD, GPU-core count, finish, keyboard layout, delivery date, and warranty and return terms shown at checkout. Apple-refurbished units are different from retailer-refurbished products because the seller and refurbishment process are different.
3. Consider retailer-refurbished or open-box stock
Retailer-refurbished and open-box M4 models may cost less, but condition and support vary. Confirm:
Rank #4
- BUILT FOR COLLEGE. AND BEYOND — MacBook Air with the M5 chip packs blazing speed and powerful AI capabilities into an incredibly portable design. And with up to 18 hours of battery life,* this thin and light powerhouse is ready to take on almost any major, just about anywhere.
- TEAR THROUGH TOUGH ASSIGNMENTS — With its faster CPU and unified memory, the M5 chip delivers even more performance and fluidity across apps, making multitasking and creative workflows smooth and responsive. A powerful Neural Engine and next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerators give you a powerful platform for AI.
- MAKE QUICK WORK OF YOUR TO-DO LIST — Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly — whether it’s for school or everyday life. With groundbreaking privacy protections, it gives you peace of mind that no one else can access your data — not even Apple.*
- UP TO 18 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Air delivers incredible battery life with amazing performance, so you can power through a full day of classes without worrying about plugging in.
- A BRILLIANT 13.6-INCH DISPLAY* — The gorgeous Liquid Retina display on MacBook Air supports 1 billion colors, making photos and videos pop with rich contrast and sharp detail, and text appears supercrisp. So everything — from class presentations to movies to games — looks truly stunning.
- Who inspected or refurbished the computer.
- Whether battery health is disclosed.
- That the correct charger and cable are included.
- Whether Apple’s original warranty remains or a retailer warranty replaces it.
- How long you have to return it and who pays return shipping.
- That the exact model number, memory, storage, and condition are identified.
Which M4 MacBook Air should you choose?
13-inch versus 15-inch
- Choose 13-inch for lower cost, easier travel, commuting, or use with an external monitor.
- Choose 15-inch for a larger workspace, spreadsheets, timelines, and side-by-side documents. It is less portable and cost more at launch.
Memory and storage
- 16GB/256GB: Suitable for ordinary browsing, schoolwork, office applications, streaming, and basic productivity if most files live in the cloud or on external storage.
- 16GB/512GB: More practical if you keep more applications, photos, documents, or creative files locally.
- 24GB or 32GB: Worth considering for heavier multitasking, software development, large creative projects, or a longer ownership period.
- 1TB or 2TB: Better for large media libraries and workflows that cannot conveniently use external storage.
Unified memory is not normally upgradeable after purchase, so choose enough at checkout. Storage can be supplemented with cloud storage or an external SSD, but that may be less convenient than buying sufficient internal capacity.
M4 versus M5
Apple introduced the M5 MacBook Air in March 2026, making it the current generation as of August 2026. Choose M5 when the price difference is small, you want the current model, or you expect to keep the laptop for many years. Consider M4 when the discount is substantial and your needs are ordinary productivity, study, browsing, coding, or media consumption.
Compare the complete configuration, not just the chip name. An M4 with more memory or storage can be a better fit than a base M5 for a particular workload. Do not infer a precise performance difference without model-specific testing.
Important checks before ordering
- Generation: Confirm the listing says M4, not simply “MacBook Air.”
- Condition: Distinguish new, open-box, renewed, and refurbished.
- Configuration: Confirm screen size, memory, SSD capacity, and GPU-core count.
- Seller: Prefer Apple, an authorized retailer, or a clearly identified retailer over an unverified marketplace seller.
- Warranty and returns: Read the exact coverage and return deadline.
- Accessories: Verify the included charger, especially when comparing different listings.
- Keyboard: Check the keyboard language and regional layout.
- Delivery: Treat the displayed date as an estimate, not an absolute guarantee.
The M4 Air supports up to two external displays in addition to its built-in display, according to Apple. Actual results can depend on monitor resolution, refresh rate, adapters, and dock compatibility. If you need more than two external displays or sustained professional workloads, investigate a MacBook Pro or another actively cooled computer instead. The Air is fanless, so sustained demanding workloads may be less suitable than on a machine with active cooling.
Apple Intelligence and software support
Apple stated that Apple Intelligence was supported on Macs with the M1 chip or later, including the M4 Air. However, features depend on the operating-system version, supported language, region, and rollout status. “Supports Apple Intelligence” does not mean every feature is available everywhere. Check Apple’s current software requirements before buying if those features are important to you.
Quick Recap
What to do if your preferred M4 is unavailable
- Check Apple Certified Refurbished.
- Search authorized retailers and established retailers’ open-box sections.
- Search for the exact configuration instead of only “M4 MacBook Air.”
- Try another finish or storage tier if those are the only differences.
- Compare the total price with an equivalent M5 before accepting an inflated older-generation price.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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