Apple iPad Air M3 launch live updates – and is a new MacBook Air still coming too?

Seemingly channeling his inner Phil Collins, Apple CEO Tim Cook took to X (formerly Twitter) to post the words "This week" alongside a six-second teaser video that features the words "There’s something in the Air" and a thin blue line that cuts through the last word.

To me and my esteemed colleagues here at TechRadar that would point towards a somewhat imminent announcement of a new MacBook Air, like a refreshed version of the current 13-inch and 15-inch Air laptops with the core addition being Apple's latest M4 chip.

Such specualtion is backed up by Bloomberg reporter and accurate Apple tipster Mark Gurman reporting that Apple is set to announce the MacBook Air M4 any day now.

Gurman also noted that the rumored iPad 11 and a next-generation iPad Air “probably won’t come in the next few days.” Which would indicate what Apple may reveal this week are new MacBook Airs.

Of course, I and others don't know this for sure as Apple remains as tight-lipped as ever, so this article will act as a one-stop-shop for the latest rumors, opinion and speculation so far building into what could be a decent-sized Apple announcement on the horizon.

Let's get into it.

The latest news

• Apple has just announced a new iPad Air M3 with a new Magic Keyboard
• The mid-range tablet comes in 11-inch and 13-inch versions
• We're still awaited the much-rumored MacBook Air M4

Hello. Mobile Computing Managing Editor Roland Moore-Colyer here to take you through the Apple rumors and TechRadar musings so far. I've been covering such Apple announcements and major Apple events for years, so I feel I'm qualified to have a good ol' stab at speculating what we might see from Apple this week.

Thinking differently...

In days gone by, Apple would normally have a couple of big events a year with an in-person or live streamed event that would usually see the reveal of a handful of products around specific categories, such as phones, tablets and computers.

But as the crew at Cupertino have started to push out ever-more iterative updates to Apple's product lines, these events have given away to announcements on social media and Apple's own newsroom page. To me this lacks the spectacle but does give us regular Apple announcements to chew over.

The last Apple announcement of the newsroom ilk came in the form of the iPhone 16e reveal. Apple simply posted an information drop on its website and had the phone up for pre-order pretty sharpish.

There was a decent amount of information to chew over but one could argue the announcement lacked Cupertino's normal appetite for showmanship. I expect the announcement this week to be very similar to that of the iPhone 16e's.

Expect M4 chip power

So what do I and others expect to see from the Apple announcement? Well as discussed it'll very likely be a pair of new MacBook Air laptops.

While the current pair of MacBook Airs are hardly old, having been refreshed last year with the M3 chip, they don't sport the very latest chips; those can be found in the MacBook Pro 14-inch and MacBook Pro 16-inch.

Those models rock the 'Pro' version of the M4 chip, so we can expect to see non-pro version come to refreshed Airs.

As someone still using the MacBook Air M2, which is a fantastic little laptop that's going very strong after two years of consistent use, I'm not overly convinced Apple really needs to refresh the Air lineup on just a specs basis.

But Apple is Apple, and minor refreshes to its products are to be expected... if not exactly desired.

I'd like a new design for the MacBook Air please Apple

Having said that I love the MacBook Air M2, I'd not mind a few tweaks to the slim laptop's design. A 14-inch display, perhaps facilitated by some narrowing of the display bezels and a trimming down of the display notch, would definitely get my attention.

I love the LCD Retina display on my Air M2, but it can feel a tad cramped at times when I'm trying to get work done on the go and at speed.

But there are no rumors indicating to a reworked MacBook Air design. So I'm not going to hold my breath and expect the display notch to have been given a nip and a tuck.

Equally, one can never be 100% sure when it comes to Apple. And the MacBook Air's design language is a bit long in the tooth for tech standards. So perhaps we could be in for a surprise.

Other areas for MacBook Air improvement could come in the form of a refreshed keyboard. I love the keyboard on my Air, and my fingers fly across it when I'm writing at speed.

However, there's not the deepest of key travel and sometimes I feel the keyboard lacks the tactile feel of the amazing keyboard on the Microsoft Surface Laptop models; those balanced snappy responses with a decent bit of travel to make for a wonderfully tactile experience; I feel nostalgic for my old Surface Laptop 2.

On the flipside, I'd not want Apple to mess with the Force Touch trackpad, which is basically the best trackpad I've used on any laptop.

It's big, smooth and responsive and I adore it. Force Touch is an odd name however...

Other design changes and upgrades I'd like to see could come in the form of faster charging; the MacBook Air is by no means a slouch when sucking up electrical juice but it's not amazingly quick either.

I'd also not mind a few more ports. An extra USB-C slot would be appreciated, especially if Apple adds it to the right-hand side where there's seemingly loads of spare space.

And while I doubt Apple will ever do it, I'd love to see a full-sized SD card slot on the next-generation MacBook Air, as that would make transferring photos from my DSLR to macOS far easier than it currently is for me.

A final request for a MacBook Air upgrade would be a move to OLED displays. I feel Apple could thread the line of balancing bolder display tech with energy efficiency.

But if such an upgrade was coming this year I reckon the rumor mill would have been churning it out by now; we've heard no whispers.

When I'm in the office I use a Samsung laptop with an OLED display and adore how rich its colors are, and that deep contrast OLED offers. So there's potential here, but I suspect Apple will keep OLED panels for its MacBook Pros for a good few years still.

Dialing in my specualtion, the obvious upgrade for the MacBook Air, and one that I've mentioned earlier, would be an M4 chip.

We've already seen this system-on-a-chip get used in the latest versions of the iPad Pro, Mac mini and iMac, so it makes sense for new MacBook Air models to get it.

I highly doubt Apple will have tweaked the silicon to work any differently for the MacBook Airs than these other devices, though there's sure to be more headroom to push the chipset a little harder in a laptop chassis than in the iPad Pro.

Speaking from my experience with the MacBook Air M2, I'm rather unfussed on the next-generation Air having a dollop more power.

My Air has enough grunt to deal with basically any everyday task I throw at it. I opted for the model with 8GB of RAM and I don't think it's ever felt slow. Sure, it won't churn through the handful of proper PC games macOS supports, but it can run the excellent Baldur's Gate 3 so one might argue what more does one need...

Then again, I'm not a huge user of the AI-powered Apple Intelligence tools, which I suspect will only get more demanding as they advance.

So having M4 power could certainly make a new MacBook Air more futureproof.

Speaking of AI, I'd expect Apple announcement to lean hard on talking about Apple Intelligence and its integration into macOS, along with how an M4 chip-equipped Air will be poised perfectly to crunch through onboard AI tasks.

Not sure that'll rock my world but I stand ready to be entertained and informed.

Right, enough chatter about my thoughts on the MacBook Air. Let's take a closer look at the video Tim Cook posted. Check it out below.

As I mentioned earlier, the blue line that strikes through the word 'Air' has the look of a MacBook Air when closed, so would point towards a revealed of a new Air models.

Don't expect a new iPad Air this week

But then maybe Apple could go a bit rogue and reveal a new iPad Air.

However, putting aside Gurman's speculation that new iPads won't get revealed this week, I'm not convinced we'll see a new iPad Air this week. The Apple iPad Air 13-inch got launched last year to critical acclaim from TechRadar and others.

That iPad uses the M2 chip, so is arguably due a specs boost. But I'm not sure the iPad Air necessarily need a lot more power. For power-users the M4-equipped iPad Pros exist, albeit at pretty high prices.

Then again, giving a refreshed iPad Air an M3 chip would be one way for Apple to use up any M3 chips it had lying around and give it something else to announce. If that's the case, then I tend to agree with Gruman and don't expect to see a new iPad Air get revealed today; likely Apple will keep such an announcement in its back pocket for a reveal later.

I reckon Apple's announcement will come on Wednesday

So when do I think Apple will make an announcement? I'm predicting Wednesday.

Historically, Apple has favored Tuesdays for its product launches, but the iPhone 16e was launched on Wednesday, February 20. And my gut instinct tells me Apple could drop its announcement tomorrow, which would be two weeks on from the last announcement.

I feel that makes sense as it give some room for the nws to breathe before we get into the weekend. Of course, I could be totally wrong.

As an FYI, I'm keeping an eye on the Apple Newsroom webpage, just in case Apple suddenly drops its announcement today.

The page for the MacBook Air M3 is still up and running. Usually if there's a product drop that's imminently imminent, then Apple tends to have a message saying its updating the store.

Equally, pre-orders for a new MacBook Air might not go live on the same day as the announcement. Watch this space.

Apple announces... a new iPad Air M3

Well, that wasn't quite the MacBook-flavored news we were expecting, but we'll take it for now – Apple has just announced a new iPad Air with an M3 chip plus a new Magic Keyboard.

The new Air comes in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes – and the chip upgrade hasn't affected its price tag either, with the prices starting at the usual $599 (11-inch) and $799 (13-inch). The new Magic Keyboard, meanwhile, has a bigger built-in trackpad and a new 14-key function row.

Will the new iPad Air be an option for those waiting for the new MacBook Air M4? Probably not, judging by our Managing editor Matt Hansen's experiences when swapping his laptop for an iPad. But Apple's new Air certainly looks like a compelling mid-range tablet option.

The only question now is when we'll see that MacBook Air M4...