These three improvements could turn M4 MacBook Air into my dream laptop

While the MacBook Pro is the place to go for the latest and greatest tech, I’ve always been drawn to the MacBook Air for one key reason: portability. There’s just something really nice about the thinness and lightness of the MacBook Air, one that makes me willing to compromise on miniLED, ProMotion, additional ports, and so on.

The MacBook Air isn’t a perfect computer by any means, but there are some simple upgrades that I’d like to see Apple make with the M4 MacBook Air early next year. Any of these upgrades would make it a much better package in my book.

600 nit display

Apple’s recently been bumping the standard brightness on a bunch of their newer displays. M4 MacBook Pros got a bump to 1000 nits of standard brightness (vs 600 nits on M3 and 500 nits on M2), and the new M2 iPad Air also got a bump from 500 nits to 600 nits, at least on the 13-inch variant.

So, reasonably speaking, Apple could bump the next generation MacBook Air from 500 nits to 600 nits if they wanted to. It’d be in line with some of its other device upgrades, and it’d provide a solid usability upgrade to MacBook Air buyers. It’d be quite a compelling upgrade to a number of users, since the M4 model is expected to just be a spec bump.

Improved thermals

Apple has also been improving thermals across the board in devices that rely on passive cooling, most notably the iPhone 16 Pro and M4 iPad Pro. Both of these devices boasted improved thermals, whether that be graphite sheets, copper heatsinks, or an improved internal design.

A number of people have complained about thermals in the MacBook Air, which has been passively cooled ever since the Mac transitioned to Apple Silicon. I’m not here to say whether or not MacBook Air thermals enough, but I do notice my machine getting a little toasty under moderate workflows. Apple could definitely improve the thermals in the next MacBook Air, and I’m sure it’d make a lot of people happy.

Some users have even modified their MacBook Airs to extend peak performance before thermal throttling. While this is a safe and reversible mod, it most definitely violates your warranty if you need your MacBook serviced.

Center Stage camera

While this upgrade is likely a given, since the M4 iMac and M4 MacBook Pro already have it – I’d also really like to see Center Stage on the next MacBook Air. It makes for some really cool features, and better webcams are something that everyone can appreciate. Center Stage makes FaceTime more fun, and features like Desk View are decently useful.

Wrap up

These three upgrades would make MacBook Air a far more compelling package, at least to me. MacBook Pro (especially the 16″ model) is quite thick and heavy, and I really value having a nice thin-and-light laptop that I can just easily throw in a bag and not worry about. That’s ultimately why I stopped using a MacBook Pro.

Even if Apple made none of these changes, I’d still far prefer MacBook Air – but this is my wishlist. I currently use an M2 13-inch MacBook Air, and would like to take the jump up to a 15-inch. However, Apple will need to do more than a chip upgrade to convince me.

It’d be easy to ask for things like a 120Hz display, or even OLED like the new iPad Pro. However, this is also Apple’s cheapest laptop, so I prefer to be a bit more moderate with my suggestions.

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