The M4 MacBook Air is anticipated as Apple’s next light and fast laptop, and a recent benchmark suggests that the device may have mild performance improvements over the lastest MacBook Pro.
Apple is expected to announce the coming laptop in 13-inch and 15-inch models in the March timeframe. A device suspected to be the M4 MacBook Air surfaced on the Geekbench 6 benchmark on February 19, revealing results that experts are comparing to other Apple products, including the M4 MacBook Pro and the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro.
Results of the Geekbench 6 Metal benchmark revealed a device with macOS 15.2, a ten-core M4 chip, and 24GB of unified RAM. In particular, the SoC configuration includes four performance and six power-efficiency cores, with no modifications to the CPU clock speeds, Wccftech noted.
The device is referenced as Mac16,12, a never-before-seen naming scheme– which many are assuming is a codename for the M4 MacBook Air.
As for the benchmark scores, the laptop received a score of 54,806, approximately 5 percent slower than the M4 MacBook Pro. This still shows an improvement in the development of the M4 MacBook Air, considering both devices run the same chip. Overall, pundits note that users will likely not notice a difference in performance between the two laptops in everyday functioning. Prior Geekbench Metal tests have shown the M4 MacBook Pro scores at 57,596.
Though many are sure of the legitimacy of the recent benchmark, we keep in mind that scores on unreleased products cannot be confirmed.
The laptops are strategically marketed toward different styles of users. MacBook Air models are geared toward light browsers, email checkers, and hobbyists. MacBook Pro models are targeted more toward power users that frequently navigate large programs and files on a desktop.
TechRadar noted that the M4 MacBook Air is better compared to the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro, which scored 54,064 on Geekbench. Notably, the tablet is known for having a thin design and fanless cooling, features that are also expected for the M4 MacBook Air.
