What does Apple’s MacBook Air M3, introduced last Friday, look like from the inside? The repair service provider iFixit now has its first Teardown on YouTube published. The 13-inch version is taken apart. One of the most important findings is the confirmation of an accelerated SSD in the base model, which had already been indicated in the benchmarks. This also affects the 15-inch version of Apple’s entry-level notebook, as iFixit has now added.
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Déjà vu all over again
The hardware already appears unchanged from the outside. There are very few surprises inside. As usual, Apple uses numerous screws and brackets to attach the individual elements. The battery is secured using pull tabs and, commendably, can be removed and replaced quite easily. As usual, the MacBook Air does not have a fan.
After reaching the motherboard, the central innovation becomes apparent – in addition to the new M3 SoC: the new basic model with a 256 GB SSD has two NAND chips installed and no longer just one. According to benchmarks from YouTuber MaxTech, the reading speed of the 256 GB model of the MacBook Air M3 is now around 2900 MB/s, the writing speed of the new model was around 2100 MB/s. This is roughly double the size of the M2 variant from 2022 (13 inches) and 2023 (15 inches).
Repair remains difficult
Even though Apple has the MacBook Air M3 like its predecessor will probably soon be integrated into its self-service repair program – working on the compact notebook is not for the faint of heart. Despite some improvements that iFixit noted in the design, the model only receives a repairability score of 5 out of 10 maximum possible points.
However, this is only a preliminary value, as the repair service provider still wants to test whether parts can be exchanged with each other – as is well known, Apple tends to mix components with each other. The MacBook Air M3 is available from Apple in Germany starting at 1300 euros. Retail prices are likely to become cheaper in the coming months. The new notebooks are also the topic of the last edition of the Mac & i podcast.
(bsc)