A leaked Geekbench benchmark for Apple's upcoming MacBook Air M4 reveals impressive GPU performance that nearly matches its pricier Pro sibling, suggesting excellent value for mainstream users.
The benchmark shows the M4-powered MacBook Air achieving a Metal score of 54,806, handily outperforming the current M3 Air's score of 41,045. More surprisingly, this result comes within just 5% of the base MacBook Pro M4's score of 57,603.
The tested MacBook Air model, identified as "Mac16,12", features Apple's latest M4 chip with its 10-core GPU, complete with Dynamic Caching, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and mesh shading capabilities. The configuration includes 24GB of Unified Memory.
While the MacBook Pro maintains advantages like active cooling through its fan system compared to the Air's fanless design, the minimal performance gap is notable given the $500 price difference between starting models.
Industry watchers expect the new MacBook Air to debut soon, possibly in March, as current Air inventory levels decrease at Apple retail locations. The refreshed lineup will likely maintain the existing 13-inch and 15-inch form factors while gaining the M4's enhanced capabilities.
The M4 chip brings a 10-core CPU paired with the 10-core GPU, plus an upgraded Neural Engine capable of 38 trillion operations per second to better support Apple's AI features.
For users considering an upgrade, these early performance indicators suggest the MacBook Air M4 could deliver exceptional value with near-Pro level graphics capabilities in its signature slim, fan-less design. However, final real-world performance remains to be seen once the device officially launches.