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MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) vs Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023)

MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024)1Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023)2

Quick look

Quick look: MacBook Air M3 against Mac Studio M2 Max
FigureMacBook Air M31Mac Studio M2 Max2
Price£1,2993launch price£2,0994launch price
ChipM3chipM2 Maxchip
CPU8-coreCPU12-coreCPU
GPU10-coreGPU30-coreGPU
Memory8GB5unified memory, base32GBunified memory, base
Storage256GBstorage, base512GBstorage, base
Battery lifeUp to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed Not available6No battery
Released8 March 20243ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 4 March 2024.13 June 20234ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 5 June 2023.
Security updatesNot available7Security updatesNot available7Security updates
Price
The MacBook Air M3 is £1,299 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK); the Mac Studio M2 Max is £2,099 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
Kind of Mac
The MacBook Air M3 is a laptop; the Mac Studio M2 Max is a desktop. The MacBook Air M3 has a built-in 15.3-inch display, a camera and a battery, whereas the Mac Studio M2 Max has none of them.

True to scale

MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) · 340.4 × 237.6 mm footprintMac Studio (M2 Max, 2023) · 197 × 95 mm front

A laptop and a desktop are different shapes, so they stand side by side rather than superposed: the footprint of one and the front face of the other, from Apple’s published dimensions, at one scale. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.

Specifications

Each figure is from the source marked by its Mac’s name unless it carries its own small number, which links to where that figure was read.

Body

Body: Apple MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) against Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023)
SpecificationMacBook Air M31Mac Studio M2 Max2
Dimensions11.5 x 340.4 x 237.6 mm95 x 197 x 197 mm
Weight1.51 kg2.7 kg
ColoursSilver, Starlight, Space Grey, MidnightSilver
PortsTwo Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, MagSafe 3 port, 3.5mm headphone jackFour Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports (up to 5Gb/s), HDMI port, 10Gb Ethernet, 3.5mm headphone jack; on front (M2 Max): two USB-C ports (up to 10Gb/s), SDXC card slot (UHS-II)
Thunderbolt ports824
Thunderbolt versionThunderbolt 3Thunderbolt 4
USB-A portsNo USB-A ports.92
HDMINo HDMI port.10HDMI port
SD card slotNo SD card slot.10Yes
Headphone jackYesYes
MagSafeYesNot available11
KeyboardBacklit Magic Keyboard with Touch IDNot available12
Touch IDYesNot available13

Display

Display: Apple MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) against Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023)
SpecificationMacBook Air M31Mac Studio M2 Max2
Display size15.3 inNot available14
Resolution2880 x 1864Not available14
Pixel density224 ppiNot available14
Display typeLiquid Retina displayNot available14
Brightness500 nitsNot available14
Wide colour (P3)YesNot available14
Nano-texture optionNo nano-texture display option.10Not available14

Chip and memory

Chip and memory: Apple MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) against Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023)
SpecificationMacBook Air M31Mac Studio M2 Max2
ChipApple M3 chipApple M2 Max chip
Apple siliconYesYes
CPU cores812
Performance cores48
Efficiency cores44
GPU cores1030
Neural Engine cores1616
Chip optionsM3 with 8-core CPU and 10-core GPUM2 Max with 12-core CPU and 30-core GPU, or M2 Max with 12-core CPU and 38-core GPU15
Memory (base)8GB532GB
Memory (maximum)24GB596GB15
Memory options8GB, 16GB or 24GB532GB, 64GB or 96GB (96GB with 38-core GPU)15
Memory upgradeable by userNo, as Apple documents16Not available17
Memory bandwidth100 GB/s400 GB/s
Storage (base)256GB512GB
Storage (maximum)2TB8TB15
Storage options256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB15
Media engineHardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode engineHardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginetwo video encode enginestwo ProRes encode and decode engines

Battery and power

Battery and power: Apple MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) against Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023)
SpecificationMacBook Air M31Mac Studio M2 Max2
Battery capacity66.5 WhNot available6
Rated charge cycles1,000 cycles18Not available6
Video playback (claimed)18 hNot available6
Wireless web (claimed)15 hNot available6
Included power adapter35 WNot available19
Fast chargingYesNot available6
Maximum continuous powerNot available20370 W

Connectivity

Connectivity: Apple MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) against Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023)
SpecificationMacBook Air M31Mac Studio M2 Max2
Wi-FiWi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax)Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Bluetooth5.35.3
EthernetNo Ethernet port.1010Gb Ethernet (Nbase-T Ethernet with support for 1Gb, 2.5Gb, 5Gb and 10Gb Ethernet using RJ-45 connector)
External displays (base)1215

Camera and audio

Camera and audio: Apple MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) against Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023)
SpecificationMacBook Air M31Mac Studio M2 Max2
Camera1080p FaceTime HD cameraNot available22
SpeakersSix-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofersBuilt-in speaker23
MicrophonesThree-mic array with directional beamformingNot available17

Platform

Platform: Apple MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) against Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023)
SpecificationMacBook Air M31Mac Studio M2 Max2
Shipped withNot available24macOS Ventura25
Newest macOSmacOS 27 Golden Gate26macOS 27 Golden Gate26
Model identifierMac15,1327Mac14,1328
Model year20242023

Sources

  1. Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs · Default for MacBook Air M3 · Apple’s figure · read 14 Sep 2026

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  2. Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2023) - Tech Specs · Default for Mac Studio M2 Max · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026

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  3. Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils the new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air with the powerful M3 chip · Apple’s figure · read 14 Sep 2026

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  4. Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new Mac Studio and brings Apple silicon to Mac Pro · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026

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  5. Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 2 Oct 2026

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  6. Doesn’t apply: no battery

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  7. Security updates: no end date published. Checked: endoflife.date. Read 22 Sep 2026

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  8. Different Thunderbolt generations. MacBook Air M3: Thunderbolt 3. Mac Studio M2 Max: Thunderbolt 4.

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  9. MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024): No USB-A ports. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs. Read 14 Sep 2026

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  10. MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No nano-texture display option. No Ethernet port. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs. Read 9 Oct 2026

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  11. Doesn’t apply: MagSafe is a notebook charging port

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  12. Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard

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  13. Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard, and Touch ID is a keyboard feature

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  14. Doesn’t apply: no built-in display

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  15. Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2023) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 2 Oct 2026

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  16. Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026

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  17. Not published by Apple. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2023) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new Mac Studio and brings Apple silicon to Mac Pro; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model. Read 9 Oct 2026

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  18. Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops · Apple’s figure · read 15 Oct 2026

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  19. Doesn’t apply: internal power supply, no power adapter in the box

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  20. Doesn’t apply: a notebook lists its power adapter, not a maximum continuous power

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  21. Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 11 Oct 2026

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  22. Doesn’t apply: no built-in camera

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  23. Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2023) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 9 Oct 2026

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  24. Not published by Apple. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils the new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air with the powerful M3 chip; Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers. Read 9 Oct 2026

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  25. Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new Mac Studio and brings Apple silicon to Mac Pro · Apple’s figure · read 9 Oct 2026

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  26. Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers · Apple’s figure · read 22 Sep 2026

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  27. Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model · Apple’s figure · read 14 Sep 2026

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  28. Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026

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Not published by Apple

MacBook Air M3. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: refresh rate, storage upgradeable by user. Geekbench 7: the Mac chart has no entry for this Mac, so no figures are shown (chart read 10 Oct 2026). Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils the new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air with the powerful M3 chip; Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers, read 9 Oct 2026.

Mac Studio M2 Max. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user. Geekbench 7: the Mac chart lists the Mac Studio M2 Max only with a 38-core GPU, not the 30-core GPU this Mac has, so no figures are shown (chart read 10 Oct 2026). Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2023) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new Mac Studio and brings Apple silicon to Mac Pro; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model, read 9 Oct 2026.

If you own one of them

Whether to move is a different question from which is better. Each Mac has a page on it: what its successor changes (the newest Mac in its line where Apple sells one, otherwise the Mac this site treats as its replacement, which can be in another line), what it fetches and whether it still gets updates. Should I upgrade my MacBook Air M3 (15-inch, 2024)? · Should I upgrade my Mac Studio M2 Max (2023)?

The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.