Apple launches MacBook Air laptops with faster M3 chips

Apple on Monday unveiled a pair of new MacBook Air laptops with its latest M3 processors, betting that the more powerful models would attract consumers looking to upgrade to artificial intelligence-powered personal computers.

The new MacBook Air models come with 13-inch and 15-inch screen sizes and are up to 60 percent faster than the model with Apple's M1 processor, the company said on its website.

Prices for the smaller model start at $1,099 in the United States, while the base version of the bigger MacBook Air costs $1,299.

Both are available for order from Monday, with deliveries set to begin later this week, said Apple, which has since 2020 used its own chip after parting ways with Intel .

The introduction of AI-enabled PCs is expected to help drive a recovery in the PC market in 2024 after a more than two-year, post-pandemic slump.

Its Mac sales were up slightly at $7.78 billion in the last reported quarter after slumping by a third in the previous quarter.