Apple MacBook Air M3 prices — South Africa vs the US and UK

South African retailers launched Apple’s new M3-powered MacBook Air models on Friday, 15 March 2024, with prices lower than UK residents pay.

However, pricing in the US is significantly cheaper than what South Africans pay across all configurations.

South African retailers DigiCape, iStore, and Incredible have all revealed pricing for the new MacBook Air models, starting from R25,999.

Apple unveiled its M3-powered MacBook Airs in early March 2024. It said the M3 chips packed into the laptops are up to 60% faster than the M1 chip released in 2020.

The Cupertino-based tech company also said the new MacBook Air models are up to 13 times faster than the last Intel-based MacBook Air.

The chip is available in two configurations: one with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU and the other with the same CPU core count but a 10-core GPU.

However, the lower-specced M3 chip is only reserved for the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Air. The base model features a 256GB SSD and 8GB of unified memory.

All other configurations get the higher-specced SoC. These are as follows:

• 13-inch MacBook Air M3 — 512GB SSD; 8GB unified memory
• 13-inch MacBook Air M3 — 512GB SSD; 16GB unified memory
• 15-inch MacBook Air M3 — 256GB SSD; 8GB unified memory
• 15-inch MacBook Air M3 — 512GB SSD; 8GB unified memory
• 15-inch Macbook Air M3 — 512GB SSD; 16GB unified memory

South African prices versus the US and UK

MyBroadband compared the cost of buying 13-inch and 15-inch M3 MacBook Pros in South Africa to US and UK pricing for the laptops.

US residents get the best pricing of the three for the new MacBook Air, with the entry-level model costing roughly R4,200 less than in South Africa.

Moreover, Apple fans living in the US can get the mid-range 13-inch MacBook Air M3, with an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 512GB of storage, and 8GB of RAM for less than South Africans pay for the entry-level model.

Similarly, US residents can get the entry-level 15-inch model for less than South Africans pay for the smaller entry-level configuration.

Across the range, US pricing is between R4,200 and R6,300 less than in South Africa.

On the other hand, M3 MacBook Air pricing in the UK is more expensive than in South Africa for all but one of the configurations.

UK residents can get the 13-inch M3 MacBook Air with the 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 512GB SSD, and 8GB of RAM for R30,929.19 — just under R70 less than in South Africa.

However, UK pricing is between R168 and R692 more expensive than in South Africa.

The table below compares South African pricing for various M3 MacBook Air configurations to US and UK pricing.

We converted prices in each respective currency to rands. US pricing uses an average combined sales tax of 6.35%.