The MacBook Air throttles hard in hot climates.

Yes, performance drops noticeably at 35°C ambient. The Air has no fan, so it relies entirely on passive cooling — the aluminum chassis dissipates heat. In 25°C room, it works fine for most tasks. At 35°C, the chassis can’t shed heat fast enough, so the CPU/GPU quickly hits thermal limits and downclocks.

You’ll feel it: stuttering in video calls, slower exports, lag in Lightroom. Even a simple Safari session can start to warm up the keyboard deck. Sustained loads (compiling code, rendering video, gaming) will see the biggest drops — think 20–40% slower than the rated performance.

If you regularly work in hot climates (or outside in summer), the MacBook Pro with a fan is a much better choice. It will still throttle a bit, but it sustains performance far longer. The Air is fine for intermittent tasks, but it is not a machine built for heat.

Don’t buy an Air if your workspace is routinely above 30°C.