Somehow, it’s been almost four years since Apple redesigned the MacBook Air with a Retina display. This laptop got a big performance update in late 2020 as one of the first computers to ship with Apple’s M1 silicon, but lately the device has started to feel long in the tooth. As expected, Apple is updating the MacBook Air today with the newly announced M2 chip inside and a larger 13.6-inch screen. It also includes MagSafe for the first time in years, just like the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro that Apple launched last fall. It also has two Thunderbolt ports (now you don’t have to give up one to charge) and a headphone jack.
The M2 chip includes an 8-core CPU, up to 10-core GPU, and up to 24GB of RAM, though the base model will certainly come with less. The new Air has a small notch, just like the MacBook Pro, and this notch contains a 1080p webcam that Apple says has twice the resolution and twice the low-light performance of the previous MacBook Air camera. The keyboard also mimics that of the new MacBook Pro, with a full-size function key row.
Its design is also reminiscent of the new MacBook Pro, with a slightly more square body, and for the first time, the MacBook Air is not a conical wedge design like all previous models. It is still extremely thin and comes in at 2.7 pounds, a little less than the old model. The colors have also been adjusted, although unfortunately we did not get the bright iMac-style colors that were rumored. Instead, we’re looking at silver, space gray, “starlight,” and “midnight.”
The MacBook Air is sadly more expensive than before. It starts at $ 1,199, $ 200 more than the old model. There is no word on when exactly it will be shipped, but they said it will be shipped next month. And the old M1-powered MacBook Air will stay on the line for $ 999.
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