MacBook Air – Worth The Weight
Apple announced the latest MacBook Air with a sleek new design, super-fast processor, and a choice of four eye-catching colors.
Here’s a breakdown of the top features:
- M2 Processor – 2nd generation Apple Silicon. 1.4X speed of the M1 MacBook Air, and 15X speed of the last Intel MacBook Air.
- Battery Life – Up to 18 hours.
- Pros Res – ProRes video encode and decode. 4K and 8K.
- New Design – Sleek lighter design. 2.7 pounds and .44″ thin.
- Storage – Solid State storage up to 2TB.
- Display – 13.6″ liquid retina display. 500nits brightness. Largest and brightest display ever on a MacBook Air.
- Camera – 1080P FaceTime HD camera with 3 mic array.
- Sound – Four speakers with spatial audio capability.
- Keyboard – Magic keyboard with a full‑height function key row and Touch ID. Larger trackpad.
- Power Port – MagSafe power connector.
- Thunderbolt – 2 Thunderbolt ports. Works with 6K display.
- Headphone Jack – Supports high impedance headphones.
Available configurations include 8-Core CPU and 8-Core GPU or 8-Core CPU and 10-Core GPU.
- Up to 24GB of unified memory.
- Up to 2TB of high-speed SSD storage.
- Choice of 35W dual USB-C port compact power charger or 67W USB-C power charger.
- 4 Finishes – Midnight, Space Grey, Silver, and Starlight.
Prices start at $1,199 and range to $2,499 for a fully loaded model.
The new M2 MacBook Air is expected to be available later this month.
Check out the factors we consider when buying a new Mac.
One More Thing. . . 13″ M2 MacBook Pro
Apple updated the 13″ MacBook Pro with the new M2 chip.
In terms of raw power, there appears to be little to distinguish the Pro from the Air. The Air has a better camera, Mag-Safe, a slightly larger display, and is a lot lighter than the Pro. I can’t find a single compelling reason to buy the Pro instead of the Air. Let me know if you agree in the Comments section below.
The new M2 MacBook Pro is expected to be available later this month.
Apple provide more details here on the 13″ M2 MacBook Pro’s features.
In future posts, I’ll take a look at the highlights of the new operating systems expected in the fall; iOS 16 and macOS Ventura.
Have a good weekend.
