It's also slightly lighter, at 2.7 pounds vs. The older MacBook Air's tapered shape had less visual weight and may look thinner, but the new model is indeed slimmer than its predecessor. It's also noticed whenever you slot it into a bag or carry it around. The Verge's Dan Seifert said he is "a fan of this new design," which he described as "remarkably thin" and "extremely portable": Yet it's remarkably thin - just a smidge over 11 millimeters - and that thinness is immediately noticeable when you open the lid and start typing on it. The new MacBook Air does away with the notebook's iconic wedge-shaped design in favor of a flatter design. In line with Apple's advertising, Geekbench 5 results show that the M2 chip delivers up to around 18% faster multi-core performance compared to the M1 model, while single-core performance is up to 11% faster. Jason Snell shared a variety of benchmarks for the new MacBook Air in his review at Six Colors.
The M2 Air is a better choice for the vast majority of people over the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro model, even though the Pro has slightly better performance and longer battery life. It's got a better screen, thinner and lighter design, better speakers, a much-improved webcam, an excellent keyboard and trackpad, more convenient charging, and excellent build quality.īut that success comes at a cost, literally, and the performance advancements over the M1 model aren't as stark as the design and feature improvements are.
The Verge's Dan Seifert said the new MacBook Air is "a success on virtually every level," but he said that customers looking to upgrade from an older notebook should still consider the previous MacBook Air with the M1 chip, which starts at $999: The new MacBook Air is a success on virtually every level. Once again, Apple has set a new standard for ultraportables. And thanks to Apple's M2 chip, it's also far speedier than the last model, a computer I called "stunningly fast" just a year-and-a-half ago. Compared to the M1, the M2 offers advancements in performance and efficiency with an 18 percent faster CPU, a 35 percent faster GPU, and a 40 percent faster Neural Engine.Įngadget's Devindra Hardawar said the new MacBook Air is "Apple's near-perfect Mac": The Air is impressively thin and light, but it also has a bigger and better screen, a great set of speakers and a nifty MagSafe power adapter. The M2 chip features an 8-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU, along with support for up to 24GB memory. It supports fast-charging with an optional 67W USB-C power adapter.Īpple's MacBook Air is equipped with a next-generation M2 chip, a follow up to the original M1. The battery in the MacBook Air lasts for up to 18 hours when watching movies or TV, and up to 15 hours when browsing the web. Two USB-C ports are available on the MacBook Air along with a MagSafe port for charging purposes and a 3.5mm headphone jack with support for high-impedance headphones. The MacBook Air continues to feature a black keyboard with Touch ID and a large Force Touch trackpad. The MacBook Air comes in Silver, Space Gray, Starlight, and Midnight, the latter of which is a new dark blue shade that's almost black. It also features a three-microphone array. Apple added a built-in four-speaker sound system that supports spatial audio and wide stereo.
There is a notch at the front of the MacBook Air display, which allows for more screen space around the updated 1080p FaceTime HD camera. Thin black bezels surround an updated 13.6-inch Liquid Retina Display that supports 1 billion colors and features 500 nits brightness, making it 25 percent brighter than before. It is just about the same size as the prior-generation model at 11.97 inches wide and 8.46 inches tall. The MacBook Air is 11.3mm thick, making it a bit thinner than the prior-generation MacBook Air, and it weighs 2.7 pounds. Instead, the MacBook Air adopts a uniform, flat body similar to the MacBook Pro. The 2022 MacBook Air looks entirely different from the prior-generation version, featuring an updated chassis that does away with the tapered design that the MacBook Air used for so long. Entry-Level MacBook Air Upgrade OptionsĪpple in June 2022 introduced an updated and redesigned MacBook Air that features the biggest design overhaul to the MacBook Air line since 2010, and the first use of the new M2 chip.Available Configurations and Upgrade Options.