MacBook Air (Apple silicon)
The MacBook Air is a line of Mac laptops made by Apple Inc. In 2020, Apple stopped using Intel processors in the Air and switched to using their own Apple silicon M-series chips. In the current product line, the MacBook Air is Apple's entry-level laptop, situated below the performance range MacBook Pro, and is currently sold with 13-inch and 15-inch screens.[1]
 | |
| Developer | Apple Inc. |
|---|---|
| Product family | MacBook |
| Type | Subnotebook |
| Release date |
|
| Operating system | macOS |
| System on a chip | Apple M-series |
| Predecessor | MacBook Air (Intel-based) 12-inch MacBook (indirect, fanless) |
| Related | MacBook Pro (Apple silicon) |
| Website | www.apple.com/macbook-air |
Apple released the MacBook Air with the Apple M1 system on a chip in November 2020. A redesigned model based on the Apple M2 chip was released in July 2022, and the first 15-inch MacBook Air was released in June 2023.[2]
M1 (2020)
On November 10, 2020, Apple announced an updated MacBook Air with an Apple-designed M1 system-on-a-chip (SoC), launched alongside an updated Mac Mini and 13-inch MacBook Pro as the first Macs with Apple's new line of custom ARM-based Apple silicon processors.[3] Apple released the device a week later, on November 17. The device uses a fanless design[4] and adds support for Wi-Fi 6, Thunderbolt 3/USB4 and Wide color (P3).[5] The M1 MacBook Air can only run one external display, compared to the previous Intel-based model which was capable of running two 4K displays.[6] The FaceTime camera remains 720p, drawing some criticism, but Apple advertises an improved image signal processor for higher quality video.[7]
Reception
The M1 MacBook Air received positive reviews, with much of the praise going to the capabilities of the M1 chip.
In his review for Engadget, Devindra Hardawar gave the MacBook Air a score of 94/100, praising the performance as "shockingly responsive" and highlighting the lack of fan noise and "excellent" keyboard and trackpad as among some of the pros. Other than that, he only lightly touched on the notebook's design and feel, citing the fact that it hadn't really changed much since the early 2020 MacBook Air. He did, however, praise the case as feeling "sturdy as ever".[8]
Writing for Wired, Julian Chokkattu bemoaned the fact that the Air only came with 2 USB-C ports, but praised the keyboard and battery life. He also lauded the fanless design, saying it was something he found himself "appreciating over and over again".[9]
The M1 MacBook Air has suffered some problems during its lifetime. Some users reported alarmingly high solid-state drive usage and wear, which drew a lot of attention, as if the drive failed, it could not be replaced by the user. Some USB-C docks also caused Apple Silicon MacBooks to stop working.[10]
During tests, the battery life of the MacBook Air was many hours short of Apple's claims, leading to some questioning the veracity of the claims. However, when the same tests were repeated with a lower brightness setting, the MacBook exceeded Apple's claims. During initial testing, the battery performance of the MacBook was so phenomenal, that Apple initially presumed the slow change of the battery meter to be a bug.[11]
Technical specifications
| Current |
| Model | M1, 2020[12] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Timeline | Announced | November 10, 2020 | |
| Released | November 17, 2020 | ||
| Discontinued | In production | June 6, 2022[13] | |
| Support status | Supported | ||
| Model details | Model identifier | MacBookAir10,1 | |
| Model number (on underside) | A2337 | ||
| Part/order number (color) | MGN63 (Space Gray), MGN93 (Silver), MGND3 (Gold) | MGN73 (Space Gray), MGNA3 (Silver), MGNE3 (Gold) | |
| Display | Surface | Glossy display | |
| Display size | 13.3 in (340 mm) (diagonal) | ||
| Native resolution | 2560 × 1600 | ||
| Pixel density (ppi) | 227 | ||
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 | ||
| Supported UI scaling resolutions | UI: 1680 × 1050 | Display: 3360 × 2100 UI: 1440 × 900 | Display: 2880 × 1800 (Default) UI: 1280 × 800 | Display: 2560 × 1600 (Native) UI: 1024 × 640 | Display: 2048 × 1280 | ||
| Brightness ( cd⁄m2) | 400 | ||
| Color gamut support | Display P3 | ||
| True tone display | Supported | ||
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | ||
| Performance and storage | |||
| System on a chip | Apple M1 | ||
| CPU cores | 4 × 3.2 GHz Performance Cores (Firestorm) and 4 × 2.064 GHz Efficiency Cores (Icestorm), 8-core overall | ||
| Cache | Performance Cores: 192 KB L1i, 128 KB L1d, 12 MB shared L2 Efficiency Cores: 128 KB L1i, 64 KB L1d, 4 MB shared L2 System Level Cache: 8 MB | ||
| GPU cores | 7-core Apple G13G (112 EUs, 896 ALUs) | 8-core Apple G13G (128 EUs, 1024 ALUs) | |
| Neural engine | 16-core (11 Trillion operations per second) | ||
| Cooling system | Aluminum heat spreader, no fan included | ||
| Memory type | 128-bit Dual Channel LPDDR4X-4266 Unified Memory (68.25 GB/s) | ||
| Memory capacity | 8 GB, not upgradeable Optional 16 GB at time of purchase, not upgradable after | ||
| SSD type | PCIe-based SSD | ||
| SSD capacity at time of purchase, not upgradable after[14] | 256 GB Optional 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB (128 GB available for educational institutions only) |
512 GB Optional 1 TB or 2 TB | |
| Keyboard and trackpad | Keyboard type | Backlit Magic Keyboard with (scissor-switch) mechanism and ambient light sensor | |
| Number of keys | 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 function keys and 4 arrow keys in an inverted-T arrangement | ||
| Trackpad | Force Touch Trackpad | ||
| Touch Bar | No | ||
| Secure authentication | Touch ID | Yes | |
| Video and Audio | Video camera | 720p FaceTime HD Camera with advanced image signal processor with computational video | |
| Speaker | Stereo speakers with wider stereo sound | ||
| Dolby Atmos playback | Supported | ||
| Microphone | Three-mic array with directional beam-forming | ||
| 3.5 mm headphone jack | Included | ||
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 | ||
| Ports | 2 × Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C 4) ports supporting charging and DisplayPort protocols among others. No eGPU support[15] Transmission speeds up to 40 Gbps (Thunderbolt 3 or USB4) and 10 Gbps (3.1 Gen 2) | ||
| External display support | One display up to 6016x3384 at 60 Hz | ||
| Power | Battery | Non-removable lithium-ion polymer 11.4 V 49.9 W·h (4,379 mA·h)[16] | |
| Battery cycle count[17] | 1000 | ||
| Included power adapter | 30 W USB-C power adapter | ||
| Greenhouse gas emissions | 161 kg CO2e[18] | 181 kg CO2e[18] | |
| Dimensions and weight | Width | 11.97 in (30 cm) | |
| Depth | 8.36 in (21.2 cm) | ||
| Height | 0.16 in (0.4 cm) to 0.63 in (1.6 cm) | ||
| Weight | 2.8 lb (1.29 kg) | ||
| Operating system | Initial release | macOS 11 Big Sur | |
| Latest release | macOS 14 Sonoma | ||
M2 (2022)
On June 6, 2022, at WWDC 2022, Apple announced an updated MacBook Air based on the M2 system on a chip.[19] It incorporates several design elements from the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro models, such as a flat, slab-shaped design, full-sized function keys, and a Liquid Retina 60 Hz display with rounded corners and a notch for a 1080p webcam. It includes two combination Thunderbolt 3 / USB 4 ports and adds MagSafe charging.[20] Along with the retaining Space Gray and Silver color options, the Gold color option (introduced with iPhone 8 in 2017) has been discontinued and replaced by Starlight color option (a color mixture between natural silver and champagne gold) and added the new Midnight color option (a color mixture between dark blue and dark gray).
The M2 MacBook Air 13 inch started shipping on July 15, 2022. A 15-inch version was announced at Apple's WWDC event on June 5, 2023. Apart from the larger screen, the hardware specs are mostly identical to the other M2 Air models. Preorders for the new model began on June 6, 2023, with deliveries and retail availability beginning the following week on June 12.
Reception
The M2 MacBook Air was generally well received. Several reviewers praised the new design, as well as the improved display, performance, and webcam.[21] Dan Seifert of The Verge described it as "a success on virtually every level".[22] The price increase over the M1 model was noted, with most concluding that the M1 model was a better value.
Due to a lack of active cooling, the M2 can overheat on high workloads, leading to thermal throttling issues.[23]
Technical specifications
| Current |
| Model | 13-inch, M2, 2022[24] | 15-inch, M2, 2023[25] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timeline | Announced | June 6, 2022 | June 5, 2023 | ||
| Released | July 15, 2022 | June 13, 2023 | |||
| Market Status | In production | ||||
| Support status | Supported | ||||
| Model details | Model identifier | Mac14,2 | Mac14,15 | ||
| Model number (on underside) | A2681 | A2941 | |||
| Part number (order number) | MLY33 (Midnight), MLY13 (Starlight), MLXW3 (Space Gray), MLXY3 (Silver)[26] | MLY43 (Midnight), MLY23 (Starlight), MLXX3 (Space Gray), MLY03 (Silver)[26] | MQKW3 (Midnight), MQKU3 (Starlight), MQKP3 (Space Gray), MQKR3 (Silver) | MQKX3 (Midnight), MQKV3 (Starlight), MQKQ3 (Space Gray), MQKT3 (Silver) | |
| Display | Surface | Glossy display | |||
| Display Size | 13.6 in (350 mm) (diagonal) | 15.3 in (390 mm) (diagonal) | |||
| Native resolution | 2560 × 1664 | 2880 × 1864 | |||
| Pixel Density (ppi) | 224 | ||||
| Color depth | 30-bit | ||||
| Aspect Ratio | 9:5.85 (16:10 without notch) | 9:5.825 (16:10 without notch) | |||
| Supported UI Scaling Resolutions | UI: 1710 × 1112 | Display: 3420 × 2224 UI: 1470 × 956 | Display: 2940 × 1912 (Default) UI: 1280 × 832 | Display: 2560 × 1664 (Native) UI: 1024 × 666 | Display: 2048 × 1332 |
UI: 1920 × 1243 | Display: 3840 × 2486 UI: 1710 × 1107 | Display: 3420 × 2214 (Default) UI: 1440 × 932 | Display: 2880 × 1864 (Native) UI: 1152 × 746 | Display: 2304 × 1492 | |||
| Brightness ( cd⁄m2) | 500 | ||||
| Color Gamut Support | Display P3 | ||||
| True Tone Display | Supported | ||||
| Refresh Rate | 60 Hz | ||||
| Performance and Storage | |||||
| System on a chip | Apple M2 | ||||
| CPU Cores | 4 × 3.49 GHz Performance Cores (Avalanche) and 4 × 2.424 GHz Efficiency Cores (Blizzard), 8-core overall | ||||
| Cache | Performance Cores: 192 KB L1i, 128 KB L1d, 16 MB shared L2 Efficiency Cores: 128 KB L1i, 64 KB L1d, 4 MB shared L2 System Level Cache: 8 MB | ||||
| GPU Cores | 8-core Apple (128 EUs, 1024 Shaders)[27] | 10-core Apple (160 EUs, 1280 Shaders)[28] | |||
| Neural Engine | 16-core (15.8 Trillion operations per second) | ||||
| Cooling System | Aluminum heat spreader, no fan included | ||||
| Memory Type | 128-bit Dual Channel LPDDR5-6400 Unified Memory (102.4 GB/s) | ||||
| Memory Capacity | 8 GB, not upgradeable Optional 16 GB or 24 GB at time of purchase, not upgradable after | ||||
| SSD Type | PCIe-based SSD | ||||
| SSD Capacity | 256 GB, not upgradeable Optional 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB at time of purchase, not upgradable after |
512 GB, not upgradeable Optional 1 TB or 2 TB at time of purchase, not upgradable after |
256 GB, not upgradeable Optional 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB at time of purchase, not upgradable after |
512 GB, not upgradeable Optional 1 TB or 2 TB at time of purchase, not upgradable after | |
| Keyboard and Trackpad | Keyboard type | Backlit Magic Keyboard with (scissor-switch) mechanism and ambient light sensor | |||
| Number of Keys | 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 function keys and 4 arrow keys in an inverted-T arrangement | ||||
| Trackpad | Force Touch Trackpad | ||||
| Touch Bar | No | ||||
| Secure Authentication | Touch ID | Yes | |||
| Video and Audio | Video Camera | 1080p FaceTime HD Camera with advanced image signal processor with computational video | |||
| Speaker | Four-speaker sound system with wide stereo sound | Six-speaker sound system with force-canceling woofers and wide stereo sound | |||
| Dolby Atmos Playback | Supported with Spatial Audio in built-in speakers or AirPods with dynamic head tracking | ||||
| Microphone | Three-mic array with directional beam-forming | ||||
| 3.5 mm Headphone Jack | Included with advanced support for high-impedance headphones | ||||
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | |||
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.3 | ||||
| Ports | 2 × Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C 4) ports supporting charging and DisplayPort protocols among others. No eGPU support Transmission speeds up to 40 Gbps (Thunderbolt 3 or USB4) and 10 Gbps (3.1 Gen 2) | ||||
| External Display Support | One display up to 6016x3384 at 60 Hz | ||||
| Power | Battery | Non-removable lithium-ion polymer 52.6 W·h | Non-removable lithium-ion polymer 66.5 W·h | ||
| Battery cycle count[29] | 1000 | ||||
| Included power adapter | 30 W USB-C power adapter Optional 35 W USB-C power adapter at time of purchase Optional 70 W USB-C power adapter at time of purchase |
35 W dual USB-C port compact power adapter Optional 70 W USB-C power adapter at time of purchase | |||
| Greenhouse gas emissions | 147 kg CO2e[30] | 171 kg CO2e[30] | 139 kg CO2e[31] | 152 kg CO2e[31] | |
| Dimensions and Weight | Width | 11.97 in (30 cm) | 13.4 in (34 cm) | ||
| Depth | 8.46 in (21.5 cm) | 9.35 in (23.7 cm) | |||
| Height | 0.44 in (1.1 cm) | 0.45 in (1.1 cm) | |||
| Weight | 2.7 lb (1.2 kg) | 3.3 lb (1.5 kg) | |||
| Operating System | Initial Release | macOS 12 Monterey | macOS 13 Ventura | ||
| Latest Release | macOS 14 Sonoma | ||||
Timeline
| Timeline of portable Macintoshes |
|---|
 |
References
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Further reading
- Leedham, Robert (July 13, 2022). "How Apple remade the MacBook Air: 'It has always been provocative'". British GQ. Archived from the original on August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2022.