Apple unveils 13-inch MacBook Air powered by its own ARM-based M1 processor
This June, during WWDC 2020, Apple unveiled the macOS 11 Big Sur operating system, which marked the end of the macOS X era, and announced that it would migrate branded computers to proprietary ARM chips within two years. Today, the first computers based on this M1 processor, made especially for the Mac, were finally presented. These are the 13-inch MacBook Air and Pro laptops and the affordable Mac mini desktop.
The first sign in the updated family was the MacBook Air. The new device looks almost identical to the latest Intel-model of Apple’s smallest laptop. The company decided not to change the successful design, the display retained a diagonal of 13 inches. However, the major changes are inside the new MacBook Air.
The new M1 processor, according to the company, is the most powerful chip in a laptop. It contains eight processing cores and an eight-core GPU, as well as neural and signal processors. At the same time, its performance is three and a half times higher in computing, and five times higher in graphics tasks, when compared with the dual-core Intel Core i3-1000NG4 with a base frequency of 1.1 GHz and a Boost frequency of 3.2 GHz, which is used in the previous MacBook Air. The chip boasts Thunderbolt and USB 4 support.
The Ultrabook can be equipped with up to 16 GB of RAM and SSD-drives with a capacity of up to 2 TB. Apple says the new MacBook Air is 98 percent faster than its Windows-based laptop and is five times faster than its best-selling unnamed Windows laptop.
The new MacBook Air comes with an improved Retina display with support for the DCI-P3 color profile. The computer is devoid of fans in the cooling system, so it remains quiet in any use case. However, one of the best news is that the ultra-compact laptop is capable of providing 15 hours of internet surfing and an impressive 18 hours of continuous video playback. In addition, the new Air has finally got an updated scissor-style keyboard, which will not give the user the inconvenience of constantly sticking keys, which was the case with previous generations.
The MacBook Air will cost $ 999. For educational institutions, its price will be $ 899. In Russia, the MacBook Air will cost 99,990 rubles. The computer will be available for purchase next week, and pre-orders will start from today.
