Applies to. Does not apply to. We updated Core5 this summer, and system requirements changed. Older versions of the Core5 iPad app were retired in July You will no longer be able to use iPad versions below 4.
What about Face ID? With the MacBook Pro now sporting a notch in the display, it seems like Face ID could come sooner rather than later — but Apple seems to think that Touch ID is better suited for the laptop form factor. Both of them stared at me blankly on Zoom when I asked about a water-resistant laptop. Boger said. Both Mr. Boger and Mr.
The full Wall Street Journal review is well worth a read and can be found here. Check out the video below. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:. Apple's tablet debuted in Since the original version, it's expanded into multiple screen sizes and Pro and non-Pro options.
Up to 8-core GPU The GPU in M1 delivers incredibly fast integrated graphics — up to 5x faster graphics performance compared with the previous generation. Incredible graphics performance MacBook Air can take on more graphics-intensive projects than ever.
Up to 18 hours of battery life. No fan. No noise. Just Air. With the industry-leading efficiency of the M1 chip, MacBook Air delivers amazing performance without a fan. Now an aluminum heat spreader dissipates the heat the system generates, so no matter how intense the task, MacBook Air runs completely silently. Up to 9x faster. The magic of machine learning The machine learning technologies in the M1 chip open up a world of possibilities for Mac apps.
Machine learning lets apps build and apply models based on massive amounts of data — to do things like identify friends and family in photos and videos, interpret natural language for dictation, and even analyze audio to recognize laughter, applause, and more. And that data is processed on device to protect your privacy — all at lightning speed. Optimized for machine learning The entire M1 chip is engineered for machine learning.
The power of macOS Monterey on M1. Connect, share, and create like never before using FaceTime and Messages. Explore the web on the streamlined Safari, the fastest browser in the world. More power. Wakes instantly. The M1 chip brings up to 16GB of superfast unified memory. The M1 chip and macOS Monterey give MacBook Air advanced security and privacy features beyond anything in its class, helping to keep your system and your data protected. Dedicated AES storage encryption engine Keeps encryption keys safe while delivering incredible performance for encrypted storage and data protection.
Secure boot and runtime security features Ensures that only trusted Apple software loads at startup and helps protect macOS while running. Good looking. And easy on the eyes. MacBook Air automatically adjusts the white point of your display to the color temperature of your environment for a more natural viewing experience. Get clearer, sharper images. See more detail in shadows and highlights.
One touch is all it takes to lock or unlock MacBook Air. Use your fingerprint to rent a movie, buy an app, or access things like secure documents or system settings without having to reenter your password. And when you shop online with Apple Pay, Touch ID fills in your shipping and billing information without sharing your card details. Make purchases on the Apple TV app. Open this page using Safari on your iPhone or iPad. Learn more.
Trade in your current Macbook and get credit toward a new one. Trade in your eligible computer and get credit toward a new Mac. And pay over time, interest-free when you choose to check out with Apple Card Monthly Installments. Shop for your business. Learn about Mac in business. MacBook Air. Buy MacBook Air.
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Apple macbook air 2020 touch screen | Pogg |
Energizer lithium 123 | Size and Weight. Just Air. Up to 5 X faster graphics 7. Touch ID. In order to get past the setup and actually use the MacBook Air, you are required to agree to:. Trade in your eligible device for credit toward your next purchase, or get an Apple Gift Card you can use anytime. |
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Pandora pro | Compare all Mac models. Indeed, much like its recent defence of the controversial new MacBook Pro notchthis seems to show that Apple does indeed listen to what people say read: moan about online. Four efficiency cores Four efficiency cores deliver outstanding performance for everyday tasks using just a tenth of the power. Basically, the MacBook Pro can run hotter and faster for a longer period of time than the MacBook Air, which means better performance for heavy sustained tasks. This much power has never been this ready to go. We haven't really felt a reason to change that. |
It handles most games from the App Store or ones that have been optimized for the M1 chip, but it struggles with very graphically-intensive AAA titles. The 8-core GPU will perform better, but not by much. The storage drive performance is outstanding.
Its quick read and write speeds make the system feel fast and responsive, like when launching apps and transferring files. The Apple MacBook Air has excellent battery life, lasting easily over a full workday of light productivity.
However, it's a lot shorter for continuous video playback and even less if you perform CPU or GPU-intensive tasks, like video editing or gaming. Battery life can vary greatly depending on your usage. The Apple MacBook Air M1 can't really maintain a playable frame rate in Borderlands 3, even at the lowest graphics settings.
This is expected since the laptop only has integrated graphics, and there's likely a performance hit because the game isn't optimized for an ARM processor and is running through Rosetta 2. Rosetta 2 is a feature that allows M1 Macs to run programs coded for Intel Macs, but it can cause a dip in performance or unintended behaviors.
We don't expect the 8-core GPU to perform much better. Civilization VI is playable at around 30fps because it isn't a reaction-based game, although you would get a much smoother experience if you lower the graphics settings. The turn time is pretty slow, though. It stutters in large areas where there are many players, but it isn't unplayable.
You'll get a much better experience if you turn down the settings. The 8-core GPU can push out a few more frames per second, but not enough to make a huge difference. This game only runs through Rosetta 2. Shadow of the Tomb Raider runs terribly on the high settings, and even at the lowest settings, it can barely reach 30fps, so the overall experience is pretty choppy.
Also, the game likely performs worse because it's running through Rosetta 2. The Apple MacBook Air has a fanless design, so it's completely silent. It gets a little warm around the '6' on the keyboard under load, but it isn't hot enough to cause discomfort.
There are no additional pieces of software other than the ones that typically come with macOS. Apple has retired Boot Camp, which means the only way to run Windows or other operating systems on your MacBook is through a third-party solution like Parallels. You can run x86 applications for Mac through Rosetta 2, but they might not always function properly, and performance might suffer a bit, depending on the application.
There are reports of high swap memory usage when running programs through Rosetta 2, causing the SSD to degrade faster. If you're concerned about the longevity of the storage drive, you might want to consider upgrading to 16GB of RAM. If you want a similar thin and light Windows laptop, check out the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15 The Apple MacBook Air has a fingerprint sensor built into the power button.
You can use it to log in or make purchases from the App Store. The 8-core model will perform better in graphically demanding tasks, but it starts with GB of storage, while the 7-core model starts with GB. You can see the various configuration options in the table below. Our display and performance results are only valid for the configuration that we tested. If you come across a different configuration option not listed above, or you have a similar MacBook Air that doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we'll update it.
Some tests, like black uniformity and color accuracy, may vary between individual units. You can see our unit's label here. The MacBook Air is a thin and light ultraportable designed for light to moderately intensive workloads, while the MacBook Pro is a much more powerful mobile workstation designed for demanding tasks like video editing and 3D rendering. The MacBook Pro 14 has a much better display as it's larger, brighter, and sharper.
It also has Mini LED backlighting to provide local dimming, and it supports ProMotion, which makes fast motion appear smoother and helps extend battery life. The MacBook Pro has a higher-resolution webcam, wider port selection, and a faster storage drive. The MacBook Air's battery lasts longer for light productivity, but its battery life for video playback is shorter than the MacBook Pro's. The MacBook Pro is a better choice for creative professionals because its discrete GPU performs much better for graphically demanding tasks than the M1's integrated graphics.
Also, it doesn't suffer any performance loss over time, whereas the MacBook Air throttles because it's a fanless device. As for the CPU performance, the MacBook Air's M1 chip is better in most instances, and it's significantly more power-efficient, resulting in much longer battery life. The MacBook Air is a thin and light laptop designed for light productivity like web browsing and text formatting, while the MacBook Pro is a much more powerful device targeted at professionals.
The MacBook Pro is better for the most part as it features a sharper and brighter display, a more comfortable keyboard, a better webcam, and more ports. The MacBook Pro also has a faster storage drive, longer battery life, and it can handle significantly heavier workloads like video editing and 3d rendering.
The Dell XPS 13 and the Apple MacBook Air 13 M1, are both ultraportable laptops designed for general productivity like web browsing, text formatting, and video playback. The Dell laptop's keyboard feels better to type on; however, the Apple laptop's haptic touchpad is easier to use because you can click anywhere. If you're often on video calls, the Apple laptop's webcam is much better, even though it's the same resolution as the XPS 13's.
The Apple laptop has longer battery life, lasting a little over 3 hours more than the Dell in light productivity workloads. The M15 R3 is a 15 inch gaming model that runs Windows, while the MacBook Air is a 13 inch productivity-focused ultraportable. If you only need a laptop for productivity, you're better off with the MacBook Air because it's more portable and has a significantly longer battery life.
However, the m15 R3 may be a better option for creative professionals because it can be configured with a discrete GPU. The m15 R3 is much better for gaming, not only because it has better graphical performance, but because the MacBook Air runs on an ARM-based SoC, and the majority of games haven't been optimized for this new architecture. However, the HP is a 2-in-1 convertible that runs Windows, while the Apple is a more traditional clamshell laptop that runs macOS.
The Apple has a sharper, brighter, and more color-accurate display. It also has better-sounding speakers and a much better webcam. It also has better graphical performance, though not enough to make the Apple suitable for graphically-intensive tasks like AAA gaming or complex 3D modeling. The Apple's battery lasts longer if you only perform light tasks like web browsing, but the ENVY x lasts longer for video playback. The Apple is a much more premium laptop with better build quality, and it's easier to carry around as it's a smaller device.
The Apple laptop's keyboard provides a better typing experience, the touchpad is larger and more responsive, and its webcam captures a more detailed image for video calls. The Apple laptop's display is sharper, brighter, and more color-accurate, but the ASUS laptop's OLED panel can produce deeper blacks for a better dark room viewing experience.
The MacBook's M1 chip performs better when multitasking and running demanding tasks, and it provides almost double the battery life when browsing the web compared to the Surface. The MacBook also has a more color-accurate display with full DCI P3 coverage that's better suited for content creators, and its touchpad and speakers are better.
On the other hand, the Surface's screen is sharper, brighter, and goes up to a Hz refresh rate, its keyboard feels better to type on, and its webcam and microphone are much better suited for video calls. The MacBook Air is better in most aspects, such as the display, keyboard, touchpad, speakers, webcam, and general performance.
On the other hand, the Swift 3 has longer battery life, especially for video playback, and it also has a wider port selection that includes a full-size HDMI and a USB-C port with Thunderbolt 4 support. Although the Lenovo yoga 9i 14 and the Apple MacBook Air 13 M1, are both ultraportable laptops, they have very different features. The Lenovo is a 2-in-1 convertible that runs Windows, whereas the Apple is a traditional clamshell laptop that runs macOS. The Apple has a sturdier build, a much bigger touchpad with better tracking, and a webcam that captures a more detailed image for video calls.
However, the Lenovo has a better port selection that includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports, better-sounding speakers, and a more comfortable keyboard to type on. The Apple laptop has significantly longer battery life, lasting a little over 3 hours in light productivity workloads. The Lenovo laptop's fans don't get very loud under load, but the Apple is quieter still because it's fanless.
The MacBook is better for business use and multimedia viewing, with a significantly better-performing CPU and GPU and a much better and brighter display. Also, it has a much better touchpad, speakers, webcam, and microphone.
On the other hand, the Lenovo's hinge can flip a full degrees for use in tablet mode, its keyboard feels better to type on, and it has a much better port selection. The MacBook Air has limited configuration options and runs macOS, while the Framework Laptop is much more flexible as it allows you to choose each component individually, and you can even skip the operating system if you want to install something else like Linux.
As for the user experience, the MacBook Air has a sharper screen with better reflection handling and better-sounding speakers, and its touchpad is larger and tracks better. Apple's M1 SoC performs better than the Intel Core iG7 and is more power-efficient, resulting in longer battery life. The MacBook Air is better in nearly all aspects, but it has a smaller display, isn't as serviceable, and its port selection is much more limited as it only has two USB-C ports.
The LG gram 17 and the Apple MacBook Air 13 M1, are both ultraportable laptops designed for light productivity workloads like text formatting, spreadsheets, and web browsing. They both have sharp and bright screens, but if you plan on working with a single display, the LG will give you more space for multitasking, though it isn't as color-accurate as the Apple's.
The LG laptop's keyboard feels more comfortable to type on, and it includes a Numpad, which might be helpful for those working with a lot of numbers. However, the Apple has a larger haptic touchpad that's more responsive and easier to use because you can click anywhere on the touchpad. The Apple laptop's speakers sound louder and fuller, and its webcam captures a more detailed image for video calls.
The LG doesn't get very loud under load, but the Apple is even quieter because it's fanless. The Google Pixelbook Go and the Apple MacBook Air 13 M1, are both thin and light ultraportable laptops, but they run on different operating systems. While both laptops are powerful enough for simple tasks like web browsing, the MacBook Air can handle significantly heavier workloads. Battery life is about the same on both laptops for light productivity, but the Pixelbook Go can last much longer for video playback.
The MacBook Air offers a better user experience overall because it has a brighter and sharper display, better-sounding speakers, a more responsive touchpad, and a much better webcam. It also has longer battery life and remains silent under load because it's a fanless device. On the other hand, the IdeaPad Gaming 3 has a dedicated GPU, making it more suitable for graphically demanding tasks like video editing and 3D animation.
The X is a budget The MacBook Air is better for the most part because it offers a superior user experience. The MacBook Air's touchpad is larger and more responsive, its keyboard provides a better typing experience, and its display is sharper, brighter, and more colorful.
It also has better-sounding speakers and a significantly better webcam. The MacBook Air is much better for the most part because it has a sharper and more color-accurate display, as well as a better keyboard, touchpad, and webcam. It also has a much more powerful processor that can handle significantly heavier workloads. The main differences between them have to do with the operating system, CPU performance, and battery life. The MacBook Air is a more premium device with better build quality, a sharper and brighter display, a more comfortable keyboard, and a larger and more responsive touchpad.
The MacBook Air can handle much heavier workloads, and its battery lasts a lot longer, especially for light productivity. On the other hand, the Inspiron 15 is more serviceable and has a better port selection. The HP is an 11 inch 2-in-1 convertible Windows laptop, while the Apple is a 13 inch macOS laptop that you can only use in clamshell mode. The Apple is better than the HP in nearly all aspects, like a sharper and brighter display, a more comfortable keyboard, a larger touchpad, and a webcam with better video quality.
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Driven by data, run by a passionate team of engineers, testers, technical writers, developers, and more. We are hiring! Reviewed Nov 01, at pm. Operating System. Test Results. Form Factor. One Finger Lift. Charger Size. Charger Weight. Ease Of Access. RAM Slots. Storage Slots. Replaceable Battery. Replaceable Wireless Adapter. Aspect Ratio. Pixel Density. Panel Type. Touch Screen. Screen-To-Body Ratio. Refresh Rate. Variable Refresh Rate. Native Contrast. Maximum Brightness.
Minimum Brightness. Screen Finish. Total Reflections. Indirect Reflections. Calculated Direct Reflections. Uniformity Std. Color Washout From Left. Color Washout From Right. Color Shift From Left. Color Shift From Right. Brightness Loss From Left. Brightness Loss From Right. Black Level Raise From Left. Black Level Raise From Right.
Gamma Shift From Left. Gamma Shift From Right. Color Washout From Below. Color Washout From Above. It's also less cluttered, so you're not overwhelmed by icons and options, while the Control Center has been redesigned based on the version in iOS. It looks neater, and it's easier to use. All applications that you usually run in macOS on Intel-based MacBooks should work fine with the MacBook Air M1, , thanks to some software wizardry using Apple's Rosetta 2 tool, which allows apps to run on the new architecture.
We tried a mix of both new apps built for the M1 chip, as well as legacy apps built for Intel Macs, and running via Rosetta, and there was no noticeable difference in terms of performance. The fact that you can seamlessly run older apps on the MacBook Air really is commendable — the M1 chip is based on ARM architecture, and one of the biggest drawbacks of Windows 10 on devices running on ARM-based chips is that you're limited to running only ARM-compatible apps from the Windows Store.
There's a rather sparse selection of these, and this severely limits the usability of these devices. Microsoft needs to come up with its own Rosetta, pronto. Not only can you run pretty much any existing Mac app on the MacBook Air M1, , but thanks to the M1 chip using similar architecture to iPhones, you can now run any iOS app or game as well.
This brings a huge amount of new tools to the MacBook, and is genuinely exciting. We were able to have quite a few apps running all at once, swapping between them with ease, and the Apple MacBook Air M1, kept up brilliantly. Throughout our tests it felt fast and capable. This really does feel like a fast and spritely machine. It also says the neural engine is nine times faster than the one in the previous MacBook Air, and its SSD is up to twice as fast thanks to the M1 and the latest flash technology.
One thing to note is that the fanless design of the MacBook Air M1, could mean that performance is throttled when it's performing demanding tasks over long periods of time. Because there are no fans to stop it overheating, the only thing it can do is reduce the performance of the components — known as throttling — to control temperatures.
It has the same M1 chip as the MacBook Air, but it has fans, which means it can be used for intensive tasks over longer periods of time, without, Apple claims, throttling. However, in our tests we didn't notice any major incidents of throttling, and as you can see from the benchmark tests, the MacBook Air M1, came impressively close to the performance of the more expensive inch MacBook Pro M1, In both Geekbench 5 and Cinebench, the single-core performance of the MacBook Air was pretty much on par with the MacBook Pro, and multi-core scores weren't that much different either.
Performance seemed pretty similar in our day-to-day use, and we even played around with 8K video editing in Final Cut Pro, and while Apple seems keen to stress that the Air is capable of 4K video editing - it actually did a great job at 8K as well, allowing us to scrub through multiple 8K sources with ease.
Very impressive. So, with that boost in performance, along with the P3 color gamut support, the MacBook Air M1, is a brilliant choice for video editors who want a more affordable laptop than the MacBook Pro. It makes the MacBook Pro inch a slightly harder to justify purchase, though it does have a few key features that the Air misses, such as the TouchBar and better cooling.
Having both MacBooks churning through high intensity tasks for long periods of time should show a bigger performance gap in the Pro's favor. But for most people, the MacBook Air M1, , will offer plenty of power and performance. As for battery life, we knew that the 'Apple silicon' would be more power-efficient, so it's no surprise to find that the MacBook Air has the longest battery life of any MacBook Air yet — up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing, or up to 18 hours of video, according to Apple.
That's a lot longer than the previous model lasted in the same tests 7 hours 55 minutes , and it just beats the latest Dell XPS 13 as well 11 hours 1 minute. This means you should be easily able to go a full work day and more without needing to charge the MacBook Air - though obviously the battery will deplete quicker if you're doing more intensive tasks with it. This is fantastic value. You want a powerful thin and light laptop The performance of the MacBook Air M1, really is impressive, so much so that many people thinking about buying the MacBook Pro should actually consider this instead.
You want a long-lasting battery The MacBook Air M1, has a brilliant battery, and will be able to power through a work or school day with ease. Really impressive stuff. You want a budget laptop The MacBook Air M1, is a great value laptop, but it is still very expensive. There are some brilliant budget laptops out there these days that offer excellent performance for a lot less.
You don't like Macs The MacBook Air doesn't have a revolutionary design, nor does it try to win over Windows users too much. If you weren't a fan of previous MacBook Airs, the model won't really persuade you otherwise. If our Apple MacBook Air M1, review has you considering other options, here are three more laptops to consider It's a great choice for creative professionals, but it is a lot more expensive.
Check out our Apple MacBook Pro inch review. Dell XPS 13 If you want a thin and light laptop like the MacBook Air, but prefer Windows, then the Dell XPS 13 is a brilliant alternative, offering a similar level of style and build quality, along with some fantastic specs.
Again, it's a bit more expensive, but there are often deals that knock the price down a fair bit, and it also comes in a 2-in-1 design, unlike the MacBook Air. Check out our Dell XPS 13 review. Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 Apple's old rival, Microsoft, also makes some great laptops, and the Surface Laptop 4 is the best one it's made so far. It's slick and stylish, much like the MacBook Air, and is a great showcase for Windows It's another excellent Windows alternative to a MacBook. Check out our Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 review.
If you're encountering a problem or need some advice with your PC or Mac, drop him a line on Twitter. North America. Home Reviews Computing. Best in Class. TechRadar Verdict.
Full standard color sRGB. Standard color sRGB. True Tone technology. ProMotion technology for adaptive refresh rates up to Hz. Size and Weight 4. FaceTime HD camera. High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers Wide stereo sound Support for spatial audio when playing music or video with Dolby Atmos on built-in speakers Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking when using AirPods 3rd generation , AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max.
Stereo speakers Wide stereo sound Support for Dolby Atmos playback. Stereo speakers. Stereo speakers with high dynamic range Wide stereo sound Support for Dolby Atmos playback. Stereo speakers with high dynamic range. High-fidelity six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers Wide stereo sound Support for Dolby Atmos playback.
High-fidelity six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers Wide stereo sound Support for spatial audio when playing music or video with Dolby Atmos. Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming.
Three-mic array with directional beamforming. Dual microphones. Studio-quality three-mic array. Four microphones. HDMI port supports multichannel audio output. Keyboard and Trackpad. Backlit Magic Keyboard with:. Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad sold separately. Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad. Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad sold separately. Touch Bar Touch ID. Ambient light sensor. Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and pressure-sensing capabilities; enables Force clicks, accelerators, pressure-sensitive drawing, and Multi-Touch gestures.
Bluetooth 5. Bluetooth 4. Thunderbolt 2 port. Two Thunderbolt 2 ports. Two USB-A ports. Four USB-A ports. Two USB 3 ports. HDMI port. Gigabit Ethernet. Configurable with Gigabit Ethernet. Gigabit Ethernet or 10Gb Ethernet. Gigabit Ethernet or optional 10Gb Ethernet. Dual 10Gb Ethernet. SDXC card slot. Eight PCI Express expansion slots open slot availability depends on configuration selected.
Secure Authentication. Configurable with Touch ID. Apple Pay. Pay with your Mac on the web. Video Calling. FaceTime video. Initiate video calls over Wi-Fi to any FaceTime-enabled device. Initiate video calls over Wi-Fi to any FaceTime-enabled device 6. Audio Calling. FaceTime audio. Initiate audio calls over Wi-Fi to any FaceTime-enabled device. Initiate audio calls over Wi-Fi to any FaceTime-enabled device 7. Wi-Fi calling. Use your voice to send messages, set reminders, and more.
Use your voice to send messages, set reminders, and more 7. Power and Battery 5. Up to 11 hours wireless web. Up to 14 hours wireless web. Up to 15 hours wireless web. Up to 12 hours wireless web. Up to 17 hours wireless web. Up to 10 hours wireless web. Up to 17 hours Apple TV app movie playback. Up to 21 hours Apple TV app movie playback. Up to 18 hours Apple TV app movie playback. Up to 12 hours Apple TV app movie playback. Up to 12 hours iTunes movie playback. Unfortunately, it only has two USB-C ports, and it's impossible to upgrade any components after purchase because everything is soldered on.
The Apple MacBook Air is good for business use. It feels exceptionally well-built, with a thin and light design that makes it very portable. The M1 SoC has enough processing power to handle most productivity tasks, and you can easily get through an 8-hour workday on a full charge. It only has two USB-C ports, so you might need a dock or adapters to connect peripherals or an external display. It has a full aluminum body, and it comes in three colors, Space Gray, Silver, and Gold.
It has relatively thin bezels on three sides, with a thicker one at the top to house the camera. The Apple MacBook Air feels exceptionally well-built. It has a rigid, full aluminum body, with no flex in the screen or the keyboard deck. There's no weakness in the hinge, and the glass touchpad is sturdy. Unlike the Apple MacBook Pro 13 M1, Late , this is a fanless device, which means it's completely silent, and you don't have to worry about dust getting into the components over time.
The hinge is outstanding. It has enough resistance so you can set the screen tilt exactly the way you want and prevent wobbling, but it's still easy to open the laptop with one finger. The Apple MacBook Air is a very portable, thin, and light laptop. The power adapter is small and fits easily into most bags. The Apple MacBook Air's serviceability is bad. Opening the bottom panel is straightforward as you only need to remove 10 P5 screws, but it takes a lot of force to pry open the panel, and because it's such a thin sheet of metal, you can easily cut yourself.
Unfortunately, the only replaceable part is the battery. Opening the laptop and making changes to the hardware may void the manufacturer's warranty. If you want a thin and light model but prefer having upgradeable internal storage, check out the Microsoft Surface Pro 8 The Apple MacBook Air has only one screen configuration. It's a Retina display, and it displays very sharp images and text due to its high pixel density. Its aspect ratio gives you slightly more vertical space than a typical display so that you don't have to scroll as much.
The Apple MacBook Air M1 is primarily a productivity laptop, so it isn't surprising that it's limited to a 60Hz refresh rate. Our motion blur photo shows a good amount of ghosting caused by a slow response time, which isn't ideal for viewing fast-moving content or gaming. It results in blacks that look grayish, especially when viewed in a dim environment, so it isn't the best option for dark rooms.
The contrast ratio can vary between individual units, but it's usually by a small amount and isn't visibly noticeable. The Apple MacBook Air's screen gets bright enough to provide good visibility in most settings. However, you'll still have trouble with visibility in very sunny environments. It gets very dim at the lowest brightness setting, which is great for dark room viewing as it causes less eye strain. The Apple MacBook Air has excellent reflection handling despite having a glossy screen.
However, you'll still see some reflections when viewing dark scenes if you have a light directed at the screen. The Apple MacBook Air's black uniformity is decent. The whole screen looks grayish, and there's some backlight bleed at the top and bottom edges. It's only noticeable when viewing dark scenes in a dark room, though. Black uniformity can vary between units. The image looks dimmer and slightly washed out from the side. It's fine for sharing the screen with someone else as long as you don't need perfect image accuracy.
The image is dimmer and slightly washed out when viewed from above or below. It somewhat limits the range you can tilt the screen, but we don't expect it to be a major issue for most people. The Apple 13 inch MacBook Air's out-of-the-box color accuracy is superb. Most color and white balance inaccuracies aren't noticeable to the naked eye. The color temperature is just a bit on the cooler side of our K target, resulting in a slight blueish tint.
Gamma is pretty good overall, but dark scenes appear darker than they should. Color accuracy can vary between individual units. Its Adobe RGB coverage is outstanding, but it might still be a bit too low for professionals working in that color space.
Likewise, the Rec. The Apple MacBook Air's backlight is entirely flicker-free, which helps reduce eye strain for some people. The keys are well-spaced and don't require much force to actuate, but the total travel distance is very short.
Most people should be able to adapt to typing on it quickly. The backlight is adjustable, but you can only do so through the control panel on macOS. The Apple MacBook Air's trackpad is excellent. It's smooth, responsive, and precise. Like all recent MacBooks, it uses haptic feedback to simulate the clicks instead of having physical buttons.
It means you can click anywhere on the trackpad, making it easier to drag things around. It can register clicks from the palm, but we don't expect it to be an issue for most people. It supports Force Touch, which means it's pressure-sensitive, allowing you to use a harder press to perform a secondary function or bring up a contextual menu in some applications.
They're up-firing and get pretty loud without much compression at max volume. They don't have a lot of bass, so the overall sound is somewhat treble-heavy. That said, they're still better than most laptops.
The webcam's video quality is excellent, about as good as it gets for p. The colors are slightly warmer than in real life, but it isn't distracting. The image is flipped horizontally, which might bother some people. Voices come across loud and clear through the microphone; there's just a bit of static. If you're looking for a lightweight, portable device but prioritize video quality, check out the Microsoft Surface Go 2 Some users have shown that it's possible to connect more than one external display using a third-party dock that supports Displaylink, though we can't confirm this.
There are no USB-A ports, so you'll likely need dongles for your peripherals. It's an ARM-based processor with four performance cores to handle demanding tasks and four efficiency cores to save power when performing easier tasks. There's no dedicated VRAM because it's shared with the system memory. The Apple MacBook Air M1's overall score in Geekbench 5 is excellent, with exceptional performance in single and multi-threaded tests. It has no problems handling simple tasks like web browsing and video playback, and it can even take on relatively heavy workloads.
Its GPU compute performance is good for integrated graphics but sub-par compared to the available dedicated GPUs on the market. You can perform some graphically intensive tasks, like image processing, but it might stutter a bit. If you need a laptop with better graphical performance for tasks like video editing, check out the Apple MacBook Pro 16 Its single-threaded performance is superb, better than many higher-wattage mobile and desktop CPUs on the market.
The Apple MacBook Air M1's performance in Blender is mediocre as it takes a fairly long time to render the bmw27 scene. The Basemark GPU score is passable, better than most integrated graphics on the market. It handles most games from the App Store or ones that have been optimized for the M1 chip, but it struggles with very graphically-intensive AAA titles. The 8-core GPU will perform better, but not by much. The storage drive performance is outstanding.
Its quick read and write speeds make the system feel fast and responsive, like when launching apps and transferring files. The Apple MacBook Air has excellent battery life, lasting easily over a full workday of light productivity. However, it's a lot shorter for continuous video playback and even less if you perform CPU or GPU-intensive tasks, like video editing or gaming.
Battery life can vary greatly depending on your usage. The Apple MacBook Air M1 can't really maintain a playable frame rate in Borderlands 3, even at the lowest graphics settings. This is expected since the laptop only has integrated graphics, and there's likely a performance hit because the game isn't optimized for an ARM processor and is running through Rosetta 2. Rosetta 2 is a feature that allows M1 Macs to run programs coded for Intel Macs, but it can cause a dip in performance or unintended behaviors.
We don't expect the 8-core GPU to perform much better. Civilization VI is playable at around 30fps because it isn't a reaction-based game, although you would get a much smoother experience if you lower the graphics settings. The turn time is pretty slow, though. It stutters in large areas where there are many players, but it isn't unplayable.
You'll get a much better experience if you turn down the settings. The 8-core GPU can push out a few more frames per second, but not enough to make a huge difference. This game only runs through Rosetta 2. Shadow of the Tomb Raider runs terribly on the high settings, and even at the lowest settings, it can barely reach 30fps, so the overall experience is pretty choppy. Also, the game likely performs worse because it's running through Rosetta 2.
The Apple MacBook Air has a fanless design, so it's completely silent. It gets a little warm around the '6' on the keyboard under load, but it isn't hot enough to cause discomfort. There are no additional pieces of software other than the ones that typically come with macOS. Apple has retired Boot Camp, which means the only way to run Windows or other operating systems on your MacBook is through a third-party solution like Parallels.
You can run x86 applications for Mac through Rosetta 2, but they might not always function properly, and performance might suffer a bit, depending on the application. There are reports of high swap memory usage when running programs through Rosetta 2, causing the SSD to degrade faster. If you're concerned about the longevity of the storage drive, you might want to consider upgrading to 16GB of RAM.
If you want a similar thin and light Windows laptop, check out the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15 The Apple MacBook Air has a fingerprint sensor built into the power button. You can use it to log in or make purchases from the App Store.
The 8-core model will perform better in graphically demanding tasks, but it starts with GB of storage, while the 7-core model starts with GB. You can see the various configuration options in the table below. Our display and performance results are only valid for the configuration that we tested. If you come across a different configuration option not listed above, or you have a similar MacBook Air that doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we'll update it.
Some tests, like black uniformity and color accuracy, may vary between individual units. You can see our unit's label here. The MacBook Air is a thin and light ultraportable designed for light to moderately intensive workloads, while the MacBook Pro is a much more powerful mobile workstation designed for demanding tasks like video editing and 3D rendering.
The MacBook Pro 14 has a much better display as it's larger, brighter, and sharper. It also has Mini LED backlighting to provide local dimming, and it supports ProMotion, which makes fast motion appear smoother and helps extend battery life. The MacBook Pro has a higher-resolution webcam, wider port selection, and a faster storage drive. The MacBook Air's battery lasts longer for light productivity, but its battery life for video playback is shorter than the MacBook Pro's.
The MacBook Pro is a better choice for creative professionals because its discrete GPU performs much better for graphically demanding tasks than the M1's integrated graphics. Also, it doesn't suffer any performance loss over time, whereas the MacBook Air throttles because it's a fanless device. As for the CPU performance, the MacBook Air's M1 chip is better in most instances, and it's significantly more power-efficient, resulting in much longer battery life.
The MacBook Air is a thin and light laptop designed for light productivity like web browsing and text formatting, while the MacBook Pro is a much more powerful device targeted at professionals. The MacBook Pro is better for the most part as it features a sharper and brighter display, a more comfortable keyboard, a better webcam, and more ports. The MacBook Pro also has a faster storage drive, longer battery life, and it can handle significantly heavier workloads like video editing and 3d rendering.
The Dell XPS 13 and the Apple MacBook Air 13 M1, are both ultraportable laptops designed for general productivity like web browsing, text formatting, and video playback. The Dell laptop's keyboard feels better to type on; however, the Apple laptop's haptic touchpad is easier to use because you can click anywhere. If you're often on video calls, the Apple laptop's webcam is much better, even though it's the same resolution as the XPS 13's. The Apple laptop has longer battery life, lasting a little over 3 hours more than the Dell in light productivity workloads.
The M15 R3 is a 15 inch gaming model that runs Windows, while the MacBook Air is a 13 inch productivity-focused ultraportable. If you only need a laptop for productivity, you're better off with the MacBook Air because it's more portable and has a significantly longer battery life.
However, the m15 R3 may be a better option for creative professionals because it can be configured with a discrete GPU. The m15 R3 is much better for gaming, not only because it has better graphical performance, but because the MacBook Air runs on an ARM-based SoC, and the majority of games haven't been optimized for this new architecture. However, the HP is a 2-in-1 convertible that runs Windows, while the Apple is a more traditional clamshell laptop that runs macOS.
The Apple has a sharper, brighter, and more color-accurate display. It also has better-sounding speakers and a much better webcam. It also has better graphical performance, though not enough to make the Apple suitable for graphically-intensive tasks like AAA gaming or complex 3D modeling. The Apple's battery lasts longer if you only perform light tasks like web browsing, but the ENVY x lasts longer for video playback.
The Apple is a much more premium laptop with better build quality, and it's easier to carry around as it's a smaller device. The Apple laptop's keyboard provides a better typing experience, the touchpad is larger and more responsive, and its webcam captures a more detailed image for video calls.
The Apple laptop's display is sharper, brighter, and more color-accurate, but the ASUS laptop's OLED panel can produce deeper blacks for a better dark room viewing experience. The MacBook's M1 chip performs better when multitasking and running demanding tasks, and it provides almost double the battery life when browsing the web compared to the Surface. The MacBook also has a more color-accurate display with full DCI P3 coverage that's better suited for content creators, and its touchpad and speakers are better.
On the other hand, the Surface's screen is sharper, brighter, and goes up to a Hz refresh rate, its keyboard feels better to type on, and its webcam and microphone are much better suited for video calls. The MacBook Air is better in most aspects, such as the display, keyboard, touchpad, speakers, webcam, and general performance. On the other hand, the Swift 3 has longer battery life, especially for video playback, and it also has a wider port selection that includes a full-size HDMI and a USB-C port with Thunderbolt 4 support.
Although the Lenovo yoga 9i 14 and the Apple MacBook Air 13 M1, are both ultraportable laptops, they have very different features. The Lenovo is a 2-in-1 convertible that runs Windows, whereas the Apple is a traditional clamshell laptop that runs macOS. The Apple has a sturdier build, a much bigger touchpad with better tracking, and a webcam that captures a more detailed image for video calls. However, the Lenovo has a better port selection that includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports, better-sounding speakers, and a more comfortable keyboard to type on.
The Apple laptop has significantly longer battery life, lasting a little over 3 hours in light productivity workloads. The Lenovo laptop's fans don't get very loud under load, but the Apple is quieter still because it's fanless. The MacBook is better for business use and multimedia viewing, with a significantly better-performing CPU and GPU and a much better and brighter display.
Also, it has a much better touchpad, speakers, webcam, and microphone. On the other hand, the Lenovo's hinge can flip a full degrees for use in tablet mode, its keyboard feels better to type on, and it has a much better port selection. The MacBook Air has limited configuration options and runs macOS, while the Framework Laptop is much more flexible as it allows you to choose each component individually, and you can even skip the operating system if you want to install something else like Linux.
As for the user experience, the MacBook Air has a sharper screen with better reflection handling and better-sounding speakers, and its touchpad is larger and tracks better. Apple's M1 SoC performs better than the Intel Core iG7 and is more power-efficient, resulting in longer battery life. The MacBook Air is better in nearly all aspects, but it has a smaller display, isn't as serviceable, and its port selection is much more limited as it only has two USB-C ports.
The LG gram 17 and the Apple MacBook Air 13 M1, are both ultraportable laptops designed for light productivity workloads like text formatting, spreadsheets, and web browsing. They both have sharp and bright screens, but if you plan on working with a single display, the LG will give you more space for multitasking, though it isn't as color-accurate as the Apple's.
The LG laptop's keyboard feels more comfortable to type on, and it includes a Numpad, which might be helpful for those working with a lot of numbers. However, the Apple has a larger haptic touchpad that's more responsive and easier to use because you can click anywhere on the touchpad.
The Apple laptop's speakers sound louder and fuller, and its webcam captures a more detailed image for video calls. The LG doesn't get very loud under load, but the Apple is even quieter because it's fanless. The Google Pixelbook Go and the Apple MacBook Air 13 M1, are both thin and light ultraportable laptops, but they run on different operating systems. While both laptops are powerful enough for simple tasks like web browsing, the MacBook Air can handle significantly heavier workloads.
Battery life is about the same on both laptops for light productivity, but the Pixelbook Go can last much longer for video playback. The MacBook Air offers a better user experience overall because it has a brighter and sharper display, better-sounding speakers, a more responsive touchpad, and a much better webcam.
It also has longer battery life and remains silent under load because it's a fanless device. On the other hand, the IdeaPad Gaming 3 has a dedicated GPU, making it more suitable for graphically demanding tasks like video editing and 3D animation. The X is a budget The MacBook Air is better for the most part because it offers a superior user experience.
The MacBook Air's touchpad is larger and more responsive, its keyboard provides a better typing experience, and its display is sharper, brighter, and more colorful. It also has better-sounding speakers and a significantly better webcam.
The MacBook Air is much better for the most part because it has a sharper and more color-accurate display, as well as a better keyboard, touchpad, and webcam. It also has a much more powerful processor that can handle significantly heavier workloads. The main differences between them have to do with the operating system, CPU performance, and battery life. The MacBook Air is a more premium device with better build quality, a sharper and brighter display, a more comfortable keyboard, and a larger and more responsive touchpad.
The MacBook Air can handle much heavier workloads, and its battery lasts a lot longer, especially for light productivity. On the other hand, the Inspiron 15 is more serviceable and has a better port selection. The HP is an 11 inch 2-in-1 convertible Windows laptop, while the Apple is a 13 inch macOS laptop that you can only use in clamshell mode.
The Apple is better than the HP in nearly all aspects, like a sharper and brighter display, a more comfortable keyboard, a larger touchpad, and a webcam with better video quality. Get insider access. Best Laptops. Laptop Recommendations. View all laptop recommendations. Yoga 7i 14 Yoga 9i 14 IdeaPad 5 15 IdeaPad Flex 5 14 Chromebook Duet 5 IdeaPad Gaming 3 Chromebook Duet Chromebook Flex 5 Chromebook C 15 ENVY x 13 Pavilion x 11 Chromebook 14 Victus 16 Stream 11 Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 Chromebook x 14 Chromebook x 12 Pavilion x 14