Apple has taken the upgrade for its MacBook Air lineup quite seriously and has implemented some key features like the new Magic Keyboard from the MacBook Pro 16, quad-core 10th generation Intel Core processors now starts with 256GB SSD storage and carries a cheaper price tag.
The Cupertino giant is wary of the competition these days in the laptop market, players like Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, Huawei, ASUS are making both productive and efficient laptops at a cheaper price tag than Apple. So, it has upgraded its famous MacBook Air lineup with lastest features and decreased the price as well.
In terms of design and display, there’s almost no change since last-gen, featuring the same 13-inch True Tone Retina display. It also has the Touch ID, a Force Touch trackpad, two Thunderbolt 3 ports and promises an all-day battery life.
MacBook Air (2020) Specs:
- Display:13.3-inch (2560 x 1600 pixels) 227 PPI Retina display with True Tone
- Processor: 1.1GHz dual-core Intel Core i3 (Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz, with 4MB L3 cache) / 1.1GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 (Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz, with 6MB L3 cache) 10th-generation processor with Intel Iris Plus Graphics
- 8GB 3733MHz RAM
- 256GB /512GB SSD storage, configurable up to 2TB
- macOS Catalina
- Magic Keyboard, Touch ID, Force Touch trackpad
- Stereo speakers, Wide stereo sound, Support for Dolby Atmos playback, Three-mic array with directional beamforming, 3.5 mm headphone jack
- Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 3 ports for charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt (up to 40Gb/s), USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s))
- Security: Apple T2 Security Chip Gen 2
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11ac dual-band, Bluetooth 5.0
- 49.9 watt-hour lithium‑polymer battery with up to 11 hours wireless web, up to 12 hours Apple TV app movie playback and up to 30 days of standby time, 30W USB-C Power Adapter
Apple has skipped its outdated Amber Lake-Y processors that it included in last year’s MacBook Air to the newer Ice Lake-Y architecture which is based on the latest 10 nm process, the Ice Lake-Y series CPUs can run at up to 9W TDP on up to four cores.
The new MacBook Air delivers promises up to two times faster CPU performance, as Apple is using custom Intel silicon without stating the actual name of the lineup says to be offering Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 SKUs only.
So, as this is an Ice Lake CPU, it features Intel Iris Plus Graphics which Intel does not offer currently on its Core i3 Ice Lake-Y processors. This helps the new MacBook Air to deliver up to 80% faster graphics performance than last-gen.
This is accompanied with LPDDR4X 3733 MHz RAM and Apple offering 8GB RAM as a standard option along with 16GB RAM option as well. Likewise, the MacBook Air now starts with 256GB of SSD storage and can be configured with up to a 2 TB SSD.
Talking about the new Magic Keyboard which Apple has borrowed from the MacBook Pro 16, it features a redesigned scissor mechanism that delivers 1mm of key travel for a comfortable and stable key feel. On the other hand, the new inverted-“T” arrangement for the arrow keys makes it easier to find without looking down.
The new MacBook Air also features a unibody wedge design made from 100% recycled aluminium and comes in three finishes including gold, silver and space grey. Also, it has the same all-day battery life which MacBook Air is known for.
Surprisingly, the MacBook Air in India has a starting price of Rs.92,990 for the Core i3, 256GB storage version, which is indeed cheaper compared to the last year’s version.
While it is priced at $999 (Rs.74,220 approx) in the US while the Core i5, 512GB version costs $1,299 (Rs.96,510 approx). The new MacBook Air will be available in the US from next week and will soon be available from Apple Authorised Resellers in India.
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