Apple’s latest MacBook Air is here, boasting a new M2 chip and an angular, flat design
The wedge-shape has been dumped in the form of a more angular, flatter design
As rumoured – but contrary to convention – Apple has used its developer conference to debut non-Pro hardware in the form of a brand new MacBook Air with a speedier M2 chip. The wedge shape has been dumped in the form of a more angular, flatter design.
During the talk at WWDC22, Apple said the new device has a 20 percent reduction in volume and is 11.3mm thick, weighing in at around 1.2kg. The Air also supports Fast Charge with a 67W adapter (not in the box it seems).
Apple reckons the 8-core M2-based Air can perform around 20 percent faster than the M1 Air for a Photoshop Filter and it’s 5x faster than the speediest Intel-based Air. Once again, it’s fanless unlike the MacBook Pro range. The graphics is powered by a 10 core GPU now rather than an 8-core unit, leading to a modest 18 per cent uplift in performance. The new Air can also support up to 24GB of memory and be specced with up to 2TB of storage.
Display-wise, it’s the same 13.6in liquid retina, 25 percent brighter (500 nits) screen that’s been used in the MacBook Pro, with thinner bezels. There’s a Full HD webcam, plus a four-speaker sound system that can work with Spatial Audio.
Sadly the rumoured slew of different colours didn’t emerge, but there are four – silver, space grey, starlight and midnight (blue). Apple also dropped the tidbit that the Air is the world’s best-selling laptop – we’ve known that before, but it’s still interesting to hear Apple boast about it on stage.
Apple also previewed macOS Ventura, coming to Macs later in the year.
Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief