It’s a long time coming but Apple has finally done it. Introducing the all-new thinner, lighter MacBook Air. It boasts a spanking new 13-inch Retina display, Touch ID, and beefier internals. It’s also the greenest Mac Apple has ever made – its exterior case is made of 100 percent recycled aluminium.
When the late Steve Jobs pulled out the original MacBook Air from a flat envelope, it not only changed how Apple made notebooks from then on, it also changed the entire industry. The MacBook Air with its ground-breaking wedge-shaped aluminium design paved the way for the “thin and light” era of portable computers.
Apple certainly took their time to update the MacBook Air, and many thought it was set to be axed from the lineup. And why not, the MacBook and even MacBook Pro line have themselves become incredibly thin and light.
I’m glad Apple decided otherwise though, because the world still needs an affordable, powerful ultraportable. And to that end, I think Apple has delivered.
The MacBook Air finally gets a Retina display, a feature most glaringly missing and most asked for from Mac fans. It gets a stunning 13.3-inch Retina display with over 4 million pixels and delivers 48 percent more colour than the previous generation. What you’ll notice is the absence of the thick 2011 bezels, teleporting the MacBook Air to be in lined with current trends.
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Despite the super thin bezels, the notebook still manages to squeeze a FaceTime HD camera at the top.
For the first time, the MacBook Air now features Touch ID – built into the keyboard, which makes it convenient to instantly unlock the notebook, authenticate your identity and make secure purchases with Apple Pay.
With the MacBook Air, Apple is introducing a new Apple T2 Security Chip that offers a Secure Enclave to protect Touch ID information, as well as Secure Boot. It also features an SSD controller with on-the-fly data encryption. The T2 also features an always-on processor that enables “Hey Siri.”
Apple says the MacBook Air with T2 offers the most secure boot process and secure storage on any notebook.
The new MacBook Air sports the third-generation Apple-designed keyboard with individually backlit low-powered LEDs. It also features a new Force Touch trackpad that’s 20 percent larger than the previous generation.
In terms of audio, the new notebook offers stereo speakers that are 25 percent louder with two times more bass and better dynamic range than the previous generation. It also has a new three-mic array that’s great for multi-party Group FaceTime video calls and Siri.
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Under the hood, the new MacBook Air packs an 8th Generation Intel Core i5 processor with integrated Intel UHD Graphics, coupled with faster 2133MHz RAM of up to 16GB. It also features SSD storage of up to 1.5TB, which is claimed to be 60 percent faster than its predecessors’.
The MacBook Air now boasts two Thunderbolt 3 ports which means you can rapidly charge the notebook, transfer data via USB Type-C and output video to 4K and 5K displays, as well as connect to a host of external devices.
There are currently over 700 Thunderbolt 3 devices in the market including eGPUs, external storage, and more.
The MacBook Air retains the much-loved wedge-shaped design but is now thinner at 5.9mm and lighter at 1.25kg.
The new notebook offers up to 12 hours of battery life.
What Apple is really proud of is the MacBook Air enclosure that’s made from an Apple-designed aluminium alloy that uses 100 percent recycled aluminium for the first time. Apple says the recycled aluminium offers the same strength, durability and finish as aluminium used in all its products. The new aluminium alloy helps reduce the notebook’s carbon footprint by nearly 50 percent, making it the greenest Mac ever.
MacBook Air runs macOS Mojave out of the box. Learn more about the best release of macOS ever.
Pricing and availability
The base MacBook Air with 8GB RAM, Core i5 and 128GB SSD starts from USD1,199 (MYR5,249) and is available for order starting today with general availability from 7 November 2018.
To purchase, visit apple.com/my/mac.
