The quad-core Core i5 is significantly faster than the processor in the 20 MacBook Air.Īpple offers two standard configurations. Another $150 gets you a Core i7-1060NG7 which is faster still, but probably not worth the price for most people. $100 more nets you a Core i5-1030NG7, a quad-core processor that offers a significant speed boost across the board. All you need to know is that the clock speeds are lower but performance is generally higher, especially graphics performance.Īt the $999 starting price, you get a Core i3-1000NG4, a dual-core processor which is a little on the pokey side. The new 2020 MacBook Air uses Intel’s new 10th-generation “Ice Lake” processors, which feature a new microarchitecture. If you wanted more muscle, you were out of luck, as Apple offered no other processor options. It was hardly an upgrade over the previous generation except that it offered better graphics performance. One of our gripes with the 20 MacBook Air is that it featured an Intel Core i5-8210Y, and only that one processor. This year, with faster processors, double the starting storage, the new Magic Keyboard, and a $999 starting price, the MacBook Air is back to being the great deal it was before. It’s a fine laptop, but not a particularly good deal. In 2019, Apple knocked $100 off the price and added True Tone to the display, but that was it.

But that laptop also ditched the old scissor-switch keyboard for the much-maligned butterfly keyboard, and boosted the starting price to $1,199 without giving you more storage.

It’s thin, light, powerful enough for most people, and it’s the least expensive option in Apple’s laptop lineup.Īpple finally brought the MacBook Air into the modern Mac era in 2018 with the addition of USB-C, Touch ID, a Retina display, and the removal of MagSafe and USB-A. The MacBook Air is Apple’s best-loved and best-selling laptop.

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