Apple’s MacBook Air has long been a much-loved notebook. Its sleek and slim form with tear-drop edges has inspired just about every other thin laptop anywhere. Being more affordable than Apple’s MacBook Pro laptops geared more towards professionals, the MacBook Air has been the choice for general users and also for students for whom the portability of this light-as-air machine has been a specially appealing aspect. 

The MacBook Air doesn’t automatically get big upgrades and redesigns every year. When it does, as it is in 2022, there’s a lot of interest in it. The tech media doesn’t get to see it just yet, but there’s still plenty of information on it to round up for those who may be considering buying it in the near future. 

Thinner still

On the Apple Store the MacBook Air 2022 is now available for pre-order and Apple says it will start arriving to customers worldwide from Friday, July 15. The Air does some design changes being even thinner with a larger 13.6 display (still known as the Liquid Retina) and four finishes: midnight, starlight, silver, and space grey. The notebook is apparently thinner (just 11.3mm) from every angle and just 2.7 pounds light despite an all-aluminium body. Apple says it has a 20 per cent reduction in overall volume from the previous generation. Following the new design philosophy the new Air has the more squared look like some of the other Apple products. It is in a brand new chassis. 

The MacBook Air’s display is larger with thinner borders. It’s also brighter at 500 nits. There’s also an upgraded 1080p FaceTime HD camera with what Apple says is twice the resolution and low-light performance of the previous generation. On the audio front, it features a four-speaker system. To fit inside this thin design, the speakers and mics are integrated between the keyboard and display. A three-mic array captures clean audio using advanced beamforming algorithms. MacBook Air also supports immersive Spatial Audio for music and movies with Dolby Atmos.

Power upgrade

Most significantly, the MacBook Air moves to the new M2 chip. As is always the case with Apple, if you have to ask the technical specifications you’ve lost the battle. But for geeks, the M2 features an 8-core CPU with an up to 10-core GPU. Add to this up to 24GB of RAM and you have a powerhouse on your hands. What was once a machine just for everyday work has now evolved into a machine that can handle a variety of tasks including demanding ones like video editing and playback of 4K and 8K streams. 

With all this power, one has to think of battery life. The good news in the case of the new Air, the battery is said to last more than 18 hours. There are also options for the chargers as you can get the standard 30W charger or better still the 35W dual USB-C allowing you to charge the Air and one more device. You can also opt for the 67W charger which supports fast charge and charges up the Air to 50% in just 30 minutes. MagSafe is also back.

There are rumours that the M2 is being throttled on the Air to prevent heat, but despite that review units abroad have not heated up. There are also some discussions around slowing on the SSD used. However, it’s real world tests and long-term use that will tell us more. For certain, it’s a good idea to read reviews before optioning for the MacBook Air. Prices start at ₹1,19,900 and ₹1,09,900 for students.

Published on July 9, 2022