Last Updated on June 7, 2022 by srinivas
At the WWDC 2022 keynote on Monday, Apple unveiled the new MacBook Air with a new chip, display, colors and a completely new design. The MacBook Air M2 will be available next month for $1,199.
The M2 at the heart of the new MacBook Air has 8 CPU cores that are evenly spaced for performance and efficiency. According to Apple, the M2 has improvements that make it 18 percent faster than the M1. Apple will offer a customization option where a customer can upgrade to a 10-core M2 SoC, which Apple claims is 25 percent faster than the M1. It has the same battery life as the original M1 model, offering up to 18 hours of use on a single charge.
MacBook Air M2 in Midnight
Apple
The base configuration of the MacBook Air M2 comes with 8 GB of memory, but the maximum is now 24 GB, compared to 16 GB in the M1 MacBook Air. Storage starts with a 256GB SSD with upgrades to 2TB available.
Apple has also upgraded the display with a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, which is 0.3 inches larger than the previous MacBook Air display thanks to thinner bezels. The new screen has a brightness of 500 nits (versus 400 on the M1 Air) and supports billions of colors.
Apple has redesigned the MacBook Air to follow the same style as the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro, so the tapered design is gone. The laptop is 11.3 millimeters thin and weighs 2.7 kilograms and is available in four colors: silver, space gray, starlight and midnight. There were rumors that the MacBook Air would come in a variety of colors, like the iMac, but they never materialized.
The MacBook Air even has a notch at the top of the screen with a 1080p FaceTime camera and four speakers between the screen and keyboard, and Apple equips the laptop with three microphones.
The new 35W power adapter can charge two devices at the same time.
Apple
Like the M1 MacBook Air, the new Air has two Thunderbolt/USB-4 ports, but upgrades the audio jack that supports high-impedance headphones. Buyers of the 10-core GPU model will receive a 35W power adapter (sold separately for $59) with a pair of USB-C ports to charge two devices at once. Customers can also use a 67W fast charging power adapter to charge the MacBook Air battery to 50 percent in 30 minutes.
The new MacBook Air M2 starts at $1,199. Apple will still offer the entry-level M1 MacBook Air for $999.
New 13-inch MacBook Pro
Apple also introduced a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a chip upgrade to the M2 with the same design as the M1 model. That means the Touch Bar, which we thought would disappear, will be around for a little longer. It includes the same audio jack upgrade as the MacBook Air, as well as a 67W USB-C power adapter (versus 61W on the M1 model), though it doesn’t seem to support fast charging.
The new 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 starts at the same $1,299 and will be available next month.