Ultra-portable laptops

The unveiling of Apple’s groundbreaking M1 chip is resculpting the laptop landscape. We’re on the verge of another revolution in the world of portables. Let us bear witness

Apple certainly ended its 2020 with a bang. In true Steve Jobs fashion, it released newer MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13-inch models that are more powerful than ever at its ‘One More Thing’ event.

That in and of itself is nothing new, as the Cupertino-based company has recently been giving its ultra-portable laptops an update every year. What does make this new round of updates notably different, however, is the fresh-from-the-oven M1 chip that is now powering both svelte laptops. And its timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

That isn’t to say that Intel and its host of ultrabooks have been letting things slide. Intel’s new Evo platform, the evolution of Project Athena, has also ushered in a new class of impressive laptops that are highly portable and blow-you-away powerful thanks to those new 11th generation Tiger Lake chips.

This new line-up, which includes the HP Spectre x360 13-inch, Dell XPS 13-inch, Lenovo Yoga 9i and Acer Swift 5 14-inch, also delivers features that Apple’s MacBooks only dream about – like a 2-in-1 form factor, touchscreen functionality, IR login, or the ability to upgrade to a 4K display. Such things are a boon for work-from-home pros. That 2-in-1 form factor eliminates the need for a separate tablet, saving you money, while a touchscreen or a 4K display should deliver a more seamless creative workflow.

Still, the revered M1 chip has already proven to be a gamechanger, giving the MacBook Air a whole lot of power to rival such popular contenders as the Dell XPS 13 and the HP Spectre 13.

Thanks to this chip, what was once a strictly-for-casual-users line is now rocking enough juice to tackle more demanding tasks. And, in that way, the MacBook Air M1 is helping lower the price of entry into prosumer-level ultrabooks.

Now, remote working professionals, office workers and creators have an irresistible option that keeps things portable as well as fiscal-friendly. In a time when the world’s economy is partially paralysed and more people are turning to the comforts of home to put down their professional roots, it’s a crucial one as well. It’s also offering users more compelling reasons to abandon the less seamless Windows ecosystem and switch to Mac. At last, Apple is no longer the priciest proposition.

The MacBook Air M1 is proving to be a better value for your money, touting a more powerful performance, better display, longer battery life and superior graphical performance than the similarly priced Dell XPS 13.

SUPER POWERED

With the MacBook Air M1 giving formerly MacBook-Pro-level ultra-portable laptops a good run for their money in terms of power and battery life, things would have to change drastically for such Windows offerings to keep up. But things will change, as they always do. We are, right now, standing at the edge of an ultra-portable laptop revolution.

When you think about all those laptops that came out in the late

1990s and early 2000s, you’d be amazed at how far ultra-portable laptops have come.

The biggest selling point here, of course, is their form factor. Ultra-portable laptops have essentially given portability a whole new meaning, offering a chassis with an area only slightly larger than A4 paper and weighing less than 1.5kg. The MacBook Air M1, for example, is 1.29kg and 1.56cm at its thickest. Meanwhile, its biggest Windows 10 competitor, the Dell XPS 13, is even lighter and thinner at 1.2kg and 1.48cm.

SLIM FIT

You’d be forgiven to think that nothing could possibly be that thin without having to make compromises on power and, in a way, there is some truth to that. Portability is a bit of a double-edged sword. Much like how the most powerful laptops out there are still playing catch up with the most powerful desktop PCs, so are ultrabooks with their bigger (and therefore roomier) counterparts.

There’s a reason why digital nomads have long relied on these. Thanks to Intel’s – as well as Apple’s and, to a degree, AMD’s – efforts in developing thinner yet better performing processors and graphics cards, ultraportable laptops still deliver enough power to rival most 15-inch and 17-inch laptops.

They might not be able to see you through the most intensive games at 1440p or 4K – as they won’t have enough space under the hood to house a more robust discrete graphics card or prevent thermal throttling, which will affect performance.

However, they should have enough power to see you through demanding tasks like photo editing and design. Apple’s M1 chip has given the MacBook Air M1 exactly that kind of firepower while keeping it fanless, proving once and for all that ultra-portable laptops can be thin, light and powerful.

These devices are reaping the benefits of having less power-hungry internals in other ways as well. Utilising more energy-efficient components, they tend to offer longer battery lives. The Dell XPS 13, for one, offers up to 14 hours while the HP Spectre XPS 13-inch has up to 16 and a half hours. Not to be outdone, the MacBook Air M1 boasts a whopping 18 hours on a single charge. That’s the longest battery life ever on a MacBook Air, and again is thanks to the M1 chip that Apple has declared delivers industry-leading power efficiency.

Unfortunately, if you want a thinner and lighter laptop, you’ll have to pay a steep price. Some are more affordable than others. With comparable specs, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon can be a pricier proposition than the Dell XPS 13. A similarly specced Acer Swift can be more affordable still and that’s while offering a touch display, which ultimately adds to its value.

And, with Apple’s most affordable MacBook not just joining the line-up of pro-friendly ultra-portable laptops but also offering a more powerful performance than that of a pricier Dell XPS, that price of entry has also somewhat dropped. Still, if you’re looking for something under £800, you won’t find it here.

If, on the other hand, you can stretch your budget a bit, there’s certainly a lot to love in

The MacBook Air M1 boasts a whopping 18 hours on a single charge

these ultra-portable laptops. The level of performance they offer – on top of longevity, portability, design and features – makes them a better investment in the long run.

Of course, as with any device, there’s never really going to be one champion. Apple’s Arm-based system-on-a-chip may have given the MacBook Air M1 a leg up when it comes to processing power and graphical prowess. However, when choosing the best ultra-portable laptop, you need to consider a few other metrics beyond those.

You must decide which operating system works best for you, first of all. While the MacBook Air M1 offers a more seamless experience, the Mac environment just isn’t as flexible as Windows 10 for some pros. Also, if you haven’t used a Mac computer before, it’s important to see if the macOS user interface is something you can get used to, as it’s very different from that of Windows.

Naturally, price matters. But so do features, display, customisation options, reliability of its keyboard and trackpad, and variety of ports.

DON’T TOUCH

Apple has never offered any level of touchscreen functionality in its laptops, nor has it ever flirted with the idea of a 2-in-1 form factor. So, if those are something you need, you should keep your options focused in the Windows realm.

Consider as well the keyboard and trackpad. If you’re going to spend a lot of hours on your ultra-portable laptop, having a comfortable keyboard that’s satisfying to type on and a trackpad that is accurate, reliable and easy-to-use is incredibly important. Otherwise, they will simply get in your way, and you won’t be as productive.

Ports – or rather the variety of them – are almost as important. Some of these laptops have fewer ports than others. The MacBook Air, for example, has two Thunderbolt ports while both the XPS 13 and the Spectre x360 13 also have a microSD card reader.

With the plethora of USB and USB-C hubs that are available, you can just as easily invest in one and not worry about your laptop having the ports you need. However, that’s also an added cost you might not want to incur when you’re already spending a lot on your device.

Finally, take a look at the customisation options available to you. Many of these devices are highly configurable so you can pick and choose the specs you want before you hit buy. Some have more options than others. The Dell XPS 13, for example, allows you to upgrade to a 4K display and have the touchscreen functionality.

As you’re already spending a bit of money on an ultra-portable laptop, it’s important to bear these factors in mind when weighing your options. Power isn’t everything; personal preferences and needs also come into play.

You must decide which operating system works best for you, first of all