Mac|Life

MacBook Air

Apple's first post–Intel MacBook is here — and it's great, mostly…

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From $999 From Apple, apple.com

Features 13.3–inch Retina display (2560x1600), Apple M1 chip, 8GB unified memory (16GB available), 256GB storage (512GB, 1TB, and 2TB available), 802.11ax Wi–Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, 2x Thunderbol­t/USB 4 ports

This is what the future feels like — Apple has taken its most popular MacBook and rather than give it a superficia­l makeover it has radically altered what’s inside. Say goodbye Intel, hello Apple silicon — and the most radical change to the computers we love in over 15 years.

The late–2020 MacBook Air is the first of three new Macs to be powered by Apple’s M1

— a System on Chip (SoC) that takes all the know–how Apple has acquired through its experience­s with iPhone and iPad and applied it to its new computers. The M1 comprises eight CPU cores, a choice of seven or eight GPU cores (depending on model) and a 16–core Neural Engine to deliver an astonishin­g level of performanc­e for an entry–level laptop. It also delivers up to 18 hours of battery life.

True, traditiona­lists will balk at the “lowly” choice of 8GB or 16GB of memory on these machines (plus a complete inability to upgrade it later), but that misses the point. The M1 SoCs inside the MacBook Air, 13–inch MacBook Pro and new Mac mini all use Apple’s Unified Memory Architectu­re (UMA) to share that memory between the CPU and the GPU and the Neural Engine incredibly efficientl­y. The result here is that the new MacBook Air is up to 3.5x faster, has 5x faster graphics and 9x faster machine learning capabiliti­es than its Intel–powered predecesso­r — and its solid–state storage is now 2x faster too.

Those are the headline numbers, but before we look at the MacBook Air’s real–world performanc­e, lets take a quick look at what else is on offer in this late–2020 update.

Outwardly little has changed — the 2020 MacBook Air boasts the same 100% recycled aluminium shell, measuring 11.97x8.36x0.63in and weighing 2.84lb. It also comes with the same size 13.3–inch Retina display with a resolution of 2560x1600 pixels, although it now supports the P3 color gamut, a feature that was previously only available on the MacBook Pro. The new MacBook Air also retains its two Thunderbol­t/USB–C ports

on the left–hand side (although these have been upgraded to Thunderbol­t/USB–C 4) and has a 3.5mm headphone jack on the right– hand side.

Like the previous model, the late–2020 MacBook Air also comes with Apple’s Magic Keyboard, which offers 1.2mm of key travel, plus a power button with Touch ID for secure logins using your fingerprin­t. Disappoint­ingly for Zoomers, the FaceTime camera remains stuck at 720p — although image signal processing helps improve the video quality.

The late–2020 MacBook Air is available in two different guises: $999 gets you an M1– equipped entry–level model with an eight–core CPU, seven–core GPU and 8GB of memory, plus a 256GB solid–state drive (SSD). The step–up model costs $1,249 and includes an eight–core CPU, eight–core GPU and also has 8GB of memory, plus a 512GB SSD. Both models come with 802.11ax Wi–Fi (aka Wi–Fi 6) and Bluetooth 5.0. You can configure either machine with more memory and storage if you need it: 16GB of memory will set you back an extra $200, while the additional storage cost varies by model. On the entry–level $999 model, 1TB of storage will cost you an extra $400, rising to $800 for 2TB. On the step–up $1,249 model, a 1TB SSD costs $200 and a 2TB one will set you back $600.

IT STARTS FROM COLD IN SECONDS, WAKES FROM SLEEP EVEN FASTER AND LAUNCHES APPS QUICKLY

PERFORMANC­E

Now this is what we’re all really here for and we’re pleased to report that the new MacBook Air really flies. It starts from cold in seconds, wakes from sleep even faster and launches apps so quickly, they’re open and ready to start work before the cursor has even left the Dock. While the previous MacBook Air’s performanc­e was best described as leisurely, this thing sings. It’s easily the best MacBook Air Apple has ever made in performanc­e terms. Now the caveats.

As you’ll see from the benchmarks on the left, the M1 MacBook Air performs better at some tasks than others. Its Geekbench 5 score of 1705 puts it ahead of a 27–inch iMac with a 3.6GHz 10–core Intel Core i9, which scored 1365 (ML173). However, it also ran Handbrake more slowly, transcodin­g our one–hour video in 59 minutes versus the iMac’s 23 minutes. In Rise Of The Tomb Raider it fared poorly too, chalking up a stuttering 21 frames per second (fps) versus the iMac’s 59fps. It also took 29 minutes 16 seconds to render our 2.5–minute effects–laden video, whereas the iMac took nine minutes 19 seconds. It’s important to note, though, that Handbrake, Tomb Raider and Resolve are all running in emulation under Rosetta 2. Only Geekbench 5 has been optimized for the new M1. Compare and contrast the late–2020 MacBook Air scores, with the 2019 model (where DaVinci Resolve took two hours and Tomb Raider managed 6fps) and the difference is clear: Apple silicon is clearly the direction of travel and we’re happy to jump on board. ROB MEAD–GREEN

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 ??  ?? The M1 combines the CPU, GPU, Neural Engine and memory into a single System on Chip (SoC), just like an iPad.
The M1 combines the CPU, GPU, Neural Engine and memory into a single System on Chip (SoC), just like an iPad.
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 ??  ?? Most of the changes to the 2020 MacBook Air are under the surface — outwardly very little has changed.
Opposite page: The new machine has two Thunderbol­t/ USB–C 4 ports.
Most of the changes to the 2020 MacBook Air are under the surface — outwardly very little has changed. Opposite page: The new machine has two Thunderbol­t/ USB–C 4 ports.
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