GREEN, SVELTE AND FEATURE- RICH
THE LONG-AWAITED MacBook Air has finally arrived with a full makeover, which is bound to please Apple lovers. But the price this time is quite high. The unibody shell is made from a single block of 100 per cent recycled aluminium, it sports a look and feel on a par with the iconic MacBook Pro. Moreover, the new golden hue (it is also available in space grey and silver) looks stunning, a darker tone instead of the shimmery kind, which reminded me of the rose gold iPhone 6S Plus. Weighing 1.25 kg, this one has the thinnest- ever chassis, and the wedge-shaped design is still there, tapering off to 4.1 mm at the thinnest point. Apple has done away with the aluminium bezels and adopted a glass screen running to the edges. The sides are also done in black. You also get two USB Type- C ports (Thunderbolt 3) on the left, a 3.5 mm headphone jack on the right, a thirdgeneration ‘ butterfly’ keyboard with individually lit keys, two strips of speaker grilles on each side of the keyboard for immersive sound and the new pressure-sensitive Force Touch Trackpad. Two Type- C ports might feel too few, considering that one will be used for charging. However, the 30W wall- charger bundled in the box juiced up the Air’s battery in a couple of hours and lasted over eight hours as I did web browsing, documentation, video streaming and editing – a full day’s work.
Everything appears sharp and vibrant on the 13.3-inch Retina Display with 2,560x1,600p resolution. The viewing angles have improved; the new Air displays 48 per cent more colours compared to the previous models. The backlit keyboard was super comfortable to type on, even at night. On the top right corner, next to the F12 key, is the TouchID sensor for unlocking the MacBook, accessing passwordprotected documents, folder and more, without entering your password. Swiping fingers (often known as gestures) on the big trackpad also makes it easy to navigate. Better still, Force Touch will help you access more options based on subtle differences in figure pressure.
Under the hood, Apple has put a 1.6 GHz dual- core, eighth-generation Intel i5 processor, which is fast and energy efficient. Our review unit was an entry-level device and came with 8 GB of RAM, 128 GB SSD, and the latest macOS Mojave, specially designed for the Mac range. I was able to use it for multitasking, gaming, editing images and videos, on the move. The T2 security chip encrypts data and ensures secure booting. It also has three microphones for enhanced conversations with Siri, which I used for searching documents, launching applications and loading a website on the Safari browser. And Air did not slow down on a single occasion. But if you are looking for more power, go for a MacBook Pro.