Apple is shaving £100 off the starting price of its new MacBook Air, a super-slim laptop with several eye-catching upgrades over its predecessor.
The new laptop is available to pre-order now from £999 ahead of its release on March 12. It marks Apple’s third new device in as many weeks, following the launch of the more affordable iPhone 16e last month and two new iPad models on Tuesday.
In terms of day-to-day use, the biggest addition to the MacBook Air is Apple’s custom-made M4 chip, which should offer a noticeable jump in speed compared with older models.
For its part, Apple is promising two-times faster performance than 2020’s MacBook Air M1, the first to contain its in-house silicon, and a whopping 23 times more power than the Intel-based Air.
More broadly, Apple says it’s also nippier when getting work done, from populating spreadsheets on Excel to video- and photo-editing.
Like most of Apple’s M-series Macs, the Air supports the company’s artificial intelligence features, known collectively as Apple Intelligence. The tools can rewrite and summarise emails, whip up cartoonish images, and transform rough sketches into polished illustrations. There’s also support for ChatGPT when Siri doesn’t cut it.
The other major upgrade is a new 12MP camera with support for full HD video capture, similar to the MacBook Pro. It also comes with AI-powered features that keep you centred in the frame as you move (Centre Stage) and enable you to simultaneously share both yourself and your desk on video calls (Desk View).
Unlike its predecessor, it can support two external displays while allowing you to use its built-in screen as well. On the other hand, the 18 hours of battery life is unchanged from last year, but it should be more than enough juice for most users.
In addition to the MagSafe charging port, there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the side, both using USB-C cables. These allow you to connect those extra monitors, charge multiple devices, and transfer data at high speeds.
There’s also a cool new Sky Blue shade that should be a big hit with users, alongside the regular shades like silver, black, and a gold-silvery hue dubbed “starlight”.
Once again, the MacBook Air comes in two sizes: 13.6in and 15.3in. Prices start from £999 for the smaller model with 256GB storage, and £1,199 for the bigger display. As usual, you’ll have to fork out extra for configurations with more storage and computing grunt.
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