In more than a decade, Apple has unveiled the most significant overhaul to its popular MacBook Air laptop, bringing a fresh design, new colors, and a speedier M2 processor from its homegrown chip line. The company showcased the updated laptop on Monday at its Worldwide Developers Conference, an event that is otherwise focused on software updates for the iPhone and other devices. The new Air adds yet another machine to the company’s lucrative lineup of computers.
The move refreshes a groundbreakingly light and thin product when Apple’s Steve Jobs first unveiled it in 2008. The new model loses the tapered shape of the previous version and instead uses a design that looks similar to the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros launched at the end of last year. The machine has a 13.6-inch screen, 13.3 inches on the previous model, and – like the MacBook Pro – a 1080p camera with twice the resolution of the last model.
The updated computer includes an M2 processor, the first generational leap for Apple’s Mac chips since its in-house components for computers debuted in November 2020. The MacBook Air update was the first since it was one of the earliest Macs to get the M1 chip. The latest version will be 40 per cent faster in handling some pro apps but about 18 per cent overall, according to Apple.
