Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled a new MacBook Air at its “There’s More in the Making” media event in New York on Tuesday. The new version of the super-thin laptop has a Retina Display, and includes Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports.
The new MacBook Air has a 13.3-inch Retina Display with more than 4 million pixels and a thinner bezel. Apple says the new display shows 48% more color.
Apple added Touch ID to the new laptop, although it doesn’t have the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar. The authentication sensor uses Apple’s T2 chip with secure enclave and AES-256 encryption.
The keyboard uses Apple’s new butterfly mechanism—something that will please some users and annoy others. The trackpad has been updated to Force Touch, just like Apple’s other modern laptops.
The old USB ports are gone and replaced with Two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports. It packs in a 1.6 GHz dual-core Intel i5 processor, up to 1.5 TB SSD, and up to 16 GB RAM.
Apple says the battery lasts for 12 hours, is 10% thinner and has 17% less volume compared to the previous models. It weighs 2.75 pounds, or .25 pounds less than the model it replaces.
The new MacBook Air is made with 100% recycled aluminum.
Pricing starts at US$1199 with a 1.6 GHz dual-core i5 processor, 8 GB RAM, and 128 GB SSD.. Orders start today, and it’ll be available next week.
No i7 upgrade, so if you have a previous gen i7 version if it, youre doing better. 1.5TB SSD fo $1000 upgrade fee. Ridiculous.
Yeah, I was dreading this event because I just spent $250 for a new logic board to bring my 2013 Air back to life, but now I don’t have any regrets. I’m happy with my i7/8GB/256GB SSD in the discontinued 11.6-inch format.