HIGHLIGHTS
- 1.Apple MacBook Air has been launched in India at a starting price of Rs 119,900.
- 2.Compare to the previous Air, the new one comes with an entirely different design.
- 3.The Air now looks like the MacBook Pro 14 that was launched last year.
- The new Apple MacBook Air is now available in India and it is nothing like the previous one. Well almost. The experience, powered by the MacOS, offers continuity. But in other aspects, there are many changes. The design of the new MacBook Air is different. The screen is bigger. And there are key upgrades in screen technology, speakers, chipset, its webcam and the keyboard.
- In addition to the design and hardware changes, this new Air has Apple’s latest in-house processor, the M2. It also comes with a higher price tag — it starts at $1,199, $200 more than the model that preceded it, and a model with a decent amount of storage runs $1,499 or more. As a result, Apple is keeping the prior M1 model in its lineup, specifically to provide an option for the many MacBook Air buyers that don’t want to spend much more than $1,000 on a new computer.
- The M1 MacBook Air was (and still is) one of the most impressive laptops we’ve ever tested — Dieter Bohn called it “a triumph” at the time. That’s quite a bar to live up to, and to changes Apple made to the M2 model, it’s fair to wonder if this new model can best the prior version.
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A new MacBook Air borrows a lot of its design and shape from the MacBook Pro 14 and 16 that debuted late last year. It’s symmetrical and squared off, with a more presentation than prior MacBook Air models.
Yes it’s remarkably thin — just a over 11 millimeters — and that thinness is immediately noticeable when you open the lid and start typing on it. It’s also noticed whenever you slot it into a bag or carry it around. The older MacBook Air’s tapered shape had less visual weight and may look thinner, but the new model is indeed slimmer than its predecessor.
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The new Air’s keyboard has also been lifted from the 14-inch MacBook Pro. It has a full-height function row and Touch ID and fortunately doesn’t have the questionably useful Touch Bar that’s still inexplicably available on the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro M2.
A keys have adequate travel and are comfortably spaced. They are also much quieter than older MacBook models that had the dreaded butterfly keyboard. If you’re upgrading from an older Intel-based MacBook, the keyboard might be the improvement you appreciate just because the butterfly keyboard on those older models was that bad.
The trackpad isn’t hugely different from older models, though it’s slightly wider. It functionally works the same, though, and has excellent scrolling, gesture support, and palm rejection.
An interesting change, the new Air’s deck lacks the speaker grills that are found on virtually every other MacBook model. Instead, the speakers are integrated between the keyboard and the display for a cleaner look.
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