It’s time for my trusty MacBook Air to finally hang up its keyboard. It was inevitable; it is more than a decade old at this point. But it’s still functioning, so I couldn’t justify the expense of a new one just yet. What finally pushed it over the edge though was some hands-on time with the new MacBook Air.
Slim, sleek and with a larger screen than before, the new MacBook Air means business. Powered by Apple’s latest M2 silicon chip, the new version has been redesigned, ditching the wedge design for a more MacBook Pro-inspired look. Side by side, my old MacBook Air’s design looks dated, kind of like when you compare the original iPad Air with the latest iPad Pro lookalike Air. Yes, it still works, but the new one just looks shinier and newer.
But you can’t drop the better part of €2,000 on looks alone. The MacBook Air also has to compete on the performance front.
It’s the details that also sell the new MacBook Air. The version reviewed here had 8GB of RAM and a 512GB solid-state drive, which costs €1,879, with the 10-core GPU. That is the one that most people should opt for, as it works well across the board. I did a bit of light design work, some document editing and photo clean-ups without the device pausing for breath. You can bump the spec up to the all-singing, all-dancing 24GB of RAM, so you can play and edit up to 11 streams of 4K without missing a heart, but it will cost you.
Speaking of video, the screen on the MacBook Air has also been upgraded a bit, moving to Apple’s Liquid Retina display from the previous model’s Retina screen. It is also capable of higher levels of brightness, at 500 nits. The upshot is a display that will work excellently for video, even in brighter conditions. It’s also a larger display, at 13.6 inches, and the bezels are minimal.
That edge-to-edge design means one thing though: a notch on the screen to accommodate the camera. How you feel about that is going to come down to how much the chunk out of the screen will annoy you. For me it was a minimal irritant, and after a while I didn’t notice it much.
The camera has had an improvement too, upgrading to a 1080p FaceTime camera. This was one of the disappointments in the previous Air; thankfully, Apple has solved this issue and the new camera is significantly less murky.
On the ports side of things, Apple is giving you the essentials: two USB C and a headphone jack. While the USB C ports are useful, there are still times when a regular USB A, which used to be the standard across the board, is needed. So best invest in an adapter if, like me, you’ll need one for the foreseeable future.
The good news is that you’ll have the full use of both ports, even while charging. The 2022 model sees the return of MagSafe to the MacBook Air for charging; you may find that a positive or a negative, depending on your feelings on universal USB C ports versus the convenience of the MagSafe connection. The good news here is that it doesn’t really matter; the Air charges via the USB-C port too so if you do misplace the MagSafe charger – and my online shopping history is testimony to the fact that it does happen – you aren’t stuck for a handy replacement.
The good
The MacBook Air is thin and light, but it’s also decent on the performance front. It comes with 8GB of RAM, which you can bump up, and the more expensive models also come with a 10-core GPU versus the eight on the entry-level model.
There is no touchscreen – Apple is still studiously ignoring that trend – nor does it have the often debated Touch Bar that Apple appears to be moving away from. But it does have Touch ID built into a button that doubles up as the power control. You can access Siri through either the “Hey Siri” command, or by holding the F5 key. And you get a comfortable keyboard to work with.
Battery life is also impressive, lasting more than a day, which is the icing on the cake.
The not so good
The new MacBook Air is more expensive than its predecessor, with the base model coming in at €1,529, although you get a lot more performance for that bump in price. And while the midnight version I had for review looked nice, it was very easily smeared or covered in fingerprints.
The rest
It comes in several colours: the aforementioned midnight plus starlight, silver and space grey.
The verdict
If you’ve been holding out on the MacBook Air, this should be the one that tips you over the edge.
