Apple on Tuesday unveiled new models of the MacBook Air notebook. The new laptop offers a Retina display, faster processors, improved graphics performance, more storage, and more.
The new new MacBook Air offers a 13-inch Retina display, Touch ID, the latest Intel processors, all-day battery life and more. The new MacBook Air is available in three finishes — gold, space gray and silver. The new notebook offers a redesigned keyboard, a Force Touch trackpad, faster SSDs, wide stereo sound, the Apple T2 Security Chip and Thunderbolt 3.
“The first MacBook Air revolutionized Mac with its thin wedge-shaped aluminum design. It forever changed the entire industry for portable computers and became the world’s most loved notebook,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Redesigning MacBook Air started with a stunning Retina display and all-day battery life, and then we added Touch ID and the Apple T2 Security Chip, the latest processors, incredible sound, the third-generation keyboard and Force Touch trackpad, high speed Thunderbolt 3 ports, and of course macOS Mojave in a beautiful, thinner, lighter, all-aluminum design that a whole new generation of MacBook Air customers are going to love.”
The new MacBook Air boasts a 13.3-inch Retina display with over 4 million pixels of resolution. The screen offers 48% more color than the previous generation. The new MacBook Air also includes a built-in FaceTime HD camera, as well as a three microphone array for better sound quality when making FaceTime calls and improved voice recognition for Siri.
Touch ID is now standard on the MacBook Air, allowing users to instantly unlock their Air, authenticate their identity, and make secure purchases using Apple Pay. The MacBook Air comes with the Apple T2 Security Chip. The T2’s Secure Enclave protects Touch ID information and also ensures that software loaded during the boot process has not been tampered with. The T2 also features an SSD controller with on-the-fly data encryption for everything stored on the SSD.
The T2 also includes an always-on processor that enables “Hey Siri,” allowing users to request Siri to do things like finding files or opening an app, using just their voice.
The MacBook Air includes a third-generation Apple-designed keyboard. Each key is individually backlit using low-power LEDs. The new notebook also includes a Force Touch trackpad.
The new Air also features an 8th generation Intel Core i5 processor, Intel UHD Graphics and faster 2133 MHz system memory up to 16GB. It also features SSDs up to 1.5TB in capacity, that are up to 60 percent faster than the previous generation.
Two Thunderbolt 3 ports which allow users to charge the notebook, transfer data via USB and Thunderbolt, output video in three formats and connect to a whole host of devices including external storage, docks for additional ports, 4K and 5K displays, and eGPUs for faster graphics.
Pricing and Availability
Starting at $1,199, the new MacBook Air is available to order today on apple.com. It will be available in Apple retail stores and through Apple Authorized Resellers starting Wednesday, November 7.
