They built a huge lab outside Apple Park, dove deep into computational sound with the HomePod, and have been amping up every other speaker and mic with the resulting technology.

In October of 2018, Apple brought the Air out of hibernation and gave it a modern makeover.

Mostly. It got the updated design, high density, Retina display, and USB-C interface that made the 12-inch MacBook, its once-and-former-successor, so compelling.

It got Intels Core M low-power chipset, which was fine for casual and ultra-mobile workflows but wasnt as robust as the former Airs Core I-series.

Not than the 12-inch or the initial prices of the previous Airs, but than the low, low price the immediately previous Air had dropped to over the years.

So much, that rather than recapitulate is all here, Im going to link back to that review so, if youre completely new to the current MacBook Air platform, you can start there and then come back here to see whats been updated.

First, the bezels.

Unlike the 16-inch MacBook Pro, this MacBook Air update doesnt do anything to push the screen out any further towards the corners.

Not only because a lot of Apples competitors have gone edge-to-edge, but because doing so allows for a bigger screen in the same size casing, which is a win for everyone.

No T3 yet or Face ID, which just seems to inevitable for these machines.

Especially now when were all living on FaceTime and Skype and Meet and Zoom.

When good quality video conferencing isnt just a nice to have, but the only humanizing, interpersonal connection many of us still have.

I get that its much, much simpler and more efficient to engineer them that way, but as someone who loves, loves, loves the ability to plug the MacBook Pro in on either side, I miss it every time with the Air.

Its the blushing, coppery gold Apples been using for the last couple of years and I really like it.

And, somehow, that manages to balance the best of both keyboard worlds.

Now, I actually really liked the feel of the butterfly keys and was worried the new scissor switches would be as loosey-goosey as the old ones.

And, given its also coming to the iPad Pro in May, it seems so does Apple.

So far behind its affected almost every single Mac Apples tried to ship over the last few years and, more recently, tipped the value prop of processor power decidedly in AMDs direction.

That should translate into more power efficiency, or faster, cooler operations for everyone.

For me, using an iPad with Sidecar is a more frequent, and Id argue, more productive, use case.

To put this new Air to the test, I loaded 80 gazillion Chrome tabs and Electron apps, and no, no, just kidding, thats Jonathan Morrisons thing.

And, well, while Id still use the 16-Inch MacBook Pro for the horsepower and speed that comes with it, for the first time ever, an m-class Intel Mac didnt choke to death on my videos.

Thats about 5x longer than it takes the Core i9 16-inch MacBook Pro to render the same file.).

Or, you know, more realistically, a ton of smaller vacation or social videos.

I havent had the new Air long enough to stress-test that yet, and rendering video certainly cuts that down considerably, but Ill keep an eye on it for the next couple of weeks and let you know how well it works out.

United App For Mac Book Air