On Wednesday of this week, Apple announced the addition of two products to its ever-expanding lineup. The first was an iPad Pro (watch this space) and the second was the newest version of its iconic MacBook Air laptop. And let me tell you, as someone who was previously working on a Mac from 2012 (which in all fairness was still very much hanging in there), using the new MacBook Air this week has been like switching from a Nokia 3310 to an iPhone. In other words, game changing. The new product launches today so here are the top six things you need to know about the latest addition to the Apple family:
The new MacBook Air has been given a pretty serious keyboard upgrade in the form of the new Magic Keyboard. For Apple fanatics, it’s the same keyboard first introduced on the 16-inch MacBook Pro. The typing experience is super smooth thanks to the sleek, updated design which is also backlit and includes ambient sensors that automatically adjust as you move from your desk to the couch to bed.
Apple is serving up its newest MacBook in three of its key colours: gold, silver and space grey. As a monochrome lover, the space grey fits perfectly with my almost exclusively black wardrobe meaning it will double as a very digital director-appropriate accessory for when we’re all no longer social distancing.
The new MacBook Air comes with a 13-inch Retina display that serves up more than four million pixels and is equipped with Apple’s True Tone technology. What that means for your day-to-day is crystal clear imagery when you’re watching Netflix, when you’re calling in to your daily work meeting or saying cheers to your friends at happy hour over FaceTime.
Because what’s a good quality video without sound, right? The MacBook Air features a three-mic array for clearer voice capture on FaceTime calls, as well as advanced stereo speakers (that are 25 per cent louder than earlier iterations) for when you’re watching The Morning Show. It’s excellent for your OOO office pursuits but remember that yes, your co-worker will have heard what you said in the meeting very clearly.
A new Touch ID button is located in the top right hand corner of the keyboard. In addition to allowing you to unlock your laptop with just one touch, the button can also be used for online shopping. So long as you’ve got Apple Pay set up, all you need to do is select that option at checkout, hit the Touch ID button and your latest Lululemon haul for your at-home workouts will be on its way to you. Apple Pay is also available online at Aritzia, Gap and Banana Republic in Canada.
Also, it’s important to note that as with Touch ID and Apple Pay on your iPhone, your information is entirely safe.
Coming in at $1,299 (or $1,169 for education), the New MacBook Air is well worth the price tag. It has double the amount of storage than the previous generation (it now starts at 256GB), supports up to 6K external display for the first time in this series, and is super quick. And, given that I had my previous model for almost eight years, from a cost-per-use perspective it’s pretty impressive.
Order yours here.
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