Apple will swap the MacBook Air’s Intel CPU for its own M1 chip, the company announced today. That swap alone should make the Air a much speedier notebook Apple claims its faster than 98 percent of PCs sold in the last year, and nine times faster than the last model.
The new MacBook Pro comes in a 13-inch size and starts at $1,299. It replaces the previous entry-level MacBook Pro model. The new MacBook Pro will feature Apple’s new M1 processor, which the company says features the “world’s fastest CPU core,” the fastest integrated graphics, and big power and performance gains compared to the Intel chips it had previously used. It’ll also launch with macOS 11 Big Sur, which Apple says it designed specifically to take advantage of the new hardware.
Apple says that performance on the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is 2.8 times as fast, with graphics that are up to five times faster than the previous generation. And unlike the new MacBook Air, it still features an active cooling fan system. There’s still a Touch Bar, along with two Thunderbolt 4 ports.
On top of being more powerful, the new MacBook Air also won’t have a fan, which should be a major plus for anyone tired of laptops that sound like miniature jet engines. That’s not a huge surprise though the M1 Apple Silicon chip is the evolution of Apple’s A-series chips for iOS devices, none of which have fans either. The new MacBook Air also has the longest battery life the line has ever seen, and a refined Retina Display with support for the entire P3 color gamut. You can also expect it to wake up far faster than before in one demo, the Air lit up almost instantly when its lid was opened.
Configuration options are either 8GB or 16GB of RAM along with 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB SSD options. (Apple will be offering just a single M1 processor option, however.)
You can order the new MacBook Air today, and Apple says it’ll be available next week in stores.
