Apple Finally Launches the MacBook Air Upgrade You Have Been Waiting For

Yes, finally.

Apple is today launching a major new upgrade to the MacBook Air, after almost giving no attention to the product for years. 2015 was the last time Apple upgraded the MacBook Air, and although the company has been introducing major improvements on other MacBook devices, the MacBook Air has long been neglected. Until today, of course.

First and foremost, Apple’s new MacBook Air comes with the performance upgrade everyone’s been waiting for. So far, the 2015 MacBook Air came with outdated Intel processors. The new MacBook Air comes with Intel’s latest and greatest 8th gen Intel Core dual-core processors, meaning there will be huge bumps in performance from the previous generation. The company has even upgraded a lot of the internals and the architectural design of the device, so the performance and battery life is expected to improve in all fronts. You can now get up to 16GB RAM on the device, and up to 1.5TB SSD which is up to 60% faster.

Design side, the new MacBook Air looks much better than the previous MacBook Air.  It now comes with a Retina Display on a 13.3-inch panel for the first time ever, as well as 50% thinner bezels around the device which allows for a much more refined design of the device. The redesigned device has 17% less volume than before and it’s 10% thinner, coming in at 15.6mm.

And yes, these include Apple’s new third-generation butterfly keyboard design that everyone hates on the new MacBook Pro devices, and that will likely continue on this year’s MacBook Air. But the amazing force touch trackpad is now on the MacBook Air. The device comes with upgraded speakers for better sound, too.

The new MacBook Air also comes with Touch ID, secured by Apple’s T2 security chip, letting you unlock your device and authenticate on apps using your fingerprint. It comes with a headphone jack, but there are only two other USB Type-C Thunderbolt 3 ports. These ports will let you connect to up to a 5K display, as well as an eGPU. And no, there’s no touch bar.

Another big advancement: the new MacBook is made with 100% recycled aluminium. It’s the “greenest Mac” ever.

Starts at $1199 for the Intel Core i5 model with 128GB of storage and 8GB RAM. It’s available in Space Gray, Silver, and Gold. Pre-orders today, ships November 7.

Tagged with

Share post

Please check our Community Guidelines before commenting

Conversation 25 comments

  • ibmthink

    30 October, 2018 - 10:35 am

    <p>&gt; <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The new MacBook Air comes with Intel’s latest and greatest 8th gen Intel Core dual-core processors, meaning there will be huge bumps in performance from the previous generation.</span></p><p><br></p><p>Is that sarcasm? Dual-Core CPU means this will be very slow compared to other laptops. Quad-Core is the standard.</p>

    • Jason Peter

      30 October, 2018 - 11:53 am

      <blockquote><a href="#358002"><em>In reply to ibmthink:</em></a><em> </em>Is that sarcasm? Dual-Core CPU means this will be very slow compared to other laptops. Quad-Core is the standard.</blockquote><p><br></p><p>MacOS is already optimized to the point where even a 5 year old Air still runs plenty fast, even when running a dozen or so apps simultaneously. </p><p><br></p><p>This isn’t intended for Pro or business use, nor gaming. The CPU specs for this design will run well for years for 95% of its intended market. Hard drive and memory speed are much more important for this market than the CPU, which is more than sufficient even as a dual-core. That, and it will be much more energy efficient, which is what the Air strives for. </p><p><br></p><p>Anything more is just useless bragging rights. And anything more would just be hindered by the non-discrete video card. These specs are very balanced for its intended audience.</p>

  • ChuckOp

    Premium Member
    30 October, 2018 - 10:35 am

    <p>Anything filled with chemical batteries and other toxic components should never get a "greenest" label. Typical Apple spin of taking a weakness and touting it as a major plus.</p>

  • FalseAgent

    30 October, 2018 - 10:37 am

    <p>$1200 for a laptop with a dual core Y processor and 128gb of storage. lol</p>

    • Bob Shutts

      30 October, 2018 - 12:51 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#358006"><em>In reply to FalseAgent:</em></a><em> I suppose if you want a Mac with 4-6 cores, you go MacBook Pro, n'est ce pas?</em></blockquote><blockquote><em>But if you don't like any of the above, there are some nice choices on the PC side. ;)</em></blockquote><p><br></p>

    • Pbike908

      30 October, 2018 - 7:35 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#358006">In reply to FalseAgent:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Yeah, for that price this thing should come with a 256gb HD. SSD's are cheap, meaning it wouldn't have increased Apple's COGs that much for a drive with twice the size. It's not like one can purchase after market drives for Apple's laptops which is a big reason I'm probably not in the market for one.</p>

    • Mike Widrick

      31 October, 2018 - 9:18 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#358006">In reply to FalseAgent:</a></em></blockquote><p>Fingerprint reader, reliable bluetooth and thunderbolt is not nothing.</p>

  • TheJoeFin

    Premium Member
    30 October, 2018 - 10:39 am

    <p>no TouchBar??? COMPLETLY UNUSABLE! /s</p>

  • skane2600

    30 October, 2018 - 11:51 am

    <p>Still in denial about the butterfly keyboard it seems. Like MS with UWP. </p><p><br></p><p>See, now I can be down-voted by both species of fan-boys :)</p>

    • MikeGalos

      30 October, 2018 - 12:10 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#358082">In reply to skane2600:</a></em></blockquote><p>Nah. You didn't bash Android or ChromeOS while you were at it. You gave the whole Google fan-boy community a pass.</p>

      • skane2600

        30 October, 2018 - 12:16 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#358100">In reply to MikeGalos:</a></em></blockquote><p>OK, Google is in denial thinking that adding Android to Chromebooks is going to make them into a mainstream productivity platform.</p><p><br></p><p>The point is that all companies have blind spots, a reluctance to admit their mistakes, and absurd claims.</p>

        • MikeGalos

          31 October, 2018 - 10:39 am

          <blockquote><em><a href="#358106">In reply to skane2600:</a></em></blockquote><p>Much better. Thanks.</p>

    • ErichK

      Premium Member
      30 October, 2018 - 12:18 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#358082">In reply to skane2600:</a></em></blockquote><p>But but but … it's black and white. You have to pick one and always put down the other!!! ;-)</p>

  • skborders

    30 October, 2018 - 2:05 pm

    <p>How does this compare with the Surface laptop 2. On the surface the specs seem comparable, but the SL2 is 200 cheaper and you get a touch screen. </p>

  • digiguy

    Premium Member
    30 October, 2018 - 6:19 pm

    <p>I can't believe people buy the idea of this being an update to the macbook air. This is just a 12in macbook with a larger screen, one more usb C and touch id. It has the same Core M processor (gen 8 is almost equal to gen 6 and 7 and by the way less powerful that the 7gen dual core in the entry level macbook pro), the same keyboard, the same lack of any other ports. Or, if you want, a (much) cheaper entry level macbook pro with Core M and touch id (and that's probably the best feature, the price…). This has nothing to do with the macbook air… But good marketing move from apple, everybody is buying it… </p>

  • paulkbiba

    Premium Member
    30 October, 2018 - 7:01 pm

    <p>The Register has an analysis worth reading. It's entitled "Apple's launch confirms one thing: it's determined to kill off the laptop for iPads" https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/10/30/apple_launch_kill_laptop/</p><p><br></p&gt;

  • Pierre Masse

    30 October, 2018 - 9:06 pm

    <p>I was waiting for a cheaper Macbook, so forget it, Tim Cook.</p>

  • dontbe evil

    31 October, 2018 - 10:18 am

    <p>nope… I have not been waiting for it at all … even more overpriced and underpowered than usual this time</p>

Newsletter

Stay up to date with the latest tech news from Thurrott.com!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Thurrott © 2023 BWW Media Group