Apple Announces MacBook Air 2018: Junior Laptop Gets Essential Makeover

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In a keynote in New York, Apple has announced its update of MacBook Air 2018. The entry-level notebook by Apple is getting much-anticipated redesign along with Touch ID and T2 controller. MacBook Air is still only available in 13.3inch and orders will start shipping from 7th of November.

MacBook Air 2018: Overview

Apple first released MacBook Air back in 2008. MacBook Air 2018 had a premium and sleek design. Apple has a simple and yet effective strategy of using the expensive and high-performance component in their products. However, that is not the case for MacBook Air it was significantly upgraded in 2015 last time. So yesterday’s announcement is the first significant upgrade in almost the last 4 years.

MacBook Air 2018: Design

Regarding design, the MacBook Air is similar to Apple’s modern laptop families. In fact, at first glance, it’s not especially distinct from Apple’s other wedge-shaped laptop, the 12-inch MacBook. The vanilla MacBook itself essentially split the difference between the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. While the MacBook and MacBook Pro was never a de-facto replacement for the Air, it’s now clear that this is the direction that Apple has wanted to take their laptop line as a whole.

The result of the design is great because it looks like a 13.3 inch MacBook and available in same colors Gold/Silver/Space Gray. It has the dimensions of 30.41cm x 21.24cm. Thickness is reduced from 1.7cm to 1.57cm while the thinnest point is increased from 0.31cm to 0.41cm. The new MacBook Air has less weight compared to older one from 1.35kg 1.25kg.

New MacBook Air has two USB type c ports, these are both Thunderbolt 3-capable ports, with all the features and bandwidth that entails, making the Air more like the Pros and less like the vanilla MacBook in this regard. Apple has also retained the 3.5mm audio jack. However, the SDXC card slot is no more.

Under the hood, details are a little harder to come by. Curiously, Apple is only offering a single CPU option here, an Intel Core i5. And while the company never names the specific processor models they use, the specifications here – 3.6GHz turbo with Intel UHD Graphics 617 – do not match any known Intel chip, even when factoring in various cTDP options. We’ve heard rumors of Intel putting together a Core i5-8210Y.

MacBook Air 2018 Battery

However, the new Intel Core i5-8210Y is a new chipset that lists its Thermal Design Power (TPD) spec as 7W, and it may, in fact, have a fan, according to the on-stage glimpse of the insides of the MacBook Air. That’s unlike the lower-powered 12-inch MacBook.

This MacBook Air is poised to carry the brand’s torch when it comes to battery life, rated for 12 hours of local video playback or 12 hours of wireless web use

MacBook Air 2018 Specs

• 8th-gen Intel dual-core i5 processor
• 8GB or 16GB 2,133MHz memory
• 128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1.5TB SSD
• 13.3-inch 2560×1600-pixel resolution display
• 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2

Price and Availability

Apple has settled the price of new MacBook Air 2018 at MSRP $1,119 (£1,199). It is $200 more expensive compared to earlier versions of MacBook Air.