Apple announced a new version of its MacBook Air at its annual WWDC developer conference on Monday.
The MacBook Air is Apple’s best-selling laptop, and the new design is likely to boost Mac sales in the coming quarters. In recent years, the Mac line has seen strong growth — according to an estimate by Canalys, shipments rose about 28% in 2021 versus just under 15% for the overall market.
Overall, Apple’s Mac line has seen sales increase, both because the pandemic has forced people to buy laptops to commute to work or school from home, and because Apple has modified its computers to use its own chips instead of Intel’s, which has greatly increased computers’ battery life.
The new MacBook Air remains a thin and light laptop at 2.7 pounds, but has a new look with a consistent thickness and not the tapered wedge design it’s been known for in recent years.
At the heart is Apple’s latest M2 chip, announced Monday, which will be faster and more power efficient than Apple’s previous chip. It has two USB-C Thunderbolt ports for connecting monitors and peripherals, a headphone jack, and a MagSafe magnet connector for charging.
The 13.6-inch screen has been slightly enlarged but now has a cut-out around the camera, like the cut-out around the front camera on iPhones. The video conferencing camera has been upgraded with higher resolution and better color.
The new model is also available in four colors – Apple’s traditional silver, gray and gold tones, as well as a new matte black that Apple is calling Midnight.
The new MacBook Air is more expensive than before, starting at $1,199 versus $999 for last year’s model, which is still available. The most powerful configuration costs $2,499.
The company also announced a 13-inch MacBook Pro, which wasn’t available for review Monday. Apple said both new MacBooks would be released next month.
The company has struggled to keep Macs in stock in recent weeks as production has been severely impacted by the Covid lockdowns in Shanghai, China.
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