With the Apple MacBook Air M1, 2020, Apple has taken its thinnest and slimmest to a new level of performance. The Apple M1 processor, the manufacturer’s highly acclaimed, impressively powerful ARM-based chip, powers the 2020 Air, providing the much-needed boost it has long deserved.
There are some concerns about the fan-less design’s longevity. Still, it does help it remain silent while in use – whether you’re touching up images, wrangling audio, or editing video.
Apple MacBook Air (M1, 2020): Design
The M1-equipped MacBook Air looks and feels exactly like the early 2020 MacBook Air I reviewed in March. That is, after all, the point. This MacBook Air retains the wedge-shaped machined-aluminum chassis that we’ve come to expect from Apple, as the company appears to want to ease users into the Apple Silicon era.
There’s still that thorny black bezel around the 13.3-inch display, the MacBook Air logo proudly displayed beneath it, and a 720p FaceTime camera in 2022. The keyboard, now made up of scissor switches, has excellent travel, and the trackpad is still the industry leader in control and gestures.
Display
In terms of detail, the MacBook Air’s 2,560 x 1600-pixel Retina display provided fine details, including the hairs on that spider, a plethora of Ben-Day dots throughout the film, and the grains of the wood floors in Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite.
It is identical to the display on the 13-inch MacBook Pro, except that it has a lower brightness rating (400 nits) and cannot display high dynamic range (HDR) video.
The M1-based Air can use an external monitor with a resolution of up to 6K at 60 Hz. Users generally appreciate the clarity and color. The display on the Air M1 is bright and consistent across wide viewing angles, which is handy when sharing the screen with someone else.
Performance
Inside, the MacBook Air has undergone significant changes. The M1 chip is based on Apple’s now decade-and-a-half experience producing iPhone processors.
It not only replaces multiple components at the same time to save space, but it also improves performance and battery life. Previously, the CPU, GPU, and other components would copy data between each other, consuming energy while also necessitating more resources.
The interface is more modern, with bright, vibrant colors highlighting the MacBook Air screen. It’s also less cluttered, so you’re not engulfed by icons and options, and the Control Center has been redesigned in accordance with the iOS version. As a result, it looks nicer and is more user-friendly.
Battery Life
In terms of battery life, we expected the ‘Apple silicon’ to be more power-efficient, so it comes as no surprise that the MacBook Air has the prolonged battery life of any MacBook Air yet – up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing or up to 18 hours of video, according to Apple.
