New MacBook Air (2020): everything we know about the M1-powered laptop

At its November 10 One More Thing event Apple has just revealed the new MacBook Air. Even though we've already seen the MacBook Air (2020) earlier this year, this new model comes with some pretty big changes under the hood.

That's because unlike earlier models, the new MacBook Air (2020) ditches the Intel processor for Apple's own ARM-based chip, the new Apple M1.

According to Apple, this custom chip will allow the new MacBook Air (2020) to perform better and run longer whilst on battery.

All applications that you usually run in macOS on Intel-based MacBooks will work fine with the new MacBook Air (2020), thanks to some software wizardry with Apple's Rosetta tool, which allows apps to run on the new architecture.

Apple claims the new MacBook Air is three times faster than other laptops in its class, and faster than 98% of PC laptops sold in the past year. Its neural engine is nine times faster than the previous MacBook Air, and its SSD is up to twice as fast thanks to M1 and the latest flash technology.

Thanks to the low-powered M1 chip, it doesn't need a fan for cooling, making it completely silent. As for battery life, we knew the new 'Apple silicon' would be more power-efficient, so it's no surprise that the new MacBook Air has the longest battery life of any MacBook Air – up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing, or up to 18 hours of video, according to Apple.

All this comes with a 13-inch Retina display, auto face recognition, and more.

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Cut to the chase

• What is it? Apple's latest lightweight 13-inch MacBook
• When is it out? Preorders available now, with the release set for next week.
• How much will it cost? Starting at $999

New MacBook Air (2020) release date and price

At Apple's new MacBook Air (2020) launch event, the company stated that its revamped thin and light laptop will be available to buy today, with units shipping out from next week (starting November 16).

Prices for the new MacBook Air (2020) start at $999 . As usual, there are a number of specifications available at launch, and you can further customise them to get the MacBook Air (2020)  that best suits your needs and budget.

Here's the configurations we know about so far and their prices:

• $999 / £999: 8GB/256GB, 7-core GPU
• $1,249 / £1,249: 8GB/512GB, 8-core GPU

For comparison, the MacBook Air (2020) launched earlier this year for $999 / £999 / AU$1,599, which was actually cheaper than the price the MacBook Air (2019) launched for.

So, you're getting the new MacBook Air (2020) for the same price as the earlier model. Which is great news!

The fully maxed-out version of the MacBook Air (2020) came with a 1.2GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD costs $2,249 / £2,249 / AU$3,349. Will we see a configuration like that for the new MacBook Air?

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