For the lighter kind of general use work a MacBook Air is intended for, the Retina Display’s resolution is extremely sharp without being overkill. The latter is generally reserved for high-end content-creator laptops (and desktops) that can benefit from the greater pixel count, but it’s a drain on battery life and much more expensive.

This is nontrivially higher than the full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) resolution that's common on most mainstream laptops, but still well short of 4K. Apple’s 13.3-inch Retina Display is once again utilized here, delivering 2,560 by 1,600 pixels in a 16:10 aspect ratio.

Next up is the display, also as brilliant as ever. The Retina Display: It's Sharp, Don't Touch (When working in cafes and 737s becomes an everyday thing again.) It’s a uniquely satisfying and responsive touchpad, making this a great laptop for working at a coffee shop or on a plane with no mouse.

This means you’ll get the same feedback from clicks and presses no matter where you push on the touchpad, because it’s responding digitally. More important, though, is that the touchpad is extremely smooth and responsive when panning and pressing, thanks in part to its virtual haptics. Eclipsing its predecessors, the M1-based MacBook is our top-pick Apple laptop for 2020. At $999 (as tested), it's the best value among Mac laptops, especially when combined with its nearly 30-hour battery life and premium super-slim build. All are impressive, but the improvement to the MacBook Air impresses most. The MacBook Air launches alongside a new 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini, also running on the M1 system-on-a-chip (SoC). Alongside its new 'Big Sur' OS update, Apple dropped its long-running use of Intel processors for this homegrown silicon solution, and in doing so, infused the MacBook Air with new life (while maintaining its fanless design). The MacBook Air's performance has always remained secondary to its price and size, but that paradigm has shifted with the introduction of Apple’s own M1 processor. We liked the model updated in early 2020, but its keyboard improvements aside, it was not a transformative edition. How to Set Up Two-Factor AuthenticationĪpple's MacBook Air has been a known quantity for years, a favorite among super-thin ultraportables, but one that received only occasional, modest updates.How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac.How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files.How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad.How to Block Robotexts and Spam Messages.

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