Apple has been a leading innovator of personal computing devices for decades. Apple MacBook Air 13-Inch (M1, Late 2021) is Apple’s latest innovation. Apple’s new laptop offers some exciting features that make it worth the price tag, but also comes with some drawbacks that may not be appealing to everyone. In this article, we explore Apple MacBook Air
13-Inch (M1, Late 2021) Review and compare it to other laptops on the market today
Table of Contents
As Always, a Smooth Aluminum Slab
Apple takes a “don’t mess with success” approach to design, and it’s paying off. The Macbook Air still looks sharp despite its age – I wish that Apple would bring a Rose Gold color option for this sleek slab of aluminum!
The design of the MacBook Air may be impressive, but it comes at a price. The laptop is heavier and thicker than some Windows competitors with similar screen sizes including Dell’s XPS 13 (which can still fit in your backpack). The Mac measures 0.61 by 12 inches and weighs 3 pounds, compared with an XPS 13 that is 11.6″ wide at its base but then tapers down to 7/8ths inch thick–not thin! It also has 1 less ounce than the other laptop for those who are always on the go or traveling without their heavier baggage weighing them down too much (I know how it feels). The aluminum build means this thing will never feel fragile even if you drop it from your desk onto the concrete floor below – whereas some notebooks might crumble under pressure*.
The M1-powered MacBook Air’s other minor chassis compromise is that it comes with just three ports: two USB Type C connectors, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an SD card slot for video or music storage expansion should you need it. A few years ago this was seen as a major deficiency in professional users’ portfolios who had lots of peripherals including external hard drives equipped with older Type-A cables which are no longer necessary today thanks to many devices now have their own connection options like those on offer from Apple!
Meet the Apple MacBook Air 13-Inch, M1
The MacBook Air is a laptop that can be customized to suit your needs. Inside, it has either the brand-new M1 chip or processors from Intel’s Core i5 and Core i7 families which provide more power than before at less cost per gigabyte of memory storage capacity in this generation’s ultraportable laptops costing over $1000 USD/ Euro!
Upgrading to 16GB of memory and Macbook Air 512GB SSD adds an additional $400, but users with gargantuan storage needs can also outfit their MacBook Air with 1TB or 2TB. The maxed-out M1-powered configuration rings up at just under 3 grand which is in line with list prices on many high-end ultrabooks like the Dell XPS 13 Gen 8 from last year’s model range as well!
Retina Display, Excellent Audio Quality
The Retina display on the MacBook Air has been around for a few models now, and it remains at its high native resolution of 2160 x 1 600. Colors are brilliant due to Apple’s True Tone technology which balances white balance in different environments so you can see everything clearly without any yellow or blue tinting!
The new True Tone technology in both the MacBook Air and Air makes them more alike than ever. The panels now support P3 colors, which are brilliant compared to traditional displays. It’s great that these features were once exclusive for Pros but will be available on your regular laptop too!
A 720p webcam is mounted above the display on a jet-black bezel. With quarantine and social distancing around the world, webcams have become essential tools for meetings Apple not upgrading its camera hardware to 1080p video which is disappointing following the upgrade of the 27″ iMac’s cam early this summer but switched from M1 chip delivers sharper videos in low light conditions improved contrast detail better color accuracy.
However – there are some laptops that support this resolution; for instance Microsoft’s Surface Book 3 can take high-quality videos at upscaled 2K (2160 x 1440) because it has two lenses that both capture pixel data at full res 1860×1080!
Apple MacBook Air 13-Inch A Comfortable Keyboard and Trackpad
The new design of the 13-inch MacBook Air keyboard is a vast improvement. The Magic Keyboard has silicone pads under its keys that provide springiness and bounceback, while scissor mechanisms guide the movement so you don’t have wobbly keys! I really enjoy typing on my new MacBook Air.
The MacBook Air’s trackpad is excellent. Along with the MacBook Air and 16-inch version, it remains one of only a few laptops to offer an oversized pad with haptic feedback instead of a physical clicking mechanism; cursor movements are hyper-accurate thanks in part to its large size (12 inches diagonally). The new Lenovo Yoga 9i may also include this feature but we haven’t had time yet so can’t say for sure if they do!
Testing The New Apple MacBook Air 13-Inch: M1 Performance
The new Apple-designed processor is a significant shift for the MacBook Air, which had previously run exclusively on Intel processors. The M1 in our review unit handles all computational functions and uses an entirely different software architecture than either of its two Core i5 or Core i7 counterparts meaning that apps must be re-written to take advantage natively with it.
The new Apple MacBook Air is a laptop that has better performance than its predecessors and many Windows competitors. The M1 processor in this device offers increasingly faster graphics output and longer battery life for users’ needs on the go or at work – all without sacrificing any cognitive function!
Handbrake is a program that can be used to convert video from one format to another. There are two versions of HandBrake: an Apple version that currently runs on the MacBook Air, and Microsoft’s M1 processor-powered beta release for Windows 10 computers (not available yet). The conversion time drops down by more than 50% when using this new beta software with its native coding abilities – now at 8 minutes!
Photoshop’s image-editing performance closely mirrors the results of video encoding and 3D rendering. The Spectre x360 15 took around 22 seconds while other laptops stayed within 20 seconds between them!
Apple MacBook Air 13-Inch vs. iPad
But many users with basic needs and affinity towards touch screens might be considering tablets like iPad instead of conventional laptops- Apple has long claimed A-series processors used in iPhones/iPads are competitive or superior against many laptops but this just isn’t true anymore; they can’t hold a candle!
The M1 processor in the new MacBook Air is a big deal for speed lovers. On Multi-Core Geekbench 5 test, which runs natively on all platforms and processors that it supports with an excellent performance rating of 7771 compared to 5000 or less from iPads such as iPad air where browser-based tests like JetStream, Basemark WebXPRT stand true showing how powerful this little guy really is!
Graphics Testing
The M1 is an Intel-powered laptop that can run games at a smooth, pixel-perfect frame rate. But the library of available games for Macs is far smaller than it is on PCs, and few such M1 chip-based games run natively. So most gamers will experience something more akin to an Intel processor benchmark, or an old test that does not take into account graphics cards yet ultra-portable devices like the XPS 13 with dedicated Nvidia GeForce GTX GPU can provide better performance in demanding titles such as Shadow Of The Tomb Raider and Hitman (2016).
It’s interesting to see how the latest M1-equipped latest MacBook Air is extremely competitive with some of Apple’s top-of-the-line products. While it lacks a cooling fan, this laptop may be able to run demanding workflows for longer periods than other laptops thanks in part to its passive heating system that keeps your hands warmer during those cold winter months!
Battery Rundown
The MacBook Air offers excellent battery life. It clocks in at more than 22 hours on our rundown test, which involves looping a locally stored HD video with 50% screen brightness and Wi-Fi turned off. That’s impressive when compared to other laptops like the XPS 13 (24 Hours) or previous models of MBPs that also offered great duration– but it still isn’t as long-lasting as 29 hours 2020 model Air M1 equipped computers can be!
With The M1, More Pro Than You Know
The Apple M1 chip makes the MacBook Air a workhorse for processing-intensive tasks. The lack of robust touch support and meager port selection doesn’t detract much from its exceptional display quality, comfortable keyboard/pad combo, and sleek chassis – all qualities any professional would want in their computer!
If you’re looking for a laptop with unparalleled performance, look no further than the MacBook Air. Unfortunately, this machine’s power isn’t available to everyone just yet- especially if they use Adobe Creative Suite apps and there is currently no native support from Apple on their hardware at all!
It’s true that the latest MacBook Air is worth considering if you want a choice of Apple or Intel processors and can take advantage of all those “pro” features. It was already an excellent ultraportable, but now thanks to M1 it has become even better!
Conclusion:
The Apple MacBook Air 13-Inch is a great laptop, but it’s not for everybody. If you can live with minor shortcomings and want to take advantage of its power in the near future, then this may be just what your workflow needs.
