The first computers with Apple’s new M2 chips are coming in July, 2022.
The new MacBook Air is a thin, light, and fanless computer with an $1199 starting price, while the new MacBook Pro 13 isn’t quite as thin, but it should offer better sustained performance thanks to active cooling (the fan allows the M2 chip to run at full speed for longer). The new MacBook Pro 13 will sell for $1299 and up.
That means prices for the new 2022 MacBook Air start about $200 higher than those for the previous-gen model, which was launched in 2020. But Apple isn’t discontinuing that model – it’s sticking around for a while and keeping its $999 starting price.
As for the new models, here’s what Apple is bringing to market in July:
MacBook Air (2022)
The MacBook Air line of laptops have always been distinguished by their remarkably thin and light designs, but this year’s goes further with a new design that’s just 11.3mm thick (less than half an inch) and which weighs just 2.7 pounds.
It has a 13.6 inch Liquid Retina display with up to 500 nits brightness (which is 25% brighter than the previous-gen model). That screeb surrounded by thinner bezels, and while there is a notch in the top of the screen for a webcam, Apple has upgraded the camera to a 1080p webcam with twice the resolution of the previous-gen, and twice the performance in low light conditions.
Other features include quad speakers, a 3-microphone array, a MagSafe charger (and support for optional new chargers that include a 35W charger with two USB-C ports for charging multiple devices and a 67W fast charger with support for getting a 50% charge in half an hour). The notebook has a fingerprint sensor with support for Touch ID.
The new MacBook Air has an aluminum unibody design and two Thunderbolt ports plus a headset jack. It will be available in four color options and supports up to 24GB of RAM, 2TB of storage, and up to a 10-core GPU.
MacBook Pro 2022
The new entry-level MacBook Pro features a 13 inch retina display and, like the MacBook Air, it supports up to 10-core graphics, 24GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage.
But this model has a fan for active cooling, studio-quality microphones, a display with P3 wide color gamut, and Apple’s Touch bar with a capacitive touchscreen above the keyboard (for better or worse).
I really like the chassis design of the new MacBook Air. 🏆
“MacBook Air with an M1 processor around for now, while dropping the starting price to $999 for folks that want an entry-level notebook.”
Correct me if I am mistaken, but I thought the MacBook Air with M1 released with a $999 entry-level price?
https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/macbook-air-2020-m1-price-release-date
All I am seeing here is Apple has increased the entry-level price by $200 gen-over-gen.
You’re right. That’s what I get for trying to write this article before the press event had ended. 🙂