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<\/p>\nApple\u2018s had a busy year. After separate events for the new iPads and iPhones the past couple of months, the company today revealed the first of its long-awaited ARM-based Macs, including a new MacBook Air.<\/p>\n
Featuring the new M1 chip, designed for thin and light devices (obviously), Apple promises up to 3.5 times faster\u201d CPU performance and 5x graphics performance over the previous generation. It achieves this performance without a fan, ensuring the device is completely silent.<\/p>\n
The laptop can also allegedly run for 15 hours of wireless web browsing or 18 hours of video \u2014 6 hours longer than before. And because it\u2019s 2020, Apple says it can last twice as long on video calls too.<\/p>\n
In all, Apple says the new MacBook Air is faster than \u201c98 percent\u201d of PC laptops sold today, and at first glance, these seem like impressive gains indeed. But the company was woefully shy on specifics, notably not specifying whether these laptops were also in the same price range. Cheap Chromebooks and Windows laptops dominate the market, after all.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s also worth noting that these performance claims are likely referring to apps optimized for ARM rather than those created for Intel processors. It\u2019ll take a while before all the apps people need to get work done make the transition.<\/p>\n
Granted, Apple has enough clout that developers will likely be faster at making the switch to ARM than they have been for Windows, and once that happens, Apple\u2019s claims may indeed be more realistic. It\u2019s just worth noting that being an early adopter may not net you the performance gains Apple appears to be promising right away; we\u2019ll have to wait for benchmarks and real-world use to know how much of a difference ARM really makes at the outset. On the plus side, you will be able to run iOS apps on your laptop, so that does open up a world of software.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, it seems to be the same as the existing MacBook Air, and Apple even retains the headphone jack. The laptop can be pre-ordered starting today for $999, and it will be available starting next week.<\/p>\n
For more gear, gadget, and hardware news and reviews, follow Plugged on Twitter<\/a> and Flipboard<\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n Published November 10, 2020 \u2014 19:10 UTC <\/p>\n