MacBook Air Updated With True Tone Display and Lower $1,099 Starting Price

[jent]

I'm comparing the new Airs and Pros and it's strange that the Air only has Bluetooth 4.2, the Pro display doesn't have IPS technology, and the FaceTime camera on both of them is still only 720p. Other than that this looks like a solid round of refreshes.

 

[Mike MA]

Ugh. Had to buy one a month and a half ago. **** timing.

Yeah, I was hoping mine would be older than 6 months before updates came along. Oh well.

That really sucks for early adopters of the last year updated Air. Not happy with such a big update (True Tone) and price drop that early to be honest.

 

[vaugha]

Does it have the 2019 mbp keyboard or the same keyboard from 2018? I’m not buying if it’s got the same keyboard from last year.

 

[Shanpdx]

Ive is out, CAT is out of the bag.

SSD pries are still expensive, all around good upgrades.

Apple will be compelled to update again when the 9th/10th Gen CPUs out. may be that time they will drop the 128GB SSD...

Refurbished section is where the deals are to be found!

 

[thequietaussie]

Users just wants to whine. I hope touch Bar is here to stay, it is A MUST for my workflow, especially in some software like Wmware Fusion, Pixelmator, Final Cut.

This may surprise you, but not everyone has the same workflow as you...

 

[SuperMatt]

This looks like a great deal for a college freshman. $999 for a solid laptop that will last 4 years and perhaps beyond, plus a free pair of Beats headphones.

 

[Grey Area]

The press release never actually says these have the butterfly keyboards (unlike the first post in this thread). There were rumors going around that the 2019 MacBook Air would be the first laptop released with the new keyboard design. In the hypothetical world where this new laptop has an updated scissor based keyboard I don't think Apple would do much fanfare about that kind of transition with the Pro laptops still using the old keyboards.

The updated product page says it is a butterfly keyboard, though, and the new Air is listed in the keyboard service program with all the other butterfly keyboard MacBooks.

 

[Steve121178]

I wonder if the 2019 Air is still using the gimped 7W CPU's or have they used 15W CPU's? I'm guessing still the 7W processors as it's still using Intel UHD 617 graphics. Disappointing.

 

[x-evil-x]

What are all the new product codes for now? The air was updated and another 13". What are they going to release in October?

 

[Hirakata]

The updated product page says it is a butterfly keyboard, though, and the new Air is listed in the keyboard service program with all the other butterfly keyboard MacBooks.

SMH! How can they possibly release an updated Air while at the same time place it on the keyboard service program, with a straight face.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

The updated product page says it is a butterfly keyboard, though, and the new Air is listed in the keyboard service program with all the other butterfly keyboard MacBooks.

Good catch.

 

[citysnaps]

Why the hell didn’t they include True Tone from the start? It makes no sense, even less so since they were able to lower the MacBook Air price...

That's how product lines evolve. The original MBA had one port, 2GB of RAM, an 80GB spinning hard disk, a low-res display, and an under-powered CPU (that still caused overheating). All for $1,799.

It has gradually improved since its release in 2008.

 

[rosegoldoli]

i got the macbook air retina back in february and the only difference is true tone...guess im not sore

 

[velocityg4]

I still don't get the hate for the Touch Bar. I like it. Especially with Better Touch Tool. To each their own I guess.

No good for touch typing. It slows things down for folks who memorize function key locations, combos or create custom functions.

 

[guzhogi]

I still don't get the hate for the Touch Bar. I like it. Especially with Better Touch Tool. To each their own I guess.

To me, it's more a gimmick rather than an amazing, must-have feature. But whatever.

 

[Abhoward9]

Where were the rumors leading up to this? I literally just bought an Air last week for the MIL, arrived last Friday. Checking the prices on the Canadian Apple site, I could have saved $50 by buying it this week (Last week, $1499, this week, $1449). I would have held off if a refresh was being hinted at.

Oh ye Apple, thou hast screwed me over again.

Except they haven’t because they have a two week return policy that they will typically be even more lenient on when a product is refreshed.

 

[polee]

Is this new screen brighter in terms of nits?

 

[macduke]

If this thing had an ARM chip in it, I'd be all over that. Imagine the performance and battery life you could get in an Air running Apple's silicon? For now I am happy with my current setup.

 

[unobtainium]

Where were the rumors leading up to this? I literally just bought an Air last week for the MIL, arrived last Friday. Checking the prices on the Canadian Apple site, I could have saved $50 by buying it this week (Last week, $1499, this week, $1449). I would have held off if a refresh was being hinted at.

Oh ye Apple, thou hast screwed me over again.

Return it, it’s only been a week.

 

[Jimmy James]

Missing a key feature: removal of butterfly keyboards!

Yes! Fix this and I could own a new Mac again.

 

[applyr]

So the only difference with the 2018 model is the inclusion of True Tone?

 

[coolfactor]

I despise it. It is awful for me. I am glad my 2018 MBA doesn’t have it. Glad you like it though — some people do. More power to them.

I thought it had some potential, but as a coder, who puts his fingers on top of the function keys (especially for stepping through code), the fact I cannot rest on the F keys any more just makes me very upset. I use an external keyboard on my 2018 MBP for this reason.

Are you referring to the physical shape of the keys? Being able to position your fingers without looking?

If you are simply referring to the need of having the Function keys always available, that's an option for you already. It's in Sys Prefs.
[doublepost=1562684045][/doublepost]

Very nice update and a much needed streamlining of the Mac laptop line. Although I would have preferred that they simply rename the Macbook Air to Macbook (but I suppose that Air has better name recognition). Also very nice to see the Touch Bar across the MBP line.

The Air is a signature name. I found it odd when they made a MacBook alongside the Air, and both had the same slim design. Found that very confusing. Glad they stuck with the Air branding. My 2013 Air is still going strong, even though the keycaps are well worn!

 

[Shanpdx]

I wonder if the 2019 Air is still using the gimped 7W CPU's or have they used 15W CPU's? I'm guessing still the 7W processors as it's still using Intel UHD 617 graphics. Disappointing.

yes, most likely the same CPU

I think they are pushing us into the low end MBP - lower clocked quad core. that probably is the 15W CPU.

 

[Soccertess]

Missing a key feature: removal of butterfly keyboards!

Such a risk to buy, I really don’t want to buy and have my keys die. Thinking I should wait longer!

Shame they wouldn’t take this opportunity to fix this serious flaw. Thank you TIM!

 

[parseckadet]

I still don't get the hate for the Touch Bar. I like it. Especially with Better Touch Tool. To each their own I guess.

Apple hobbled the Touch Bar by not releasing a version of the Magic Keyboard that had it. Developers never really bothered to add support for it in their apps since the majority of users didn't have it on their machines. So it developed a reputation of being useless at best, and an annoyance at worst. Apple's failure to roll it out to the rest of the product line will ultimately doom this feature I think. It's a shame, because I think it's a feature that has a lot of unrealized potential.

 

[iMerik]

Apple hobbled the Touch Bar by not releasing a version of the Magic Keyboard that had it. Developers never really bothered to add support for it in their apps since the majority of users didn't have it on their machines. So it developed a reputation of being useless at best, and an annoyance at worst. Apple's failure to roll it out to the rest of the product line will ultimately doom this feature I think. It's a shame, because I think it's a feature that has a lot of unrealized potential.

Probably drained batteries too fast and just couldn't fathom having a corded keyboard again. *gasp*
I think I would've bought into the Touch Bar had they done exactly what you state.