New MacBook Air Announced as First Apple Silicon Mac With M1 Chip and Fanless Design

[The Man]

Now we know why the previous MacBook Air had a fan but no heatsink. The chassis was made for this fanless Apple Silicon MacBook Air. Putting in the fan was just an afterthought. It was just a stopgap update. A really bad thing, because heat is such a problem.

 

[C. Robert]

I am interested in new external hardware but damn, apple just changed the industry. 18 hour battery life, 16 cores, no fan.

 

[flottenheimer]

Really looking forward to the benchmarks for this one.
But what a lazy exterior update - was looking forward to a redesign.

 

[neuropsychguy]

The 16GB RAM option is for the Intel CPU. Both Apple M1 CPU versions are limited to 8GB RAM.

You can get 16 GB in them. 8 GB is standard. It's $180 (education pricing) to upgrade to 16 GB.

"MacBook Air
From $999 or $83.25/mo. for 12 mo.**

13.3-inch Retina display18
Apple M1 chip
Up to 16GB memory
Up to 2TB storage
Up to 18 hours battery life
Touch ID"

 

[CallDownFire]

When he said there was not a fan ... NOICE!!!

 

[clive27]

Should I upgrade from my 15inch i9 MBP (2019)? I really like their battery life. I can still get $1400 for a trade in from Apple. I hope the performance doesn't suffer.

 

[Taz Mangus]

He he, I think Apple will from now on keep using their own chips forever and ever. Their ego will not let them switch anymore, even if in, say, 10-15 years they are eventually behind the silicon competition.

Apple has come a long way in the last 10 years of designing their A series CPUs. I suspect that in 10 years Apple will be designing M series CPUs that have as much advantage over the Intel/AND CPUs as they have done with their A series CPUs. We haven’t even seen what Apple is going to do with the iMac or even the next generation Mac Pro computers.

 

[The Game 161]

Wonder how long it will take the developers to update the apps.

 

[krazzix]

 

[vivek28]

I liked this new macbook air more than new MBP 13..

Would i be able to do python coding on it and Microsoft office suite ?? they would work on Rosetta2 for now ?

 

[rp2011]

No fan no sale
Jk

 

[Taz Mangus]

Does anyone actually read up on anything before they post anymore?

Per Apple's own order page, all versions of the MBA go to 16GB.

I was not looking at the options only the base RAM. You are correct.

 

[The Man]

The base unit is good enough for my daily needs, I think. Still more interested in this than an iPad pro. A MacBook Air + entry level iPad 2021 works better for me than an iPad Pro.

 

[Jimmy James]

Simply boring. :|

I feel so disappointed with this CEO's bean counting innovation.

I have little doubt you would be more impressed with a visual redesign and the next model intel chip. “I liked it ‘cause they put a new case on it”.

 

[cardfan]

I liked this new macbook air more than new MBP 13..

Would i be able to do python coding on it and Microsoft office suite ?? they would work on Rosetta2 for now ?

Nope. Just emulation.

 

[SWAON]

My first thought was: Those bezels are ugly. I hate them so much now. Ugh! Nope

 

[kazmac]

I‘m in. Space Gray 16gb, 1TB MBA due next week.

This will be a nice stopgap for my aging 2013 27” iMac. It was wonderful to see a new Mac Mini, but I need a laptop now while my iMac is still chugging along.

 

[dgdosen]

Custom order (extra memory) pushes out deliver for a week or so

 

[dan.sarv]

So the rumors of the 12-inch MacBook with ARM were all wrong? We’re not getting that?

 

[batfink]

As a novice, will this edit Final Cut videos with graphics?

 

[Whathappened]

Really looking forward to the benchmarks for this one.
But what a lazy exterior update - was looking forward to a redesign.

Why? It’s perfect as it is. No major changes needed.

 

[nezr]

wonder if the M1 8GB ram is better than regular intel w/ 8GB ?

 

[Duophonic]

I’m pondering the purchase. I think I’ll bag the $2,099 configuration.

 

[falconman515]

I'm holding off for next years hopefully 14" Macbook Air

 

[Unregistered 4U]

The million-dollar question is how well will this run current MacOS apps? I’d like to use Logic and still have all of my plugins/interfaces function without issue.

Knowing how slow audio companies usually are, I’d say your plugins/interfaces may be compatible by... 2025?

I didn't hear anything about virtualization... Is it in there?

No. And not on their webpages for them either. It’s just not a market that’s important to Apple.

The chassis was made for this fanless Apple Silicon MacBook Air. Putting in the fan was just an afterthought.

I think it was made for the Intel chip Intel SAID they could make. Apple ended up shoehorning in what Intel ACTUALLY made. LOL