MacBook Air

The MacBook Air family is a line of ultraportable Macintosh notebook computers from Apple Inc.

1st generation
The first-generation MacBook Air was a 13.3"-only model, introduced at the Macworld Conference & Expo as the "World's Thinnest Notebook" on January 15, 2008. It featured a custom Intel Merom CPU and Intel GMA graphics. In late 2008, the CPU was updated to a faster, non-custom Penryn CPU and integrated Nvidia GeForce graphics while the hard drive capacity was increased and the Micro-DVI video port was replaced by the Mini DisplayPort. A mid-2009 refresh, introduced alongside the MacBook Pro family, featured a slightly higher-capacity battery, and a faster Penryn CPU.

2nd generation


On October 20, 2010, Apple released a redesigned 13.3" model, with improved enclosure, screen resolution, battery, and flash storage instead of a hard drive. In addition, a new 11.6" model was introduced, offering reduced cost, weight, battery life, and performance relative to the 13.3" model, but better performance than typical netbooks of the time.

On July 20, 2011, Apple released an updated model in the same form factor as the prior model. The new model was powered by new dual-core Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, had a backlit keyboard, Thunderbolt instead of Mini DisplayPort, and Bluetooth was upgraded to v4.0. Maximum flash storage and memory options were almost identical.

3rd generation
On October 30, 2018, Apple released the 3rd-generation MacBook Air, which incorporated a Retina display and USB-C, superseding the Retina MacBook. In March 2020, it was updated with Apple's new Magic Keyboard. On November 10, 2020, Apple introduced the first MacBook Air to incorporate Apple's own M1 chip.

4th generation


On June 6, 2022, Apple announced the redesigned MacBook Air, which featured the new Apple M2 chip in a flatter, non-tapered design that took up 20% less volume than the previous generation model. The top of the 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display featured a new 1080p camera in a "notch" previously seen on M1-based MacBook Pros. It also added the MagSafe 3 connector for charging. Pre-orders began on July 8 with shipments arriving on July 15, 2022 in Silver, Space Gray, Midnight, and Starlight finishes. On June 5 during the 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple introduced a new 15-inch version of the MacBook Air. Pre-orders began after the event with availability in Apple Stores and shipments arriving on June 13, 2023.

Articles

 * Low End Mac’s Compleat* Guide to the MacBook Air by Alan Zisman at Low End Mac (2018-02-14)

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