In 2012 I walked into an Apple Store to buy a MacBook for school with all the money I made from my summer job. I set a budget under $1,000 and was on a mission to find the perfect laptop for an aspiring journalism major. A store clerk pointed me to the 11-inch MacBook Air and said, “It’s light! It’s portable! It’s perfect for writing stories on the go!” He was right. It got me through four years of classes, internships, and a stint with my college newspaper.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous seeing another student wearing a MacBook Pro. I always felt like I was settling for the Air — sacrificing some features I thought I needed for portability. But ten years later, I couldn’t feel any different. The new 2022 MacBook Air actually offers Lake then the new one 13-inch MacBook Proincluding a slick new design, a bigger and brighter screen, MagSafe support (yes, it’s back!) and a 1080p webcam.
With these upgrades comes the inevitable price hike. The base MacBook Air now starts at $1,199 (you can still get the 2020 M1 MacBook Air for $999). It’s still no MacBook Prowhich has a nicer selection of ports and more raw power, but after all these years the Air is still light, portable and perfect for writing stories on the go.
A breath of fresh air
Photo: Apple
Gone are the days of the signature wedge design on the MacBook Air. The new model now has the same boxy chassis as the latest high-end MacBook Pro models, which in my eyes gives it a more refined look. But it is a lot lighter. At only 2.7 pounds, I tend to lift it with too much force because I’m not used to carrying such a lightweight machine. (It’s also thinner and lighter than the 2020 MacBook Air!)
It may look the same, but unfortunately you won’t get the same connectivity upgrade. The new MacBook Air has just two USB-C ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack and—thankfully—a MagSafe port for charging. (No HDMI or SD card slot.) As someone who primarily uses a MacBook for writing, emails, video calls, and Netflix, the lack of ports didn’t bother me, but it would have been nice.
If you’re coming from an older Air or 13-inch MacBook Pro, you’ll probably appreciate the new screen the most. Kind of. It is still an LCD panel attached to 60Hz, but Apple increased the brightness a little bit and I had no trouble reading the screen when I was working outside in my backyard. The screen size also goes from 13.3 to 13.6 inches, thanks to slimmer bezels around the screen. It sounds like a small boost, but I noticed (and appreciated) the bigger real estate. Annoyingly, this MacBook can still only connect to one external monitor (also a limitation on the M1 MacBook Air). Not great if you want to reap the benefits of a multi screen settings.
Photo: Apple
Just like on the 14-inch MacBook ProThere’s a notch carved into the top center of the screen, which houses the 1080p webcam, but it doesn’t bother me. You can use a dark background to hide it, and it will also disappear if you have an app in full screen mode. If the notch has enabled Apple to finally upgrade the webcam, I’m all for it. It’s finally 1080p, so I look sharper in my video calls, although I’ve noticed Apple adds a skin-soothing effect.