MacBook Air (13–inch, Early 2020)

The best Mac for almost everyone is back!

- RENE RITCHIE

From $999 From Apple, apple.com

Features 1.1GHz dual–core Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB 3,733MHz memory, 256GB storage SSD, Intel Iris Plus Graphics, 2x Thunderbolt 3 ports

Much of the March 2020 MacBook Air is based on the October 2018 model, so let’s start things off with what’s not been updated. First, the bezels. Unlike the 16–inch MacBook Pro, this MacBook Air update doesn’t do anything to push the screen out any further towards the corners. And that’s unfortunate. A lot of Apple’s competitors have gone edge–to–edge, and doing so allows for a bigger screen in the same size casing.

It’s also still standard sRGB gamut, not the wider P3 gamut of the Pro, so that’s something for photographers to keep in mind. The new Air also has the same T2 chip for real-time encryption and Touch ID. No T3 yet or Face ID, which just seems inevitable for these machines.

If Apple is saving all that up for the next big redesign (or the still–mythical MacBook ARM), when that day finally comes we hope it has the Face ID camera from the iPhone, because the 720p one here is so inferior. Especially now when we’re all living on FaceTime, Skype, Meet, and Zoom.

There are still two Thunderbolt 3 (USB–C) ports, and they’re still both on the same side. We get that it’s more efficient to engineer them that way, but the MacBook Pro allows you to plug in on either side, and that’s much missed on the MacBook Air.

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