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The MacBook Air is a line of ultrabook computers developed and manufactured by Apple Inc. It consists of a full-size
keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mu ...
, a
machined Machining is a process in which a material (often metal) is cut to a desired final shape and size by a controlled material-removal process. The processes that have this common theme are collectively called subtractive manufacturing, which utilizes ...
aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
case, and, in the more modern versions, a thin light structure. The Air was originally positioned above the previous MacBook line as a premium ultraportable. Since then, the original MacBook's discontinuation in 2011, and lowered prices on subsequent iterations, have made the Air Apple's entry-level notebook. In the current product line, the MacBook Air is situated below the performance range MacBook Pro. The Intel-based MacBook Air was introduced in January 2008 with a 13.3-inch screen, and was promoted as the world's thinnest notebook, opening a laptop category known as the ultrabook family. Apple released a second-generation MacBook Air in October 2010, with a redesigned tapered chassis, standard solid-state storage, and added a smaller 11.6-inch version. Later revisions added Intel Core i5 or i7
processors A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, a ...
and Thunderbolt. The third generation was released in October 2018, with reduced dimensions, a Retina display, and combination
USB-C USB-C (properly known as USB Type-C) is a 24-pin USB connector system with a rotationally symmetrical Electrical connector, connector. The designation C refers only to the connector's physical configuration or form factor and should not be co ...
/ Thunderbolt 3 ports for data and power. An updated model was released in February 2020 with the Magic Keyboard and an option for an Intel Core i7 processor. In November 2020, Apple released the first MacBook Air with Apple silicon based on the Apple M1 processor. Apple announced a new design of the MacBook Air with an M2 processor in June 2022.


Intel-based


First generation (Unibody)

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; ...
introduced the MacBook Air during Apple’s keynote address at the 2008
Macworld ''Macworld'' is a website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc. It started life as a print magazine in 1984 and had the largest audited circulation (both total and newsstand) of Macin ...
conference on January 15, 2008. The first generation MacBook Air was a 13.3" model, initially promoted as the world's thinnest notebook at 1.9 cm (a previous record holder, 2005's
Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, ...
Portege R200, was 1.98 cm high). It featured a custom
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 ser ...
Merom CPU and Intel GMA GPU which were 40% as big as the standard chip package. It also featured an anti-glare LED
backlit A backlight is a form of illumination used in liquid crystal displays (LCDs). As LCDs do not produce light by themselves—unlike, for example, cathode ray tube (CRT), plasma (PDP) or OLED displays—they need illumination ( ambient light or a ...
display, a full-size keyboard, and a large trackpad that responded to
multi-touch In computing, multi-touch is technology that enables a surface (a touchpad or touchscreen) to recognize the presence of more than one point of contact with the surface at the same time. The origins of multitouch began at CERN, MIT, University ...
gestures such as pinching, swiping, and rotating. The MacBook Air was the first subcompact notebook offered by Apple after the 12" PowerBook G4 discontinued in 2006. It was also Apple's first computer with an optional
solid-state drive A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It is a ...
. It was Apple's first notebook since the PowerBook 2400c without a built-in
removable media Expandable storage is a form of computer storage that is designed to be inserted and removed from a system. Some forms of removable media, such as optical discs, require a reader to be installed in the computer, while others, such as USB flash dr ...
drive. To read optical disks, users could either purchase an external USB drive such as Apple's SuperDrive or use the bundled Remote Disc software to access the drive of another computer wirelessly that has the program installed. The MacBook Air also did without a
FireWire IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony an ...
port,
Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 1 ...
port,
line-in Line level is the specified strength of an audio signal used to transmit analog audio between components such as CD and DVD players, television sets, audio amplifiers, and mixing consoles. Line level sits between other levels of audio signals. ...
, and a
Kensington Security Slot A Kensington Security Slot (also called a K-Slot or Kensington lock) is part of an anti-theft system designed in the mid 1980s and patented by Kryptonite in 1999–2000,''Security anchor/tether assemblage for portable articles'': and (Corneliu ...
. On October 14, 2008, a new model was announced with a low-voltage Penryn processor and
Nvidia Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...
GeForce graphics. Storage capacity was increased to a 128 GB SSD or a 120 GB HDD, and the micro-DVI video port was replaced by the Mini DisplayPort. A mid-2009 version featured slightly higher battery capacity and a faster Penryn CPU.


Second generation (Tapered Unibody)

, Apple released a redesigned 13.3-inch model with a tapered enclosure, higher screen resolution, improved battery, a second USB port,
stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
speakers, and standard solid state storage. An 11.6-inch model was introduced, offering reduced cost, weight, battery life, and performance relative to the 13.3-inch model, but better performance than typical
netbook Netbook was a commonly used term that identified a product class of small and inexpensive laptops which were sold from 2007 to around 2013. These machines were designed primarily as cost-effective tools for consumers to access the Inte ...
s of the time. Both 11-inch and 13-inch models had an analog audio output/headphone minijack supporting Apple earbuds with a microphone. The 13-inch model received a SDXC-capable SD Card slot. On July 20, 2011, Apple released updated models, which also became Apple's entry-level notebooks due to lowered prices and the discontinuation of the white MacBook around the same time. The mid-2011 models were upgraded with Sandy Bridge dual-core Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, Intel HD Graphics 3000, backlit keyboards, Thunderbolt, and
Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...
was upgraded to v4.0. Maximum storage options were increased up to 256 GB. This revision also replaced the Expose (F3) key with a Mission Control key, and the Dashboard (F4) key with a Launchpad key. On June 11, 2012, Apple updated the line with Intel Ivy Bridge dual-core Core i5 and i7 processors, HD Graphics 4000, faster memory and flash storage speeds, USB 3.0, an upgraded
720p 720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcas ...
FaceTime camera, and a thinner
MagSafe MagSafe is a series of proprietary magnetically attached power connectors developed by Apple Inc. for Mac laptops. MagSafe was introduced on January 10, 2006, in conjunction with the MacBook Pro, the first Intel-based Mac laptop, at the Mac ...
2 charging port. The standard memory was upgraded to 4 GB, with a maximum configuration of 8 GB. On June 10, 2013, Apple updated the line with Haswell processors, Intel HD Graphics 5000, and
802.11ac IEEE 802.11ac-2013 or 802.11ac is a wireless networking standard in the IEEE 802.11 set of protocols (which is part of the Wi-Fi networking family), providing high-throughput wireless local area networks (WLANs) on the 5 GHz band. The stand ...
Wi-Fi. Storage started at 128 GB SSD, with options for 256 GB and 512 GB. The Haswell considerably improved battery life from the previous generation, and the models are capable of 9 hours on the 11-inch model and 12 hours on the 13-inch model; a team of reviewers exceeded expected battery life ratings during their test. In March 2015, the models were refreshed with Broadwell processors, Intel HD Graphics 6000, Thunderbolt 2, and faster storage and memory. In 2017 the 13-inch model received a processor speed increase from 1.6 GHz to 1.8 GHz and the 11-inch model was discontinued. The 2017 model remained available for sale after Apple launched the next generation in 2018. It was discontinued in July 2019. Before its discontinuation it was Apple's last notebook with USB Type-A ports, a non- Retina display, and a backlit rear Apple logo.


Third generation (Retina)

Apple released the third generation MacBook Air, with Amber Lake processors, a 13.3-inch Retina display with a resolution of 2560×1600 pixels, Touch ID, and two combination
USB-C USB-C (properly known as USB Type-C) is a 24-pin USB connector system with a rotationally symmetrical Electrical connector, connector. The designation C refers only to the connector's physical configuration or form factor and should not be co ...
3.1 gen 2/ Thunderbolt 3 ports plus one
audio jack A phone connector, also known as phone jack, audio jack, headphone jack or jack plug, is a family of electrical connectors typically used for analog audio signals. A plug, the male connector, is inserted into the jack, the female connect ...
. The screen displays 48% more color and the bezels are 50% narrower than the previous generation, and occupies 17% less volume. Thickness was reduced to 15.6mm and weight to 1.25 kg (2.75 pounds). It was available in three finishes, silver, space gray, and gold. Unlike the previous generation, this model couldn't be configured with an Intel Core i7 processor, possibly because Intel never released the i7-8510Y CPU that would have been used. The base 2018 model came with 8 GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR3 RAM, 128 GB SSD, Intel Core i5 processor (1.6 GHz base clock, with Turbo up to 3.6 GHz) with Intel UHD Graphics 617. Apple released updated models in July 2019 with True Tone display technology and an updated butterfly keyboard using the same components as the 2019 MacBook Pro. A test found that the 256 GB SSD in the 2019 model has a 35% lower read speed than the 256 GB SSD in the 2018 model, though the write speed is slightly faster. Updated models were released in March 2020 with Ice Lake Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors, updated graphics, support for 6K output to run the Pro Display XDR and other 6k monitors, and replaced the butterfly keyboard with a Magic Keyboard design similar to that initially found in the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro.


Apple silicon


Third generation (Retina with Apple silicon)

On November 10, 2020, Apple announced an updated Retina MacBook Air with an Apple-designed M1 processor, launched alongside an updated
Mac Mini Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. , it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac and the professional Mac Studio and Mac Pro as one of four current Mac deskto ...
and 13-inch MacBook Pro as the first Macs with Apple's new line of custom ARM-based Apple silicon processors. The device uses a fanless design, the first ever on a MacBook Air. It also adds support for Wi-Fi 6, USB4 / Thunderbolt 3 and Wide color (P3). The M1 MacBook Air can only run one external display, unlike the previous Intel-based model that was capable of running two 4K displays. The FaceTime camera remains 720p but Apple advertises an improved
image signal processor An image processor, also known as an image processing engine, image processing unit (IPU), or image signal processor (ISP), is a type of media processor or specialized digital signal processor (DSP) used for image processing, in digital cameras or ...
for higher quality video. The M1 MacBook Air received widespread positive reviews, with reviewers praising the extremely fast performance and long battery life. As of July 2022, Apple sells the MacBook Air M1 starting at $999 USD.


Fourth generation (Flat Unibody)

On June 6, 2022, during the 2022 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple announced their second generation processor, called M2, with an improved performance versus the previous M1 processor. The first computer to receive this new chip was a radically redesigned MacBook Air. This complete redesign features a dramatically thinner, flat design, doing away with the familiar wedge shape chassis that MacBook Air was most known for having. The new MacBook Air takes on hardware design cues from the 14" and 16" MacBook Pro notebooks released on October 26, 2021, such as a thinner, lighter, flat chassis with 20% less volume than the previous MacBook Air. Other features include
MagSafe MagSafe is a series of proprietary magnetically attached power connectors developed by Apple Inc. for Mac laptops. MagSafe was introduced on January 10, 2006, in conjunction with the MacBook Pro, the first Intel-based Mac laptop, at the Mac ...
3, which also supports fast charging up to 50% in 30 minutes with a 67W or greater power adapter, a taller 13.6" Liquid Retina display with 500 nits max brightness (25% brighter than the previous MacBook Air), a 1080p FaceTime Camera, a three-mic array with advanced beam-forming algorithms, a high-impedance headphone jack, four-speaker sound system with Spatial Audio, full height function keys, and a total of four finishes. Silver, Space Gray, Starlight, a silver-champagne color, and Midnight, a dark blue-black color. As of July 2022, Apple sells the MacBook Air (Flat Unibody) M2 starting at $1199 USD.


Supported operating systems


Supported macOS releases

macOS Ventura, the current release of macOS, will work with Wi-Fi and graphics acceleration on unsupported MacBook Air computers with a compatible patch utility.


Boot Camp–supported Windows versions (Intel models only)

''Note: There is no Boot Camp support for Apple silicon models''.


Timeline


See also

* MacBook * MacBook (12-inch)


Notes


References


External links

* – official site {{Authority control Air Computer-related introductions in 2008 Products introduced in 2008 X86 Macintosh computers ARM Macintosh computers