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Apple Unveils Biggest MacBook Air Redesign in Over a Decade
- The company also debuts new version of low-end MacBook Pro
- Latest laptops will use Apple’s homegrown M2 processor
Apple Unveils New MacBook, M2 Chip, Pay-Later Service
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Apple Unveils New MacBook, M2 Chip, Pay-Later Service
By
Mark Gurman
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7 June 2022, 02:12 GMT+8Updated on7 June 2022, 03:39 GMT+8
Apple Inc. unveiled the most significant overhaul to its popular MacBook Air laptop in more than a decade, bringing a fresh design, new colors and a speedier M2 processor from its homegrown chip line.
The company showcased the updated laptop Monday at its Worldwide Developers Conference, an event that’s otherwise focused on software updates for the iPhone and other devices. The new Air adds yet another machine to the company’s lucrative lineup of computers, which has seen revenue jump since a switch away from
Intel Corp. chips in 2020.
The move refreshes a product that was groundbreakingly light and thin when Apple’s Steve Jobs first unveiled it in 2008.
The new model loses the tapered shape of the previous version and instead uses a design that looks similar to the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros launched at the end of 2021. The machine has a 13.6-inch screen, up from 13.3 inches on the previous model, and -- like the MacBook Pro -- a 1080p camera with twice the resolution of the previous model.
The updated computer includes an M2 processor, the first generational leap for Apple’s Mac chips since its in-house components for computers debuted in November 2020. The MacBook Air update is the first since then, when it was one of the earliest Macs to get the M1 chip. The latest version will be 40% faster in handling some pro apps, but around 18% overall, according to Apple.
The new capabilities should be a boon for Apple fans, even if there were few major surprises at the event. The shares were little changed following the announcements, trading at $145.38 as of 3:28 p.m. in New York. Apple is down 18% for the year, part of a broader pullback for tech stocks