Apple MacBook Air (2019) review: The MacBook is dead, long live the Air

The MacBook is dead, long live the MacBook Air! This 2019 version does some key things: in the absence of the 12-inch MacBook, the Air is a far better proposition; the price is £100 lower than the previous year, keeping it more competitive; the keyboard doesn't suffer the extent of issues its...

New keyboard material (which you can't see) vastly improves typing issues of predecessor; Price drop over 2018 model; Large trackpad with Force Touch control; Touch ID login via fingerprint is great; Solid battery life

The keyboard is still rather loud when typing; Only Thunderbolt 3 (2x USB-C) ports and no SD card slot; No Face ID login; Some Windows competition offer smaller bezel designs

Apple MacBook Air (2019)

The 2019 edition of Apple's MacBook Air is cheaper and has a slightly richer feature set than its solid predecessor, making it a decent ultraportable for buyers who won't perform many resource-intensive computing tasks.

Thin, sleek, and light; Excellent design and build quality; Large, accurate touchpad; Very long battery life; Fingerprint reader

Humdrum performance on benchmark tests; Very short key travel on a polarizing keyboard; Limited port selection; No touch screen

Apple MacBook Air (2019) review: the new normal

There's not a lot that's changed with 2019's iteration of the MacBook Air - it's a minor tweak on the major changes Apple introduced last year . It still has a beautiful Retina display - only now it's True Tone so it matches the color temperature of the room.

Touch ID for login; True Tone display looks great; Thin; classic design

Processor can sometimes struggle; USB-C ecosystem still a hassle; Can you really trust this keyboard

The MacBook Air (2019) improves on the previous version in very minor ways.

Retina display now supports True Tone; Quieter keyboard; Touch ID sensor; More affordable than before

Slower SSD versus 2018 model; Marginally faster performance; Good; but not stellar battery life