The thing with the new MacBook Air with M1 is that it is delivering on all the promises. Performance is, for the lack of a better word, incredible. Battery life is, for the lack of a better word, fantastic. System stability is, without a shadow of a doubt, perfectly nailed in.

Blazing speeds, better battery - but a disappointing camera

Super-fast; Great battery life; Retina display is superb

Webcam poor; Thick bezels

The MacBook Air (M1) is a small revolution. As much power as you could need in a light and silent design, with giant battery life.

Stunning performance; Fantastic battery life; Excellent build quality; Good screen

More ports would be nice; Webcam still not great; Some potential niche software compatibility issues

Apple through and through. The new entry into Apple's notebook world comes with its new in-house M1 ARM processor in the established case. Find out in our extensive review how the new entry-level release turns out and whether Apple also has to struggle with software compatibility like the Windows-on-ARM devices.

The new M1 processor with ARM architecture makes an impressive debut in the MacBook Air. In CPU as w...

stays cool despite the lack of a fan; workmanship and iconic design; speakers; performance of native apps;

Thunderbolt with limitations; large display bezels; 720p webcam; stability in Rosetta emulated apps; CPU throttling under longer load; relatively slow WiFi 6 at only 80 MHz;

This is a ridiculously capable laptop offering fantastic battery life – it's an instant recommendation for anyone looking for a MacBook Air.

It’s so fast thanks to M1; Exceptional battery life; Strong app support; Great keyboard;

Poor webcam; Same design as before; Poorly positioned (and only two) USB ports;

There’s an old saying in tech that you should never buy the first generation of any new product – you’re paying to be an early adopter and to iron out the kinks. The thing is, I cannot find any kinks for your average consumer with the new M1 MacBook Air.

super-fast; super cool; extremely long battery life; fanless; great screen; great keyboard; best-in-class trackpad; good speakers; good mics; recycled materials; Touch ID.

poor webcam; only two USB-C ports; can only drive one external display; expensive; some niche apps may have issues running until updated; no BootCamp/Windows.

Were Charles Darwin here today, once he’d finished screaming at us for tinkering with necromancy and demanding to know what the heck a Lexus was, I think he’d want to see the new MacBook Air.

Apple M1 is astonishingly fast; Excellent battery life; Compatibility with non-native apps is impressive

720p webcam is still underwhelming; Lack of an embedded 4G/5G option is frustrating

With the 13-inch MacBook Pro already upping the ante, the new M1-based MacBook Air really throws down the gauntlet for rival ultraportable laptops. It might seem expensive for an entry-level offering, but the performance of the M1 chip gives the late 2020 MacBook Air a new lease of life.

Speedy M1 SoC; Outstanding battery life; Rosetta 2 emulation works well with Intel-native apps; Slimline; lightweight design

Design is looking a bit dated; No CPU upgrade options; Expensive RAM and storage upgrades; Only two Thunderbolt ports

I was fortunate enough to receive my built-to-order M1 MacBook Air (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 8-core GPU) last Tuesday, and I’ve had a week to truly experience it. We’ve all read the early reviews ( Snell , Gruber , and Bohn are the highlights), and they’ve focused on the specs and the highlights, so I...

The MacBook Air (M1, 2020) is easily one of the most exciting Apple laptops of recent years. Its M1 chip is a real game-changer, and the ability to run both legacy apps, new M1-optimized apps and iOS apps is very impressive. Battery life is also great, and performance is excellent as well.

macOS Big Sur is fast and responsive; Battery life is great; Silent in use; Keyboard remains very good

No new design; Fanless design could impact performance