Reviewing hardware is an act of minutia. Occasionally something new or potentially earth-shattering comes along, but on the whole, it’s about chipping away. Documenting small, gradual changes designed to keep product lines fresh and — if you play your cards right — differentiating yourself from the...

M1 Apple MacBook Air (2020): M1 Apple MacBook Air (2020): Why buy anything else?

Fast and quiet; Great battery life; Superb display

Some software may not run; M1 MacBook Pro has better sustained performance

“The MacBook Air M1 finally fulfills the promise of a small laptop without performance restraints.”

Apple's M1 blows Intel away; Phenomenal battery life; Excellent keyboard and touchpad; Rock-solid build quality; Simple good looks

Supports only one external display

There will always be things to complain about – like getting just two USB ports and a headphone socket for connectivity, for example, or the base model’s weird 7-core GPU, but honestly, if you look at the design quality, the performance, the screen and its everyday ergonomic finesse, the MacBook Air...

Finish; design; weight; Excellent Retina display; Silent; fanless design; Performance!

No HDMI port or memory card slot; 8-core GPU model costs more; Barely lighter than MacBook Pro

If you were looking to buy a new laptop for the new year and your budget is in the Rs 1,00,000 range then look no further. Also if you were planning to buy the MacBook Air, then only buy this version as it costs the same as the Intel version.

It's difficult to recommend against the M1-based MacBook Air. Apple Silicon support still needs a little work, but rivals all have compromises versus the Air in terms of performance, price or portability.

Crisp display; Performance is super-fast; Fanless design; Brilliant keyboard; Not a bank-breaker; Apple Silicon transition is going well; 256GB minimum storage welcome

Maximum memory of 16GB; Large bezels beginning to look dated; No Face ID login; Some key apps don't run on Apple Silicon natively yet

All of which brings us to the question of whether you should leap in and buy this first-generation M1 hardware or wait for “M2”. There are reasons to wait, especially if you were hoping for a more radical redesign that takes advantage of reduced power demands and no fans.

Phenomenal performance Whisper-quiet operation Flawless display

No design change from previous generation

The MacBook Air (M1) takes everything that was great about the previous generation and brings it to a new level....

Apple M1 Processor Iconic design Build quality Impressive battery life Large trackpad Good audio for a laptop

Lack of ports 720p camera Possible app incompatibly during the transition phase

The more expensive MacBook Air 2020 M1 basically shares the same pros and cons we found during the review of the entry-level model. The MacBook Air benefits a lot from the M1 processor.

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

After 10 years of working with my aging Apple MacBook Pro with busted speakers, undetectable Airport card, and ...