The MacBook Air (M1, 2020) is fueled by Apple’s first SoC (System on Chip) for a laptop. However, despite being a new member of the MacBook family, it offers an exceptional computing experience. It operates on the most recent version of macOS, which has been optimized to take advantage of the M1’s capabilities, resulting in a fast and responsive operating system. The M1 chip enables rapid boot-up and app launches, as well as seamless performance when switching between multiple applications. In addition, the new M1 architecture does not cause any problems for users of older applications, as the Rosetta 2 utility enables the MacBook Air to run legacy Mac applications without a hitch. In addition, the MacBook Air (M1, 2020) can operate a wide variety of iOS applications for iPad and iPhone, including photo editing tools and games. Even though they were originally designed for touchscreen devices, these applications function well.
(image credit: Future)
The MacBook Air (M1, 2020) impressed us with its ability to handle more demanding tasks and was not significantly slower than the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) in most cases. This is not surprising given that they both use the same M1 chip, although some versions of the MacBook Air have a slightly less powerful GPU than the MacBook Pro. Synthetic benchmark tests showed that the M1 chip can compete with 11th generation Intel CPUs, and sometimes even outperformed the more expensive 16-inch MacBook Pro.
This is a significant improvement for the MacBook Air, which used to be considered a low-powered and affordable option. It can now hold its own against much more expensive laptops. We tested 4K editing with Final Cut Pro and the MacBook Air performed very well. It was also able to handle 8K footage, which was previously impossible on older MacBook Air models.
The MacBook Air (M1, 2020) remained completely silent throughout our tests due to its fanless design. We were initially concerned that this might affect its performance during long intensive workloads, as Apple recommends the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) for such tasks since it has a fan. However, we found that the MacBook Air (M1, 2020) was able to handle these workloads impressively well, although it did get slightly hot towards the back.
The M1 chip also delivers impressive speed performance for the SSD storage. We were amazed at how quickly it loaded apps and transferred large files to and from the hard drive. If you work with large media files regularly, this laptop will be a game-changer for you.
Battery life is also excellent, lasting over 11 hours in our battery life test, where we play a looped 1080p video until it runs out of charge. This is a fantastic length of time, surpassing laptops such as the Dell XPS 13, although it falls slightly short of the new MacBook Pro’s battery life.
Overall, we were able to work for almost two full days without needing to charge the MacBook Air (M1, 2020), making it an excellent option for people who are always on the go.