Apple MacBook Air
SCORE
PRICE 16GB/1TB, £1,374 (£1,649 inc VAT) from apple.com/uk
How dull. Another year, another MacBook Air. Apple hasn’t even bothered to change the design, so we know exactly what to expect, right? It’s going to be quirky, not particularly fast and of little interest to businesses. It’ll be overpriced for what you’re getting, with that money wasted on a design that rivals already match or exceed. Not only that, this new MacBook Air is the bottom of the range, so anyone with any sense will go for the MacBook Pro (see p44).
Oh, MacBook Airs are popular amongst those who frequent the First Class Lounge at Heathrow to sip on champagne and nibble canapés. Nothing here to worry Windows and Intel/AMD. Move along, it’s a frippery for the irrelevant.
Except this MacBook Air isn’t. This one has the analysts buzzing. It has hardware vendors looking nervously at their release schedules. It’s shining a bright spotlight on the whole PC industry and platform ecosystem, and much of what you see isn’t pretty.
This is a product that truly marks a new era on almost every front. It doesn’t only ask questions – it provides answers, and if they don’t make you stop and think then I suggest you stop and think. Long and hard.
The M1 mystery
We knew this was coming. Apple announced the shift to the M1 processor back in June 2020: the company was done with Intel CPUs, and would move wholly onto its own new silicon, named M1. This would be a system-on-chip (SoC) design, integrating as much as possible onto
