Apple MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Apple's first Apple silicon MacBook Air: a fanless 13.3-inch laptop with the 8-core M1 chip, a 7- or 8-core GPU, 8 or 16 GB of unified memory and two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, in the same wedge-shaped design as the Intel model before it. It started at $999 (US), stayed on sale until March 2024 and drives only one external display.
Memory
- Type
- Unified memory packaged with the M1 chip; LPDDR4X-4266, 128-bit, 68.3 GB/s per Wikipedia
- Standard
- 8 GB
- Configurable
- 16 GB (not offered on the 128 GB education model, per Wikipedia)
- Slots
- None; size is fixed at purchase
Storage
- Standard
- 256 GB SSD (7-core GPU model) or 512 GB SSD (8-core GPU model) per Wikipedia
- Configurable
- 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB SSD
- Education model
- 128 GB SSD (Apple lists 128 GB as the base; Wikipedia marks it education-only, not configurable)
- Type
- Soldered Apple SSD; up to 3.3 GB/s read per Wikipedia; Apple: up to 2x faster SSD than the previous generation
- Card reader
- None
Graphics
- GPU
- Integrated Apple M1 GPU, 7-core or 8-core
- External displays
- One, up to 6K at 60 Hz, alongside the built-in display at full native resolution
- Video output
- Thunderbolt 3 digital video output; native DisplayPort over USB-C; VGA, HDMI, DVI and Thunderbolt 2 through adapters (sold separately)
- Media engine
- Hardware-accelerated H.264 and HEVC (Wikipedia)
- Neural Engine
- 16-core
Networking
- Wi-Fi
- Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compatible
- Bluetooth
- Bluetooth 5.0
Power
- Adapter
- 30 W USB-C Power Adapter with USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)
- Charging
- Through either Thunderbolt / USB 4 port (no MagSafe)
- Line voltage
- 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz
- Cooling
- Fanless (passive)
Ports
- Left
- 2 × Thunderbolt / USB 4 (USB-C)
- Right
- 3.5 mm headphone jack
- Thunderbolt / USB 4
- Charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3 (up to 40 Gb/s), USB 4 (up to 40 Gb/s), USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10 Gb/s)
Display
- Panel
- 13.3-inch Retina, LED-backlit with IPS technology, 2560 × 1600 at 227 ppi (16:10)
- Scaled resolutions
- 1680 × 1050, 1440 × 900, 1024 × 640
- Brightness
- 400 nits
- Color
- Millions of colors, wide color (P3), True Tone
- Refresh
- 60 Hz (Wikipedia)
- Camera
- 720p FaceTime HD camera; advanced image signal processor with computational video
Battery
- Capacity
- 49.9 Wh lithium-polymer, built in
- Apple rating
- Up to 15 h wireless web, up to 18 h Apple TV app movie playback
Physical
- Dimensions
- 0.41–1.61 × 30.41 × 21.24 cm (H × W × D); 0.16–0.63 × 11.97 × 8.36 in (wedge)
- Weight
- 1.29 kg (2.8 lb)
- Colors
- Gold, Silver, Space Gray
- Keyboard
- Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (US) / 79 (ISO) keys incl. 12 function keys and inverted-T arrows; Touch ID; ambient light sensor
- Trackpad
- Force Touch trackpad
- Audio
- Stereo speakers, wide stereo sound, Dolby Atmos playback; three-mic array with directional beamforming
- Acoustics
- Fanless; declared sound power 1.3 B at idle and during wireless web (ECMA-109)
- Environment
- Operating 10–35 °C, 0–90% RH non-condensing, tested up to 10,000 ft
- Part numbers
- MGN63, MGN93, MGND3, MGN73, MGNA3, MGNE3 (Apple); education-only 128 GB: MGN53, MGN83, MGNC3 (Wikipedia)
Management
- Security
- Secure Enclave in M1; Touch ID
Operating systems
- Shipped with
- macOS Big Sur 11.0 (Wikipedia)
- Newest compatible
- macOS 27 Golden Gate (Apple identification page)
- x86 software
- Runs Intel Mac apps through Rosetta 2 (Wikipedia)
- Windows
- No Boot Camp: Apple's Boot Camp list excludes MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Processors
- Apple M1 (8-core CPU)