The fanless MacBook Air M1 is a perfect laptop if you have plenty of money to spend on. The M1 chip powers this device and makes it the fastest MacBook in the world. You can expect HD display, tough hardware, advanced software, long battery life and great performance from this device. It is available in Nepal and the lowest model is priced at Rs.160,000.

Overview

Apple’s macbook air series has always been loved by Nepalese because of its sleek design and speed. The device hardly got any major updates over the years.

The old macbook air, released in the beginning of 2020, was nearly a perfect laptop because it had issues with thermal performance, overheating and fan noise.

However, the latest Macbook Air M1 has none of those problems. Until now, you must have known that some of the notebooks, like MacBook, Mac Mini and iMac, have shifted from using Intel’s processor to M1 chips.

Apple is now independent as it manufactures the software, hardware and the chip all by itself for its notebooks. One advantage of this is that the device will have improved performance just like iPhones and iPads.

The company is also looking forward to mounting their own microprocessor in every apple product. 

Design

Over the years, Apple had to face criticism for only focusing on making the device look good externally and not changing the internals or hardwares.

Which was true, but with the launch of Macbook Air M1 2020, Apple proved that it is still the same old revolutionary company.

Talking about the internals, Apple’s M1 chip was a game changer and it catched the eyeballs of many.

With this device, Apple inherited the stylish wedge design of the old notebooks. Because of this, the new Air M1 looks exactly the same as three former devices.

While this may upset many Apple fans as they might have thought of using a newly designed macbook, it really didn’t matter to me because Air M1 surpasses nearly every notebook in terms of speed. 

For now, Apple is sticking with the color choices of Space Gray, Gold, and Silver for its aluminum chassis.

Even though MacBook Air M1 misses a fan, it’s surprising that the notebook’s weight and size is the same as early 2020 and 2019 models.

The new MacBook Air weighs approximately 1,262 grams(1.2 kg, 2.78 pounds) and has a dimension of  0.16–0.63 x 11.97 x 8.36 inches(0.41–1.61 x 30.41 x  21.24cm).

Display

If you own the previous model then you might get disappointed as Macbook Air M1 also has a screen size of 13.3 inches and the same backlit LED display of 400-nit.

With Retina display of 2560 x 1600 resolution, Apple promises to provide sharp and clear texts and better color vibrant.

Similarly, Apple’s True Tone technology is also unchanged in this model. It automatically detects the surrounding light and manages the color temperature suitable for the user.

A slight update in display is that the Macbook Air late 2020 version has 25% increased colors which means you can see more exact and genuine photo colors.

Performance and Memory

After a long wait, Apple eventually launched the M1 processor in their notebooks with the new MacBook Air late 2020 version.

And this chip is a game changer because with its debut, the CPU and GPU now run 3.5x and 5x faster respectively.

The 8-core processor can effortlessly handle pro video/photo editing, music production and heavy gameplay.

Moreover, the M1 chip combined with macOS increases the speed and responsiveness of the device. Some of the tasks like starting the laptop and surfing the internet are faster.

Just like the processor, the GPU is also 8-core which is 5 times faster than its predecessors. It is so powerful that now you can edit and watch high quality 4k videos without a lag.

We all can agree on one thing that Apple never compromises in its quality. The MacBook M1 provides a large storage of up to 2TB.

Not only that, the company also claims that the SSD is 2x faster than before.

Battery Life

One of the most important things that we all look at before buying a device is their battery capacity.

With the MacBook Air M1, Apple is doing wonders as now you get a laptop that has a long battery life of almost 18 hours.

This is 50% more battery life than previous models. Even though the size of the battery has not changed, this surge in battery capacity was made possible due to the M1 chip.

Furthermore, if you want even more battery, you can go for MacBook Pro as it will give an extra 2 hours with just an additional 300 bucks.

Magic Keyboard and Precise Trackpad

Earlier when Apple launched its laptops with flat sticky butterfly keys, people had trouble typing with that keyboard. And because of the same reason Apple has opted to new Magic keyboards.

The keyboard is comfortable and the keys are more easy to type on and are really stable.

It was launched with Macbook pro and the M1 Air uses the same design.

Typing with this laptop is pleasant and every keystroke feels firm and springy. Apple has shifted to an inverted “T layout” for the arrow keys.

Now the left and right arrows are shorter than upper and lower which is really convenient while editing videos or spreadsheets.

You can use the keyboard even in low light conditions as the device also offers backlit keys with an ambient light sensor.

One thing that I like about the MacBook’s trackpad is that it is bigger in size which provides enough space for my fingers to swipe, zoom and pinch.

There is nothing more to talk about the trackpad as it hasn’t changed a lot since 2011 apart from adding force touch. 

Connectivity and Ports

Wifi 6 module, designed to provide higher speed and better connectivity, keeps the device connected to the internet even when many devices are joined to the same network. This offers uninterrupted video streaming, gaming and videoconference.

Furthermore, MacBook Air M1 also comes with dual Thunderbolt 3/ USB 4 port for charging, data transfer (up to 40 GB/s) and connecting external monitor(of up to 6k display) or other devices.

Apple’s M1 Macbook houses very few ports in comparison to other laptops. In addition to two Type-C ports on the left, this laptop provides a headphone jack on the right.

If you want more, you have to upgrade to MacBook pro which has four of them. Mostly, gaming laptops appear with multiple ports and connectivity options. Some gaming devices like Acer’s Predator Triton 500 can even have up to 10 ports. But sadly, the MacBook doesn’t come with such a feature. 

Webcam and Microphone

The HD webcam of MacBook Air M1 can produce clearer, crisper, sharper images with detailed shadows and highlights.

Similarly, the Neural Engine automatically adjusts white balance and exposure to make your skin tone look beautiful and real.

All this is controlled by the image signal processor inside the M1 chip.

Now you don’t need to talk louder to get heard by someone on a video call. The credit for this goes to three microphones that only focuses on your voice and ignores all the background noises.

Because of this feature, writing voice notes or communicating with Siri in public places also becomes easier.

Thermal Cooling System

A major update in M1 MacBook Air 2020 is that it lacks a cooling fan. You might know that a powerful CPU and GPU causes heat, but the M1 chip is so efficient that the laptop doesn’t need a fan to cool down the internal components.

This implies that with 20 tabs on Google or even under heavy workloads the notebook is not even close to getting hot. In addition, the  fanless design makes the MacBook Air almost completely noiseless. 

Touch ID

There is a touch ID sensor on the right end of the function row which is easy to use and it can also lock or unlock the device with just a touch.

When shopping online from Apple pay, you don’t have to fill shipping and billing information because all of that is done by just a single touch without sharing your card details.

That’s not all, it can perform various tasks like opening secure documents, buying apps, renting movies and making online payments without reentering the password.  

Faster Machine Learning

The M1 processor has completely changed the efficiency of the device. It has also made machine learning of the PC up to 9x quicker.

That means identifying someone’s face, voice, laughter, background noise, applause and others are now more accurate. Likewise, the dual machine learning accelerators can handle one trillion operations every second.

Apple MacBook Air M1 Price in Nepal and Availability

The official price of Apple’s Macbook Air M1 is Rs.160,000 in Nepal. It might not be available in every Apple store in the country. But you can order it online from ITTI. Similarly, the greater variant, which is MacBook Air Pro is available at the price of Rs.205,000.

Model Name	Official Price in Nepal
Apple M1 MacBook Air 2020 13.3″ Retina Display (8GB RAM+256GB SSD)	Rs.160,000
Apple M1 MacBook Pro 2020 13.3″ Display (8GB RAM+256GB SSD) / Touch Bar / Touch ID	Rs.205,000

Apple MacBook Air M1 Specifications

• Display: 13.30 inch, 2560 x 1600 pixels resolutions, no touchscreen, & 60Hz refresh rate.
• RAM: 8GB
• Dedicated Graphics: NO
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Backlit Keyboards: Yes , Magic Keyboard
• Fingerprint Sensors: Yes

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