Power. It’s in the Air
Our thinnest, lightest notebook, completely transformed by the Apple M1 chip. CPU speeds up to 3.5x faster. GPU speeds up to 5x faster. Our most advanced Neural Engine for up to 9x faster machine learning. The longest battery life ever in a MacBook Air. And a silent, fanless design. This much power has never been this ready to go.
Small chip. Giant leap
It’s here. Our first chip designed specifically for Mac. Packed with an astonishing 16 billion transistors, the Apple M1 system on a chip (SoC) integrates the CPU, GPU, Neural Engine, I/O and so much more onto a single tiny chip. With incredible performance, custom technologies and industry-leading power efficiency,1 M1 is not just a next step for Mac — it’s another level entirely.
8-core CPU Devours tasks. Sips battery.
M1 has the fastest CPU we’ve ever made. With that kind of processing speed, MacBook Air can take on new extraordinarily intensive tasks like professional-quality editing and action-packed gaming. But the 8‑core CPU on M1 isn‘t just up to 3.5x faster than the previous generation2 — it balances high-performance cores with efficiency cores that can still speed through everyday jobs while using just a tenth of the power.
8-core CPU
The 8-core CPU in M1 is the highest-performing CPU we’ve ever built, by far. It combines four performance cores and four efficiency cores that work together to tackle demanding multi-threaded tasks, resulting in a quantum leap in performance at a fraction of the power — and a significant boost to battery life.
Four performance cores
Our high-performance core is the world’s fastest CPU core when it comes to low-power silicon3 — and M1 has four of them combining their efforts for a massive boost in performance. Compile in Xcode in significantly less time. Record, mix and master professional-quality music in Logic Pro with scores of tracks, plug‑ins and virtual instruments. And create stunning images in Adobe Lightroom with unprecedented speed and responsiveness.
Four efficiency cores
Four efficiency cores deliver outstanding performance for everyday tasks using just a tenth of the power. These e‑cores are the most efficient place to run lightweight tasks, allowing the performance cores to tackle the most demanding workloads.
8-core GPU Plays hard. Works wonders.
GPU
Up to 8-core GPU
The GPU in M1 puts MacBook Air in a class of its own. M1 features the world‘s fastest integrated graphics in a personal computer.8 That’s up to 5x faster graphics performance compared with the previous generation.7
Incredible graphics performance
MacBook Air can take on more graphics-intensive projects than ever. For the first time, content creators can edit and seamlessly play back multiple streams of full‑quality 4K video without dropping a frame.9
All-day battery life
Up to 18 hours of battery life. That’s 6 more hours, free of charge.13
Thermal efficiency
With the industry-leading efficiency of the M1 chip, MacBook Air delivers amazing performance without a fan. Now an aluminium heat spreader dissipates the heat the system generates, so no matter how intense the task, MacBook Air runs completely silently.
Machine learning
Up to 9x faster.14 Even for a 16‑core Neural Engine, that’s a lot to process. Apps on MacBook Air can use machine learning (ML) to automatically retouch photos like a pro, make smart tools such as magic wands and audio filters more accurate at auto‑detection, and so much more. That’s not just brain power — that’s the power of a full stack of ML technologies.
The magic of machine learning
The machine learning technologies in the M1 chip open up a world of possibilities for Mac apps. Machine learning lets apps build and apply models based on massive amounts of data — to do things like identify friends and family in photos and videos, interpret natural language for dictation, and even analyse audio to recognise laughter, applause and more. And that data is processed on device to protect your privacy — all at lightning speed.
Neural Engine
The dedicated 16‑core Neural Engine in the M1 chip can execute up to a staggering 11 trillion operations per second, powering workflows you couldn’t imagine before — like enabling the djay Pro AI app to isolate instrumentals and vocals of any song in real time.
Optimised for machine learning
The entire M1 chip is engineered for machine learning. The CPU, GPU and Neural Engine are each designed for different types of machine learning workloads — and the ML performance controller distributes ML tasks to the right places to maximise performance.
ML accelerators
The two dedicated ML accelerators are built for fast matrix multiplication, executing up to one trillion operations per second — perfect for low-latency ML tasks that don’t require the massive power of the Neural Engine.
The power of macOS Big Sur on M1
Developed to unlock the potential of the M1 chip, macOS Big Sur transforms Mac with major performance benefits and so much more. Powerful updates for apps. A beautiful new design. Industry-leading privacy features and best‑in‑class security. It’s our most powerful software ever — running on our most advanced hardware yet.
Speed and responsiveness
The M1 chip and macOS Big Sur work together to make the entire system snappier. MacBook Air wakes instantly from sleep. Everyday tasks from flipping through photos to browsing Safari are faster. And your hardest‑working apps all have access to the power they need.
Biggest collection of apps ever
Run powerful apps built for M1. All your existing apps work thanks to Rosetta 2. And for the first time, you can use your favourite iPhone and iPad apps directly on macOS Big Sur. Altogether you’ll have access to the biggest collection of apps ever for Mac.
Unified memory
The do‑it‑all notebook gets do‑the‑unbelievable memory. The M1 chip brings up to 16GB of superfast unified memory. This single pool of high‑bandwidth, low‑latency memory allows apps to share data between the CPU, GPU and Neural Engine efficiently — so everything you do is fast and fluid.
Retina display Lifelike colours for unreal beauty.
Images take on new levels of detail and realism on the brilliant 13.3‑inch, 2560x1600-resolution Retina display. Text is sharp and clear. Colours are more vibrant than ever. And the glass goes right to the edge of the enclosure, so nothing takes away from your gorgeous view.
True Tone technology
Good looking. And easy on the eyes. MacBook Air automatically adjusts the white point of your display to the colour temperature of your environment for a more natural viewing experience.
Camera and mics You’re live on the Air
The image signal processor in the M1 chip helps you look your best for every FaceTime call and video conference. Three built‑in microphones make sure what you say gets heard whether you’re on a call, dictating a note or asking Siri about the weather.
FaceTime HD camera
Get clearer, sharper images. See more detail in shadows and highlights. And face detection uses the Neural Engine to adjust white balance and exposure for even more natural‑looking skin tones.
Three-microphone array
Say “Hello” to mics that focus on your voice instead of what’s going on around you.
Magic Keyboard Get down to it. Write away
When a keyboard types like a dream and still does a whole lot more: that’s magic. With new pre-programmed shortcuts, useful features are even easier to access. Get help from Siri, switch keyboard languages, respond with the perfect emoji, find documents with Spotlight — there’s so much you can do with just a tap. And the backlit keys with ambient light sensor help you type in low‑light settings.
Scissor mechanism
The refined scissor mechanism delivers the best typing experience ever on a Mac notebook.
Touch ID
One touch is all it takes to lock or unlock MacBook Air. Use your fingerprint to rent a movie, buy an app, or access things like secure documents or system settings without having to re-enter your password. And when you shop online with Apple Pay, Touch ID fills in your shipping and billing information without sharing your card details.
Connectivity Charges, chats, streams, works and plays well with others.
Wi‑Fi 6
The next generation of Wi‑Fi isn’t just faster — it keeps MacBook Air going strong even as more and more devices join the network.
Thunderbolt / USB 4
Ultra‑high bandwidth meets ultra‑versatility. Thunderbolt enables data transfer, charging and video output all through a single port — and MacBook Air has two of them.
