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Apple has used WWDC to reveal a major redesign of the MacBook Air, upgrading it to be more in line with the current-gen MacBook Pro range.

Shown as one of the first Macs to be using M2, the update to Apple Silicon, the MacBook Air does away with its traditional thin wedge design in favor of a flatter appearance. Even so, it's still 11.3mm thin and 2.7 pounds. Apple says this is a 20 percent reduction in volume compared to the previous model.

This new 13.6-inch M2 MacBook Air has a Liquid Retina display, seen in older devices such as the 2021 iPad Pro and 2021 MacBook Pro models.

Rumors were partially right about a range of colors, but Apple is offering only four options: Silver, Space Gray, Starlight, and Midnight.

The port selection has been updated, with two Thunderbolt ports joined by a 3.5mm headphone jack with high-impedance headphone support, and the return of MagSafe. This MacBook Air supports Fast Charge to charge the device up to 50 percent in 30 minutes, and customers can buy a 67W USB-C power adapter for this.

Impedance is a measurement of resistance to electrical current. High-impedance headphones can be anywhere from 250 to 600 ohms, which is the term used to describe electrical impedance.

What Apple customers need to know is that high-impedance means high audio quality. In addition, the MacBook Air has a four-speaker sound system. Apple says it brings an audio array with three microphones as well as "advanced beamforming algorithms."

Apple first used the term "beamforming" when it launched the first model of HomePod. Beamforming aims to alter the audio based on the user's environment, such as figuring out which objects in the background absorb or reflect sound.

Apple's newest custom silicon is the M2 chip. It's an update to the M1 chip and brings an 8-core CPU and a next-generation GPU that can include up to 10 cores. This is two more cores than M1.

The M2 supports up to 24GB of fast unified memory, and Apple specifically mentions workflows such as video editing with a new media engine and new ProRes engine for hardware-accelerated encode and decodes.

The Liquid Retina Display is now a 13.6-inch panel, with support for a billion colors and capable of up to 500 nits of brightness. On the top is a 1080p FaceTime HD camera in a notch, complete with twice the low-light performance of the previous Air.

For customers that want something different, iOS 16 and macOS Venture offer Continuity Camera, so the iPhone can act as a webcam for a Mac.

This new model will be available in July 2022 for $1,199 for customers in the United States.

Any word whether dual external monitors are supported?

Midnight is a welcome addition. I would love a midnight blue iPhone 

That is beautiful. The dark blue is a must-have.

The new Midnight color looks beautiful on the MacBook Air

The 13-inch MacBook Pro wasn't redesigned when it gained the M2 processor, and the latest iFixit teardown shows exactly how little did change.

Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro has the M2 chip, but it may not be enough to tempt potential buyers away from a purchase of the 14-inch MacBook Pro. Here's how the smaller MacBook Pro models compare.

Apple's ecosystem is famous for enabling work to move from Mac to iPad and vice versa, but you can still incorporate other platforms into your computing setup. Here's how to work as smoothly as possible when everything is spread across Windows, macOS, and iPadOS.

Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro has the M2 chip, but it may not be enough to tempt potential buyers away from a purchase of the 14-inch MacBook Pro. Here's how the smaller MacBook Pro models compare.

Master & Dynamic's MW75 are high-quality headphones offering ANC features, directly competing against Apple's AirPods Max. Here's how the premium personal audio accessories compare.

The new Surface Laptop Go 2 is a thin and light Windows notebook at a low cost, and has been positioned by Microsoft to be a competitor to Apple's latest M2 MacBook Air. Here's how the ultra-portable notebooks compare.

Just as we have in years past, we've gotten our hands on dummy units of all four of the iPhone 14 models to see how they line up with what the rumor mill is saying.

Apple's new M2 is the start of a new Apple Silicon generation. Here's how the M2 fares when compared against the already-released M1 family of chips.

How gaming on the Mac is getting better with macOS Ventura

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The 13-inch MacBook Pro wasn't redesigned when it gained the M2 processor, and the latest iFixit teardown shows exactly how little did change.

Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro has the M2 chip, but it may not be enough to tempt potential buyers away from a purchase of the 14-inch MacBook Pro. Here's how the smaller MacBook Pro models compare.

Apple's ecosystem is famous for enabling work to move from Mac to iPad and vice versa, but you can still incorporate other platforms into your computing setup. Here's how to work as smoothly as possible when everything is spread across Windows, macOS, and iPadOS.

With the launch of macOS Ventura, Apple is bringing more focus to gaming on the Mac. Here are some ways that gamers will benefit with the launch of Apple's new operating system.

Apple has introduced Nintendo controller support in iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and tvOS 16, so it is now possible to pair Joy-Cons to your devices. Here's how.

Your iPhone, iPad, and Mac all have a free password manager made by Apple called iCloud Keychain. Here's how to use it, set up two-factor authentication, and never have to remember a password again.

Earwax is nasty. Compound that with dirt and debris, and AirPods can get filthy in a hurry. This tool makes it easier than ever to clean your AirPods, AirPods Pro, or other in-ear earbuds safely.

Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro is the first to arrive with the Apple Silicon M2 processor, but in every other aspect, it clings to an old design ethos in every regard.

Huion's Kamvas Pro 24(4K) is a big-screen graphics tablet that promises a lot to digital artists at a reasonable price. Here's what one artist thinks about the creation tool.

Harber's Leather Desk Mat is a Mac desk accessory that's so good you'd think about replacing the desk before you'd let go of it.

App icons come, icons go, and around the time of iOS 7 app icons also got radically reworked. "The iOS App Icon Book" is an utterly gorgeous celebration of the art of the app icon.

The Monolith M1000ANC Headphones offer ANC, algorithmic spatial audio, and 60-hour battery life at a price lower than AirPods.

Zhiyun's updated design of its Weebill 3 gimbal results in its most comfortable and powerful gimbal, which is also more useful for amateur videographers and vloggers.

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