Apple today updated MacBook Air with faster performance, the new Magic Keyboard, twice the storage and a new lower price,

The new MacBook Air delivers up to two times faster CPU performance and up to 80 percent faster graphics performance, letting customers breeze through daily activities and play more games.

Now starting with 256GB of storage, MacBook Air allows customers to store even more movies, photos and files. With its brilliant 13-inch Retina display for vivid images and sharp text, Touch ID for easy login and secure online purchases, spacious trackpad, and all-day battery life combined with the power of macOS Catalina, it’s the best MacBook Air ever made.

“From students and consumers buying their first computer to customers looking to upgrade, everyone loves the Mac, and they especially love MacBook Air. Today we’re giving it a huge update, with two times faster performance, the new Magic Keyboard, double the storage, a new lower price of RRP NZ$1,799 inc. GST and an even lower price of RRP NZ$1,619 inc. GST for education,” said Tom Boger, Apple’s senior director of Mac and iPad Product Marketing. “With its stunning, thin and light design, brilliant Retina display, all-day battery life and the power and ease-of-use of macOS, MacBook Air is the world’s best consumer notebook.”

Offering quad-core processors for the first time, MacBook Air now delivers even more speed across everyday activities, from organising photos and creating presentations to editing videos. Featuring the latest 10th-generation Intel Core processors up to 1.2GHz quad-core Core i7 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.8GHz, MacBook Air delivers up to two times faster performance when compared to the previous generation. And with Intel Iris Plus Graphics, MacBook Air now delivers up to 80 percent faster graphics performance, so graphics-intensive activities like playing games and editing video are faster than ever.

MacBook Air now features the new Magic Keyboard, first introduced on the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

A redesigned scissor mechanism delivers 1mm of key travel for a comfortable and stable key feel, while the new inverted-“T” arrangement for the arrow keys makes them easier to find without looking down. MacBook Air features a stunning unibody wedge design made from 100 percent recycled aluminium and comes in three finishes — gold, silver and space grey. The 13-inch Retina display delivers over 4 million pixels and millions of colours, so whether customers are reading an email, enjoying a movie or editing their photos, text is razor sharp and images are more true to life.

MacBook Air now starts with 256GB of storage, double that of the previous generation, so customers can store even more movies, photos and files. And for those who need even more storage capacity, MacBook Air offers up to a 2TB SSD, double the previous maximum storage.

MacBook Air comes with the Apple T2 Security Chip, Apple’s own custom-designed second-generation silicon, which checks that software loaded during the boot process has not been tampered with and provides on-the-fly data encryption for everything stored on the SSD. This allows MacBook Air and any Mac with the T2 chip to deliver the most secure boot process and storage of any notebook. The T2 also protects Touch ID information, so whether customers are unlocking their Mac, entering an online password or making online purchases, their information stays safe.

Every new MacBook Air comes with macOS Catalina, the latest version of the world’s most advanced desktop operating system. macOS has always been at the core of the Mac experience, and with apps like Safari, Mail, Photos, Pages, Numbers and Keynote, customers have powerful tools to do amazing things. macOS also makes MacBook Air the perfect companion device to iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch with built-in Continuity features that allow users to make and receive phone calls without picking up their iPhone; automatically unlock their Mac with Apple Watch; copy and paste images, video and text straight from iPhone or iPad to a nearby Mac; and in macOS Catalina, extend the workspace of their Mac using an iPad and Sidecar.

Security features keep users better protected and Voice Control lets users control their Mac entirely with their voice.

Updates coming to Pages, Numbers and Keynote offer a variety of new features aimed at unleashing creativity, improving productivity and enhancing collaboration. A wide selection of gorgeous new templates in Pages and Keynote gives users a head start on creating beautiful documents and, for the first time in iWork, users can add a drop cap to make a paragraph stand out with a large, decorative first letter. Collaboration will also become easier than ever with support for iCloud folder sharing and the ability to edit shared documents while offline.

Apple also updated their Mac mini.

Whether using it as a desktop computer, a music and movie storage hub for the family, or as a code compile server for Xcode, thee’s even more to love about Mac mini.

The standard configurations of Mac mini now come with double the storage capacity. The RRP NZ$1,449 inc. GST configuration now comes standard with 256GB, while the RRP NZ$1,999 inc. GST configuration features 512GB of storage, and every Mac mini is made from 100 percent recycled aluminium.

The new MacBook Air is available to order starting today on Apples official website and in the Apple Store app.

MacBook Air will be available in stores starting next week.

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Apple today introduced to us here at STG an all-new MacBook Air, bringing a stunning 13-inch Retina display, Touch ID, the latest processors and an even more portable design to the world’s most loved notebook.

Delivering the all-day battery life it’s known for, the new MacBook Air is available in three gorgeous finishes — gold, silver and space grey. The most affordable Mac with a Retina display also includes an Apple-designed keyboard, a spacious Force Touch trackpad, faster SSDs, wide stereo sound, the Apple T2 Security Chip and Thunderbolt 3, making the new MacBook Air the perfect notebook to take with you everywhere you go.

“The first MacBook Air revolutionised Mac with its thin wedge-shaped aluminium design. It forever changed the entire industry for portable computers and became the world’s most loved notebook,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Redesigning MacBook Air started with a stunning Retina display and all-day battery life, and then we added Touch ID and the Apple T2 Security Chip, the latest processors, incredible sound, the third-generation keyboard and Force Touch trackpad, high-speed Thunderbolt 3 ports and of course macOS Mojave, in a beautiful, thinner, lighter, all-aluminium design that a whole new generation of MacBook Air customers are going to love.”

The new MacBook Air features a stunning 13.3-inch Retina display with over 4 million pixels of resolution so text and images in macOS Mojave look sharp and stunning. And with 48 per cent more colour than the previous generation, images are more lifelike than ever. The new MacBook Air also includes a built-in FaceTime HD camera, which is perfect for Group FaceTime calls with friends and family members, as well as a three microphone array for better sound quality when making calls and improved voice recognition in Siri.

MacBook Air now includes Touch ID — a fingerprint sensor built into the keyboard — which allows you to conveniently and instantly unlock your MacBook Air; authenticate your identity; and make fast, simple and secure purchases using Apple Pay. To support Touch ID, MacBook Air comes with the Apple T2 Security Chip, which makes your notebook far more secure. Its Secure Enclave protects Touch ID information and ensures that software loaded during the boot process has not been tampered with. The T2 Security Chip also features an SSD controller with on-the-fly data encryption for everything stored on the SSD. These allow MacBook Air to offer the most secure boot process and storage of any notebook. The T2 Security Chip features an always-on processor that enables Hey Siri, letting you use just your voice to ask Siri for things like finding files or opening an app.

MacBook Air features a third-generation Apple-designed keyboard for more precise and responsive typing. Each key is individually backlit using low-power LEDs for more accurate illumination. The new MacBook Air also includes the industry-best Force Touch trackpad, which delivers pressure-sensing capabilities and haptic feedback. It’s also 20 per cent larger than the trackpad on the previous-generation MacBook Air, offering a quieter and more capable trackpad experience.

With more advanced speakers and audio processing technology, MacBook Air delivers a higher-quality audio experience and wide stereo playback that makes watching movies and listening to music more immersive than ever. The speakers are 25 per cent louder with twice as much bass as the previous generation, for more dynamic range and fuller sound.

The new MacBook Air features an 8th generation Intel Core i5 processor, Intel UHD graphics and faster 2133 MHz system memory up to 16GB, delivering the performance you need for everyday activities like organising your photos, browsing the web, creating presentations, or viewing and editing videos. MacBook Air also features SSDs up to 1.5TB in capacity, that are up to 60 per cent faster than the previous generation and make launching apps and opening files feel snappier and more responsive.

MacBook Air now comes with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, so you can charge your notebook; quickly transfer data via USB and Thunderbolt; output video in three formats; and connect to a whole host of devices including external storage, docks for additional ports, 4K and 5K displays, and eGPUs for faster graphics. It’s the most versatile port ever. The ecosystem has over 700 Thunderbolt 3 devices and counting, along with thousands of USB-C devices, so MacBook Air allows you to take advantage of a whole new generation of accessories.

The new MacBook Air packs all of these features in a new, distinctive wedge-shaped design that’s now even more compact and portable. And it delivers up to 12 hours of battery life during wireless web use and up to 13 hours of iTunes movie playback. Featuring a significantly smaller footprint, the new MacBook Air takes up 17 per cent less volume, is 10 per cent thinner measuring just 1.56 centimetres at its thickest point, and at just 1.25 kilograms it’s 100 grams lighter than the previous generation.

In addition, the new MacBook Air enclosure is made from a custom, Apple-designed aluminium alloy that enables the use of 100 per cent recycled aluminium for the first time, which has the same strength, durability and beautiful finish as the aluminium in all Apple products. Using this custom aluminium alloy helps reduce MacBook Air’s carbon footprint by nearly 50 per cent, making it the greenest Mac ever.

Apple also announced new MacBook Pro graphics options that will bring powerful Radeon Pro Vega graphics to MacBook Pro for the first time. These new graphics options deliver up to 60 per cent faster graphics performance for the most demanding video editing, 3D design and rendering workloads.

All new Mac models come with macOS Mojave, the latest version of the world’s most advanced desktop operating system, with new features inspired by pros but designed for everyone. In macOS Mojave, Dark Mode transforms the desktop with a dramatic new look that puts the focus on your content. The new Stacks feature organises messy desktops by automatically stacking files into neat groups. Familiar iOS apps — including News, Stocks, Voice Memos and Home — are now available on Mac for the first time. FaceTime now adds support for group calling, and the Mac App Store gets a full redesign — featuring rich editorial content, and apps from top developers like Microsoft and Adobe.

Starting at a recommended retail price of $1849 inc. GST AUD, the new MacBook Air will be available at Apple Store locations and through Apple Authorised Resellers starting on Wednesday, 7th of November 2018.

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