Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2020)

New keyboard is a huge improvement;The most affordable Mac;Design still holds up;Great speakers and fast Touch ID

Performance not as good as Windows rivals;Little improvement to battery life;Terrible webcam;Port layout is a bit annoying

New keyboard is an improvement ; More affordable ; Better graphics ; Excellent build quality

Performance still lacking ; Bezels are outdated

Finally: a good keyboard! ; Double the base storage ; Sharp Retina display ; Excellent trackpad ; Touch ID works well and is easy to set up

Port selection still feels too skimpy ; The battery life is good but not best in class ; The lack of full-size USB ports is still a pain

macOS is fast and responsive ; Battery life is great ; Silent in use ; Keyboard remains very good

No new design ; Fanless design could impact performance ; Now several years old

The MacBook Air (M1, 2020) remains one of the best laptops you can buy. It was the first MacBook to come with Apple's game-changing M1 chip, and the success of the M1 MacBook Air led to Apple releasing M2 and M3 MacBooks - while still keeping the M1...

Very fast for general use ; Great new keyboard ; Strongeer processor and graphics ; More storage than previous models

Poor webcam ; Dual-core power won't be enough for some ; Battery life is pretty average

New keyboard ; Faster processors ; Lower price

Middling battery life if you don’t use Apple’s apps ; Not suited for intense workloads ; Average-at-best webcam

Photography by Nilay Patel / The Verge

Improved keyboard action and feel ; Sleek, lightweight design ; Multiple color options ; Long battery life ; Reasonably priced, for a Mac

As ever, no touch screen ; Limited port selection ; Lackluster raw computing performance ; No support for Wi-Fi 6

If you're a macOS fan who primarily uses a laptop to write and browse the web, the 2020 Apple MacBook Air's redesigned keyboard and lower price make it easy to recommend.

Retina display is bright and detailed ; Keyboard is so much better to use ; Storage starts at 256GB (larger capacity also available) ; Sub four-figure price point is key

Still only two USB-C ports ; No SD card slot ; No Face ID login ; Screen bezel is large compared to many Windows alternatives ; Some fan noise - even with the i3 model

The 2020 model takes what was great about its predecessor and enhances it with a much better keyboard, double storage as standard, and a price drop. It's a win-win.

Sleek design ; Great battery life ; Powerful sound ; Magic keyboard is clicky and comfortable

Display a bit muted without TrueTone enabled ; Underwhelming performance ; Only has USB Type-C ports

The MacBook Air 2020 is sleek laptop with good endurance, but it could use more performance.