The Apple MacBook Air 2018 is a huge leap over its predecessor. The laptop has a 13.3-inch IPS LCD with 2560 x 1600 resolution. It comes with the 8th generation dual-core Intel Core-i5 processor clocked at 1.6GHz. There is 8GB of LPDDR3 RAM. The Apple MacBook Air 2018 has PCIe storage and is available in two storage variants; 128GB and 256GB. There is a 50.3-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery inside this new laptop, which Apple claims to offer 12 hours of web-browsing. Unlike the previous generation MacBook Air, which had multiple types of ports for data transfer and display output, the new MacBook Air has only two USB Type-C ports. Both the ports are Thunderbolt 3 ports offering charging, video output, and data transfer functionality.
Apple MacBook Air 2018 Price in India
The Apple MacBook Air 2018 price in India starts at Rs. 1,14,900. The Apple MacBook Air 2018 was launched on 31st October 2018. The 128GB variant costs Rs. 1,14,000 and the 256GB variant costs Rs. 1,34,900. The Apple MacBook Air 2018 comes in three color options; Gold, Silver, and Space Grey.
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Apple MacBook Air 2018 Is a Big Upgrade Over the Older MacBook Air
The first generation Apple MacBook Air was launched in 2008, and it changed the laptop game altogether. It offered a great build-quality, powerful hardware, and a compact body. It was only two years since the launch of the first-generation MacBook Air, and Apple launched its second-generation. The second generation MacBook Air brought with it an improved screen, faster storage, and a better battery backup. Since then, the MacBook Air received many small upgrades, but nothing significant. Now, after eight years, we have a whole new MacBook Air. This new laptop is nothing like its predecessor. It has a new design, improved display, more powerful hardware, longer battery backup, and a new set of connectivity options. Let us have a look at what the new MacBook Air 2018 has to offer.
It Has an All-New Design
The new Apple MacBook Air is now slimmer and lighter than its predecessor. While the old MacBook Air still looks modern, the newer variant is even better. The design falls in part with the MacBook Pros. It has thinner bezels, rounded corners, and full glass on the display panel. Unlike its predecessor, the new MacBook Air is available in three color variants; Silver, Gold, and Space Grey.
Retina Display Finally!
One of the weakest points of the MacBook Air was its low-resolution display. While the other laptops in the price range had a Full HD screen, the MacBook Air had an HD screen. Well, not anymore, the new MacBook Air comes with a QHD display (2560 x 1600 resolution), just like that on the MacBook Pros. It is now on par with other laptops in the industry.
Vast Improvement in Processing Hardware
Apple has replaced the fifth generation Intel processor in the MacBook Air with the new eighth generation Intel chipset. The new processor has more processing power and also more graphics power. Unfortunately, the processor still has only two cores, while the other similarly priced laptops have a quad-core processor. It means that the new MacBook Air still has 50% less processing power than its competitors. That being said, the MacBook Air might still perform as fast as other Windows laptop even with less processing power, thanks to the well-optimized MacOS.
The speed of the RAM has been bumped from 1600MHz to 2133MHz, making the MacBook Air even better at multitasking. The storage is also now faster, which will reduce app-opening time, boot time, and file transfer time, among other benefits. With all this, the MacBook Air better than ever, but I think at its price point of Rs. 1,14,900, Apple should have packed even better hardware.
Down on Ports
The new Apple MacBook Air has only two USB Type-C ports, and that is all. There is no HDMI port, no USB Type-A port, or even an SD card slot. You'll have to depend on those two ports for everything like charging, data transfer, and video output. I appreciate that these two USB Type-C ports are Thunderbolt 3 ports, meaning that they have super-fast speeds of 40GB/s, but they still don't make up for the lack of other connectivity options. If you are to buy the new Apple MacBook Air 2018, you will have to use converters to connect your peripherals to the laptop.
MacBook Air 2018 and MacBook Pro Have Similar Price. Which One Should You Buy?
The whole idea of having MacBook Air alongside the MacBook Pro was to provide people with an affordable Apple laptop. However, that doesn't seem to be true anymore. The new Apple MacBook Air 2018 starts at Rs. 1,14,900, while the new MacBook Pro starts at Rs. 1,19,900. There is almost no difference in their prices. You might as well get the MacBook Pro. It has a more powerful chipset and also more graphics power than the new MacBook Air. There is no fingerprint scanner on the entry-level MacBook Pro as there is on the new MacBook Air, but I would prefer more processing power over fingerprint scanner any day.
