In my opinion, the 2020 MacBook Air is a perfect laptop. It has physical keys that are a pleasure to type on, a beautiful screen, an optimal size, good pricing, and a quad-core processor. The only "touch" button is the fingerprint sensor and the touch pad. The onboard graphics are as good as discrete graphics from a few years ago according to benchmarks, which is impressive. The speakers work well. Being an educator, I purchased it on the Apple Education Store for $1200, and it couldn't have come at a better time, given the transition to Zoom in the coronavirus pandemic. Thank you, Apple, for rediscovering yourself. I had been holding onto my 2012 MacBook Pro because I was unimpressed with the offerings the past few years.
You shouldn't get this if you are looking for onboard power, but if you are, you probably didn't need me to tell you that. Otherwise, get it. It's great.
Update: After reviewing benchmarks and reviews, I believe the upgrades you should consider, in order of priority are:
1. i3 -> i5
2. 8gb -> 16gb
The i5 -> i7 is a small boost in power per Geekbench scores, but again, this isn't supposed to be used for heavy computing due to cooling limitations, so this is a novelty in my opinion. Additionally, the storage upgrades (up to 2 TB) are hard to justify when you have EXTREMELY FAST 40 GBP/s thunderbolt 3 ports that can easily be used for an external SSD that is more or less as fast as the built-in SSD. Unlike the other upgrades, which are set in stone once you purchase the computer, the memory can be increased with external hard drives with little to no compromise. This upgrade is a novelty as well, in my opinion.
Update 2: The computer works well in most situations. Because of some laggy moments while running a lot of programs, I will be returning the default configuration I ordered and getting a customized i5 or i7 and 16gb ram. During Zoom screen sharing (and while many other programs run), sometimes the fan will whir (it's supposed to), but I installed a CPU temperature app and it appears to regulate temperature successfully. I haven't tempered my praise for this machine, because it's not supposed to be a performance workhorse.
| Product Dimensions | 12.76 x 2.4 x 9.09 inches |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 5.36 pounds |
| Manufacturer | Apple Computer |
| ASIN | B0863D4XJW |
| Item model number | MWTJ2LL/A |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium ion batteries required. (included) |
| Date First Available | March 18, 2020 |
