WWDC 2022: MacBook Air with Apple M2 chip announced; Along with the M2 MacBook Pro tag

Last year's Worldwide Developers Conference didn't see major upgrades on the software front. Hence, Apple has decided to fill the void by announcing new hardware at WWDC 2022. The Cupertino giant first unveiled the new long-rumored M2 chip and then launched the first M2-powered device in the form of the new MacBook Air. Yes, the M2 MacBook Air is finally here, and it comes with a notch, upgraded display, MagSafe, and more. Here's what you need to know about the new MacBook Air:

Starting with the design, the new MacBook Air boasts a unibody enclosure constructed using 100% recycled aluminum. It is the first Apple device to use certified recycled steel. This new laptop is lightweight and weighs only 2.7 pounds (~1.22 kg). Also, the MacBook Air is only 11.3mm thick, which means it's much thinner than the thickest part of the M1 MacBook Air.

The M2 MacBook Air features a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display with slimmer bezels and a brighter panel. The display here can go up to 500 nits and is 25% brighter than its precursor. It supports up to 1 billion colors and a 1080p FaceTime camera in the same bucket-shaped notch as the MacBook Pro.

This laptop is powered by the Apple M2 chip with a 10-core GPU, up to 24GB of RAM, and up to 2TB of SSD storage. The M2 chip comes with a new media engine, which enables more simultaneous 4K and 8K streams, a ProRes video engine, and more. Additionally, the M2 MacBook Air now supports MagSafe charging, which comes with a braided charging cable.

The MacBook Air has two Thunderbolt ports, a Touch ID integrated with the power button, a 3.5mm audio jack with support for high-impedance headphones, 4 speakers with spatial audio, and a Force Touch touchpad.

Apple didn't reveal the battery size at the event or in the blog post, but it said the M2 MacBook Air supports up to 18 hours of video playback. It comes with a new 35W dual USB-C charger in the box Moreover, it supports fast charging via a 67W power adapter, providing a 50% charge in just 30 minutes.

The new MacBook Air will be available in four color variants namely Silver, Space Grey, Starlight, and Midnight.

Alongside the Air, Apple updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 chip. This means you get faster performance and better battery life (up to 20 hours of video playback, as Apple claims). It supports up to 24GB of unified memory and all the goodness of the new M2 chip

The M2 MacBook Air starts at $1199 (~93,000) in the US, while the M2 MacBook Pro is priced at $1299 (~Rs. 1,00,79). We will share the Indian prices of the new M2-powered MacBook Air and MacBook Pro in a separate post, so stay tuned for more updates.