First, the good news. For many people, the iconic design of the MacBook Air is pretty much perfect, so they don't see the need for any radical change. At the same time, by simply offering minor spec bumps every year, the MacBook Air was in danger of being outclassed by more ambitious rivals. So, by concentrating on revolutionizing the hardware of the MacBook Air, and not tinkering with the design, Apple is doing something many of its critics have argued it should do: focus on the unglamorous, yet essential, stuff. Gaming live streams continue to be hugely popular and are only getting bigger. If you're keen to become the next big game streamer, or simply enjoy being sociable with friends, this is a great starter webcam. Most of the time, the MacBook Air with M1 felt — performance-wise — like it was identical (if not faster) than the 2020 Core i5 MacBook Pro I've used to test Big Sur, or the 2017 Core i7 MacBook Pro work computer I relied upon. This includes when I connected an external monitor. Before this, I was a bit skeptical, even with Apple's boasts of 3.5x improved performance vs the Intel MacBook Air released earlier this year, because I've always pushed my MacBooks to the limit, and needed a MacBook Pro, and not an Air, to do my work. This MacBook Air? It feels like a Pro.

Audio is superior too: the mobile speakerphone features Bluetooth, NFC, and 360-degree sound, and users can be heard within a 12-foot diameter range. it can be plugged in or powered by a built-in rechargeable battery. Yep, you read that right: we think Huawei has the edge over Apple when it comes to thin and light laptop design. Strange times indeed. I believe the biggest costs for a chip fab are startup costs - no matter what processor vendors would like you to believe. Design and fab startup are expensive - but once you start getting decent yields, the additional costs are silicon wafers and QA. The more of these units Apple can move, the lower the per unit cost and the better the profits.For 4K use, there's the Logitech Brio which is great if you have a YouTube channel or similar. However, not everywhere supports 4K yet so you may not be able to take advantage of all it has to offer. I put the New MacBook Air's webcam in a head-to-head face-off with the early-2020 Intel-based MacBook Pro, with both joining the same Google Meet call. My boss, looking at two of me at the same time, noted that the video from the M1-based MacBook Air offered better colors, including skin tones, and an overall brighter picture. Other calls I made on the MacBook Air, where we didn't have a live comparison, didn't wow anyone with the video quality, which goes to show that a better webcam would still be welcome. MacBook Air with M1 review: Design

Via the Camera Settings app from Logitech, it's possible to manually control zoom and pan. Up to 4x zoom is an option which is perfect if you need to hide the cluttered corner of your living room and blurring the image isn't cutting it. Razer Kiyo has been shown by many users to work but is not customizable. The software is not Mac silicon compatible and Razer have no plans to make it so. We're still waiting on an OLED MacBook, as the Dell XPS 13 OLED just came out to get tons of applause for its gorgeous panel. That said, its improved screen comes at a big downside, as I mentioned in the battery life section.Pay close attention when buying a microphone for your computer. If it isn't natively a USB microphone, you're also going to need to get an audio interface like the Focusrite Scarlett. Supporting Mac OS X 10.7 or higher, it comes with a generous 90-degree field of view with a digital pan, mechanical tilt, and a ZEISS glass lens with autofocus. In other words, you’ll always be able to capture yourself and your surroundings how you want, wherever you’re videoconferencing from. We were able to have quite a few apps running all at once, swapping between them with ease, and the Apple MacBook Air (M1,2020) kept up brilliantly. Throughout our tests it felt fast and capable. Moving a large 14GB file from an external SSD took less than a minute, for example. This really does feel like a fast and spritely machine. Interestingly, the GFXBench Metal Aztec Ruins graphics benchmark (Universal) gave the Air and Pro practically similar scores: a 54 on High and 60 on Normal (both rounded down). MacBook Air with M1 review: Battery Life

In fact, that’s why pros may want to go for the MacBook Pro 13-inch. It has the same M1 chip as the MacBook Air, but it has fans, which means it can be used for intensive tasks over longer periods of time, without, Apple claims, throttling.On opening up the MacBook Air (M1, 2020) you’re again presented with a sight that's familiar, and in a good way. The best addition to the previous MacBook Air’s design, the Magic Keyboard, is again included here. It really is a lovely keyboard to work on, feeling tactile and responsive despite how flat the keys are. Price-wise, then, we think Apple has nailed it. Of course, this certainly isn't a cheap laptop, but nor does it feel overpriced, especially compared to its similarly specced rivals - something that Apple has been accused of in the past.