MacBook Air

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<div style="font: bold 2em/1.2 -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'SF Pro Display', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: var(--wiki-color); margin-bottom: 0.8em;">MacBook Air</div>
<span style="color: #555; font-weight: bold;" darkstyle="color: var(--wiki-muted);">Speed of lightness.</span>
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| style="padding: 0;" | ![[hw_macbook_air.png]]
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| style="background-color: #333; padding: 8px;" | [https://www.apple.com/macbook-air/ <span style="color: #fff;">Official MacBook Air site — Apple</span>]
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The MacBook Air is the laptop [[Steve Jobs]] pulled out of a manila envelope in 2008 — the machine that defined "thin and light" and went on to become, by Apple's telling, the world's best-selling laptop. Eighteen years later it remains the default [[Mac]]: the computer most people mean when they say they bought a MacBook.

= History =

The 2008 original sacrificed everything for thinness; the 2010 wedge redesign fixed the price and made the Air ubiquitous — the coffee-shop laptop of a decade. After drifting through the mid-2010s it was reborn twice: the 2018 Retina model, then the fanless [[Apple M1]] Air of 2020, the machine that made the silicon transition legible to everyone. The 2022 [[Apple M2|M2]] redesign flattened the wedge into the current 13.6-inch slab, a 15-inch joined in 2023, and the [[Apple M4|M4]] (2025) and [[Apple M5|M5]] (March 2026) generations brought 16 GB standard, Wi-Fi 7, and the sky-blue finish.

= Current models =

{| style="width: 100%; border: 2px solid #555; text-align: left;" darkstyle="border-color: #48484a;"
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! style="background-color: #555; color: #fff; padding: 6px;" | Model
! style="background-color: #555; color: #fff; padding: 6px;" | Chip
! style="background-color: #555; color: #fff; padding: 6px;" | From
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| '''MacBook Air 13"''' || [[Apple M5|M5]] (2026) || $1,299
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| '''MacBook Air 15"''' || [[Apple M5|M5]] (2026) || $1,499
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The M5 generation launched at $1,099 and $1,299 in March 2026; Apple raised base prices by $200 that June — the Air's move upmarket as the $599 [[MacBook Neo]] took over the entry slot.

= Position =

The Air is the lineup's center of gravity: fanless, all-day battery, and fast enough that most buyers never need more. Its role shifted in 2026 — no longer the cheap Mac but the standard one, holding the middle between the [[MacBook Neo|Neo]]'s price and the [[MacBook Pro]]'s power.

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{| style="width: 100%; border: 2px solid #333; text-align: center;" darkstyle="border-color: #48484a;" |- | style="padding: 28px 20px 42px;" | <div style="font: bold 2em/1.2 -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'SF Pro Display', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: var(--wiki-color); margin-bottom: 0.8em;">MacBook Air</div> <span style="color: #555; font-weight: bold;" darkstyle="color: var(--wiki-muted);">Speed of lightness.</span> |- | style="padding: 0;" | ![[hw_macbook_air.png]] |- | style="background-color: #333; padding: 8px;" | [https://www.apple.com/macbook-air/ <span style="color: #fff;">Official MacBook Air site — Apple</span>] |} {{Mac lineup Navbox}} {{MacBook Navbox}} The MacBook Air is the laptop [[Steve Jobs]] pulled out of a manila envelope in 2008 — the machine that defined "thin and light" and went on to become, by Apple's telling, the world's best-selling laptop. Eighteen years later it remains the default [[Mac]]: the computer most people mean when they say they bought a MacBook. = History = The 2008 original sacrificed everything for thinness; the 2010 wedge redesign fixed the price and made the Air ubiquitous — the coffee-shop laptop of a decade. After drifting through the mid-2010s it was reborn twice: the 2018 Retina model, then the fanless [[Apple M1]] Air of 2020, the machine that made the silicon transition legible to everyone. The 2022 [[Apple M2|M2]] redesign flattened the wedge into the current 13.6-inch slab, a 15-inch joined in 2023, and the [[Apple M4|M4]] (2025) and [[Apple M5|M5]] (March 2026) generations brought 16 GB standard, Wi-Fi 7, and the sky-blue finish. = Current models = {| style="width: 100%; border: 2px solid #555; text-align: left;" darkstyle="border-color: #48484a;" |- ! style="background-color: #555; color: #fff; padding: 6px;" | Model ! style="background-color: #555; color: #fff; padding: 6px;" | Chip ! style="background-color: #555; color: #fff; padding: 6px;" | From |- | '''MacBook Air 13"''' || [[Apple M5|M5]] (2026) || $1,299 |- | '''MacBook Air 15"''' || [[Apple M5|M5]] (2026) || $1,499 |} The M5 generation launched at $1,099 and $1,299 in March 2026; Apple raised base prices by $200 that June — the Air's move upmarket as the $599 [[MacBook Neo]] took over the entry slot. = Position = The Air is the lineup's center of gravity: fanless, all-day battery, and fast enough that most buyers never need more. Its role shifted in 2026 — no longer the cheap Mac but the standard one, holding the middle between the [[MacBook Neo|Neo]]'s price and the [[MacBook Pro]]'s power.