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Apple MacBook Air 13-inch, Retina, 2020 (A2179) review

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch, Retina, 2020 (A2179)

CHOICE Expert Rating

75%
What is the CHOICE Expert Rating?
Good points

Good Points

  • Very good Wi-Fi speed
  • Very good keyboard
  • Very good screen quality
  • Very good sound quality
  • Very good screen luminance
Bad points

Bad Points

  • No SD card slot
  • Long charge time to 80 per cent
  • Short power cord

Type

Ultraportable
Ultrabook
Tablet mode
Operating system
macOS

Recommended products

Recommended
Not recommended
Recommended for tablet use

Test results

CHOICE Expert Rating
75%
Performance score
54%
Tablet use score
N/A
Ease of use score
82%
Battery life score
62%
Display score
86%
Audio score
80%
Wi-Fi score
83%
Storage write-speed (MBps)
1155
Storage read-speed (MBps)
1271
Wi-Fi speed (MBps)
46
Average battery life – heavy usage (hours)
5:20
Charging time to 80% full (h:min)
1:57
Expert tester comments
Apple's MacBook Air continues to be a highly desirable laptop due to its strong build quality and slim design, very good screen quality screen, comfortable keyboard and touchpad, and adequate speed.

Sustainability

Shop Ethical rating
D
Warranty (years)
1
Replaceable battery
Not collected
Replace/upgrade RAM
Not collected
Slots for additional RAM
Not collected
Replace/upgrade storage
Not collected
Slot for additional storage
Not collected
Replace/upgrade Wi-Fi
Not collected
Country of origin
Not collected

Related products

Availability
Discontinued model

Cost

Price
$1,999.00

Specifications

Screen size (inches)
13
Native screen resolution (pixels)
2560 x 1600
Processor (CPU) type
Intel Core i5-1030NG7
CPU frequency (GHz)
1.1
RAM (GB)
8
Video graphics type
Intel Iris Plus
Storage capacity (GB)
500
Available user space (GB)
473
Storage type
SSD
Wi-Fi version
5
Weight of laptop (kg)
1.3
Weight of power supply (kg)
0.2
Size (mm, H x D x W)
17 x 213 x 306

Features

Screen finish
Glossy
Touchscreen
USB-C
USB 2.0 ports
0
USB 3.0 ports
0
USB 4 as USB-C port
0
USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1 or 2, not Thunderbolt 3 or 4) ports
0
Thunderbolt 3 or 4 (as USB-C) ports
2
SD card slot (full-size)
SD card slot (micro)
HDMI port
Gigabit ethernet port
Rear camera
Backlit keyboard levels of brightness
16

More products in this test

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Apple iPad 9th gen, Wi-Fi +Cellular (A2604) with Smart Keyboard and Pencil (1st gen)

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Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular (A2437) with Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil (2nd gen)
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Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular (A2437) with Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil (2nd gen)

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Apple 13-inch MacBook Air with Apple M3 chip (A3113)
77
Recommended

Apple 13-inch MacBook Air with Apple M3 chip (A3113)

$1,599

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