Apple's ultraportable finally finds its superb

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Last week, Apple quietly announced the arrival of a new iPad Pro and a third generation of MacBook Air Retina, expected with a little fear.

Originally, the MacBook Air embodied what should be an ultraportable. Then, after years of triumph, it was left fallow. Its screen made it difficult to recommend at the time of Retina and Full HD panels.

When he came back to life in October 2018, he had disappointed. His shortness of breath made it difficult to recommend other than for very basic use. Which didn't add up to its premium price, to put it nicely. The second generation, released last year, lacked ambition, with too small entry-level storage and too weak a configuration … Never two without three?

A renewed and up-to-date configuration

For this 2020 edition of the MacBook Air, Apple seems to have realized the limits of its machine. For the first time, two quad core processors are available for the ultraportable. The first is integrated by default into the model sold from 1499 euros. This is a tenth generation 1.1 GHz 1.1 GHz Core i5. The second is sold as an option for both models, it is a 1.2 GHz Core i7. Only the entry-level model is therefore equipped with a two-core processor for four threads. It is this machine, sold from 1199 euros, that we are testing here. A good way to define the lowest level of performance of this generation.

Before going any further, it should be noted that all MacBook Air always (and only) have 8 GB of RAM. However, this is LPDDR4X at 3722 MHz and not LPDDR3 at 2133 MHz. This type of RAM consumes less and is more efficient, in particular thanks to the use of two 16-bit memory channels instead of only one of 32.

Either way, the performance gains announced are large enough to be repeated once again. Apple reports a doubling of processor performance and an 80% increase in those related to the graphics part. These gains were however obtained thanks to the high-end MacBook Air 2020, equipped with the quad-core processor. So let's take a look at how our entry-level MacBook Air is doing.

The promise held up performance

Once is not custom, let's start with what the configuration of the MacBook Air gives. This was indeed the main blocking point of the previous generation, in our view.

We compared it to two machines from two different Apple lines. The first is the MacBook Air it replaces at the entry level and which was released last year. The second is none other than the 13-inch MacBook Pro, launched at the same time and which we qualify at the time of our Review as the only valid entry-level machine.

Our MacBook Air 2020, with its dual-core Core i3-1000NG4 (for four threads) of 10e generation at 1.1 GHz (and its Turbo Boost at 3.2 GHz) faces the Core i5-8210Y (dual-core, for four threads, also) at 1.6 GHz (Turbo Boost at 3.6 GHz) from MacBook Air 2019 and Core i5-8257U (quad-core, for eight threads) 1.4 GHz (Turbo Boost at 3.9 GHz) of the 2019 13-inch MacBook Pro. The last two chips were eighth generation.

These stunning details on the number of cores, the Turbo Boost and the generations give us an idea of ​​the progress made by Intel. Progress that can clearly be seen by comparing the performance of these three machines using an automated measurement tool like Geekbench 4.

We see a slight superiority of the MacBook Air 2020 over its direct elder when only one heart is used. A short head start to put into perspective. Both at nominal frequency and in Turbo Boost, the Core i3 operates at a lower speed. However, its performance is better.

They are even more so when we turn to the multi-core score. The processor of the new MacBook Air is almost 20% more efficient. This is a more than appreciable gain, even if we are actually far from the 80% of performance promised by the high-end processor available as an option for this machine.

When we compare their performance with the Geekbench Metal Review, which in this case allows us to gauge the graphics performance of the machine, we see even greater progress since it is almost 28% more performance than the new chip promises, and therefore the new MacBook Air.

Apple’s new ultraportable is therefore undeniably more efficient than its predecessor. Moreover, tests with everyday applications confirm this trend.

With Handbrake, transcoding the same ehealth is over 12% faster on the new MacBook Air. When we try to edit videos in iMovie, we also see an advantage for the 2020 version. It is around 10% when we play with plans in Full HD and 47% when we start assault of a small montage in 4K. Once again, on this point, the MacBook Air is not the machine that we recommend if you edit videos regularly, especially for professional purposes. However, from time to time, as a hobby, the 2020 model will be able to handle it with a little patience on your part.

Same thing with Adobe's After Effects, pro application if any. The same project is almost 25% faster on the new MacBook Air. But still twice as slow as the 2019 entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro. It's important to keep this differential in mind.

However, for some applications, the new MacBook Air does not do better. This is the case, with Office or even with Photoshop of Adobe, where the application of our filters and scripted effects takes approximately the same time. It is true that Photoshop is an application whose performance is mainly influenced by the amount of memory allocated.

Graphics in progress, but still not for the game

If the MacBook Air has more power and will arrive much slower in its last entrenchments, it should not be asked too much by launching pro applications or even greedy games.

With the graphical benchmark tool, Unigine Valley, there has been considerable progress between the two generations of MacBook Air. The most recent model is 72% more efficient than the previous one in 1440×900 pixels (default definition), by adjusting the quality in Ultra and anti-aliasing in x8. However, it only displays … 8.6 frames per second.If you think that the fault comes back to the settings that are too demanding, with the same benchmarking tool, by choosing the Basic option, the less demanding, we only reach 21.4 frames per second. Still not enough to play with, especially since the MacBook Air then ventilates enormously.

Now let's turn to a real game, Rise of the Tomb Raider. By pushing the settings a little, in 1440×900 pixels, the MacBook Air manages to shoot a little more than 10 frames per second from its graphic part. Nothing to play with, or making great sacrifices on the definition and quality of textures, anti-aliasing, etc.

The MacBook will obviously allow you to have fun with casual titles or less realistic graphics, but it is still not cut for the latest AAA, even by restricting their requirements. But is it a surprise?

Limit and autonomy

Before we go any further, let's talk about two important points. The first, throttling. With a base frequency of 1.1 GHz, it is obvious that we are counting a lot on the Turbo Boost to gain a little power.In this case, on long efforts, you will have to learn to be patient and do without this extra performance. As soon as the machine ventilates a little long, despite its miniature thermal envelope of 9 W, we know that the processor is really struggling and that it will be necessary to be patient to complete the task in progress. Fortunately, this does not happen that often with conventional uses of office automation and basic productivity.

The second point has to do with autonomy. As you probably know, containment requires, we cannot carry out all the tests that we usually apply. We were therefore unable to carry out proper autonomy tests. However, in use, working normally (many tabs open in several browsers, an open word processor, several Excel sheets in the background, an instance of open Pixelmator, etc. we found that the MacBook Air has need to return to an electrical outlet after 7:30 am to 8:30 am of uninterrupted activity. We could have hoped for more, even if this result remains honorable. However, we will not decide definitively until our tests have been completed.

High-performance but entry-level storage … for Apple

So let's go briefly to the on-board SSD. Last year, the performance of the MacBook Air's SSD was talked about, as it was in sharp decline compared to the previous generation or even compared to MacBook.

This year, the element of surprise has passed, and we find substantially the same performances as last year. Sometimes even a little worse. But nothing totally convincing.

The MacBook Air SSD will give you daily fluidity to launch applications quickly, to copy files quickly enough, as long as they are not too large. You'll be comfortable with HD ehealth and less comfortable with 4K or 5K files, if you plan to edit them. But once again, the MacBook Air is not intended to work at length with this type of document.

If the performances are not excellent, they are far from being bad and at no time during our daily use we have been slowed down by the SSD.

Also keep in mind that Apple has given us bad habits on this point, by including in its MacBook Pro in particular, extremely efficient and fast storage modules.

Also agree that on this kind of device, if you have to sacrifice something, you prefer to lose a few hundred MB / s and gain in storage space. However, this is exactly what happened with this new MacBook Air. Apple has finally taken into account everyday uses and now offers 256 GB of storage by default on the entry-level model. This should keep you comfortable as long as you don't go crazy.

The Magic Keyboard, a heavy legacy

Now let's move on to the other big news. The Magic Keyboard is no small task for Apple or for users. For the American giant, it marks the end of a promising technological attempt, from keyboards to firmer and faster running thanks to suspensions in the shape of butterfly wings. Promising but failed, unfortunately, despite several developments over generations of machines.

For users, it is the return of serenity (until proven otherwise in any case) and the certainty of not having a keyboard that begins to suffer from malfunctions. In fact, this Magic Keyboard is very pleasant to use, comfortable during long writing sessions (this article is written on the MacBook Air) and the typing is also less noisy. To be honest, this is one of the nicest laptop keyboards we have ever tried.However, for those who have experienced the pleasure of butterfly keyboards, without the displeasure of their breakdowns, the impression of loss of comfort is there. The race is longer, softer, less rhythmic. We will have to mourn it. Serenity of use and durability of a product comes at a price. We know him now.

The Retina screen, always so … Retina

The MacBook Air has waited a long, long time for its Retina display. For three iterations now, we can benefit from this very beautiful screen, further improved last year.

Due to the coronavirus epidemic, we do not have access to our laboratory to make measurements of brightness and colorimetry, nevertheless, to the eye, the panel is pleasant and turns out to be bright enough, even for working in the sun.

The native definition of 2560×1600 pixels allows as with other MacBooks to play a little on the size of the display, by default presented in 1440×990 pixels. It is possible, either to gain in working surface (1680×1050 pixels), or to gain in visual comfort (1280×800 or 1024×640, if you like big icons).

In any case, and this is a first, you can connect an external 6K screen (6016×3384 pixels) to your MacBook Air – Apple's Pro XDR Display, if you're in the background. Same thing with an external 5K screen (5120×2880). And if you prefer to work with two additional screens, you can choose two 4K panels (4096×2304) and the MacBook Air should not flinch …

Of course, this connection will pass through one of the only two Thunderbolt 3 ports present on the left side of the machine. Apple has not enriched the volume of its offer on this side, you will most certainly need to buy adapters to be able to output a ehealth signal via HDMI, connect a USB-A key or even have enough connectivity. Certainly, Bluetooth, AirDrop and the cloud help a lot without the keys for file transfers, but an adapter is still the best companion for MacBook, Air or Pro users.

And since we are talking about connectivity and connection, let's end with a lack that cannot be explained. The MacBook Air, like the 16-inch MacBook Pro launched late last year, is not compatible with Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax). Admittedly, the standard has not been fully adopted, but no further development will require changes to the current chips, according to most manufacturers. It is therefore entirely possible to integrate it into commercial products. Apple knows this well, since Wi-Fi 6 is present in its latest iPhone and iPad Pro …

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