The first is that much of what we do on our computers, again especially for the typical MacBook Air buyer, is done online, through cloud-based and browser-based tools.Įmail, social media, shopping, video streaming, even workplace collaboration through Slack or other online tools - it's all cloud- or browser-based, and for the most part highly platform-agnostic. There are a couple of things working in the M1's favor when it comes to continuity of experience.

No mobile broadband options, 5G or otherwise.App compatibility is an issue for early adopters.The rest, I'd expect to come sometime in the next year. Right now, only part of the Mac line is switching to Apple silicon. That's true for Air users, who are usually looking for a sleek, reasonably priced machine that just works, as well as for those who use MacBook Pro laptops, the iMac, the Mac Mini or the Mac Pro for professional design, editing, photography or music work. That, by itself, is a big point in favor of the theory that switching Macs, especially the MacBook Air, from Intel CPUs to the new Apple-designed M1 system-on-chip will be overall a smooth transition.įor such a popular laptop - I often call the MacBook Air the most universally useful laptop you can buy - continuity of experience is incredibly important.

Once you account for the big OS update, the day-to-day experience will be familiar to anyone who has used a recent MacBook Air. Big Sur is a huge change for the Mac, with new visual flair, new controls and new ways of interfacing with your Mac. But that mostly comes from the new MacOS Big Sur experience, more than the hardware changes inside. Going hands-on with the new M1-powered Apple MacBook Air feels very different from using any previous MacBook Air, even the early-2020 Intel version I tested alongside it.

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