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Marques Brownlee - 2020 MacBook Air Impressions: A Clean Refresh!

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Author: Marques Brownlee
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: None
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 10:03 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: The 2020 MacBook Air is a solid refresh that fixes the keyboard and upgrades the specs, the reviewer says it could even replace his own 13-inch MacBook Pro as a daily laptop since he doesn't do heavy video editing. Its starting price of $999 ($899 with a .edu email) is presented by the reviewer as competitive with similar laptops.

Key Points

  • The biggest change is the return to scissor-switch keyboards, which the reviewer calls more reliable, with more travel, and better to type on than the butterfly switches.
  • Performance rises with 10th-gen Intel chips and Iris Plus graphics, including the first quad-core option for a MacBook Air, with Apple claiming up to 80% faster graphics in graphics-intensive apps.
  • Storage and memory expand: the base is now 256GB, the maximum is 2TB, and RAM options are 8GB or 16GB.
  • Several things stay the same, including the 13-inch 2560x1600 screen, the 720p webcam, the port setup, and the lack of Wi-Fi 6.
  • The reviewer thinks the Air could replace the 13-inch MacBook Pro as his daily laptop, provided he can adapt to having fewer ports.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: No step-by-step instructions are given. The actionable guidance is to consider the Air as a daily laptop if your work doesn't involve heavy video editing or complex tasks, and to check the .edu email discount if eligible, which lowers the price from $999 to $899.
  • Battery life is claimed at 11 hours by Apple's tests, but the reviewer had not tested it yet.
  • The microphone is improved and sounds clear, though not up to the 16-inch MacBook Pro's quality.
  • Speakers have more bass and about 25% more volume than the previous Air, though they do not match the 16-inch MacBook Pro's speakers.
  • The review is preliminary: the reviewer had the laptop only a couple of hours and relied on benchmarks, so it is not a full review.

Bottom Line

The 2020 MacBook Air mainly fixes its keyboard and modestly upgrades performance, but it leaves the screen, webcam, and ports largely unchanged, so buyers who need those will still find gaps.