M2-powered MacBook Air is reportedly coming on July 15

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The M2-powered MacBook Air is coming soon, according to MacRumors‘ retail source. If reliable, the redesigned MacBook Air will be available July 15, with preorders expected for the week before.

Apple had already said that the MacBook Air would arrive in July. This is just a more specific timeframe, and as it comes from a retail source, it’s likely to be accurate.

That means you won’t have to wait long if you want to buy the M2-powered MacBook Air. This year’s model has received a substantial redesign.

Charging is handled by MagSafe again, so you have both Thunderbolt ports free for other tasks and devices. The 13.6-inch display has thinner bezels and a notch for the webcam, and the chassis has an overall squarer look, to echo the MacBook Pro design.

READ MORE: Apple now sells refurbished Mac Studio models at 10% off

READ MORE: New M2 MacBook Air appears to have an overheating issue

Apple has managed to make the Air even thinner, at less than half an inch at the thickest point. That’s while keeping the M2 chip cool, even without a cooling fan. Impressive stuff from Apple’s engineering department.

The M2 chip is 20% faster than the M1 chip, according to a leaked benchmark. MacRumors tested the M2-powered MacBook Pro vs the M1-powered version, and multicore did indeed give a 20% boost on the new chip.

What we still don’t know is if the base model M2-powered MacBook Air will have the same SSD speed issue that the base-model MacBook Pro has. The 256GB MacBook Pro uses one SSD chip instead of two, and can be up to 50% slower reading data, and up to 30% slower writing it.

The new MacBook Air will start at $1,199, with a fully upgraded model costing $2,499. Apple will keep the M1-powered MacBook Air available for $999, as a cheaper alternative.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.