You could also opt for a 12-inch MacBook with a slightly less powerful processor that weighs 0.72 pounds less. For $100 more, you could get a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a more powerful processor and brighter screen that only weighs 0.27 pounds more. When I started testing the new MacBook Air, I spent a lot of time thinking about what I should compare it to. It does everything you expect in a way that you’re used to. (Though, sometimes, with a fan and spinning beachball, it will say “uncle.”) Most of all, it’s a computer that is familiar. It won’t say “no” when you want to open 20 tabs and eight apps and then edit a photo. Namely: it’s a computer that will let you do whatever you want, even though some of those things are probably beyond its capabilities. But I want to hang with this fan noise for another minute because its whirring encapsulates the most important thing to know about this MacBook Air. I’d rather jump into all the many good things there are to talk about: the pixel density on the new display, smaller bezels, Touch ID, the T2 security chip, a larger trackpad, and a smaller design. That fan is a weird place to start when talking about the new $1,199 MacBook Air. Still, fan or not, the computer is handling everything I’m doing just fine, and a quick restart of the app quiets it down.

(In this case, it’s TweetDeck going rogue.) But it’s also a sound you don’t hear on more futuristic computers like the iPad, the Surface Pro, or even the Pixelbook.

It’s a familiar sound: a computer trying to cool down a processor that’s being overtaxed by one of the eight or so apps I have running. The fan is blowing on this brand-new MacBook Air with Retina Display.

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