Benchmarks from the 2018 MacBook Air are trickling out, and they are about what I expected. The machine is faster than the 12-inch MacBook, but not as quick as the entry-level MacBook Pro. Juli Clover has the numbers over at MacRumors:

Single-Core Performance:

• 2018 MacBook Air – 4248
• 2017 MacBook Air – 3335
• 1.4GHz 2017 MacBook – 3925
• 1.3GHz 2017 MacBook – 3630
• 1.2GHz 2017 MacBook – 3527
• 2.3GHz 2018 MacBook Pro – 4504
• 2.3GHz 2017 MacBook Pro – 4314

Multi-Core Performance:

• 2018 MacBook Air – 7828
• 2017 MacBook Air – 6119
• 1.4GHz 2017 MacBook – 7567
• 1.3GHz 2017 MacBook – 6974
• 1.2GHz 2017 MacBook – 6654
• 2.3GHz 2018 MacBook Pro – 16464
• 2.3GHz 2017 MacBook Pro – 9071

While the new Air does use a MacBook-class CPU, it’s rated for 7W, not 5 like the MacBook, which is good news. I think the Air is a safe recommendation for students and home users, or anyone else without a crazy workload.

Then there’s the case of the Mac mini. A 3.2GHz 6-core i7 has been taken for a spin through Geekbench:

The Mac mini also closely matches the 2013 Mac Pro models when it comes to multi-core performance and exceeds them when it comes to single-core performance. With the exception of the iMac Pro, it outperforms 2017 iMac models, which were not refreshed this year.

Holy moly.

My Internet Friend Quinn from Snazzy Labs has posted a really cool video looking at how the team at MacStadium works.

Some quick numbers because I’m not making charts anymore:

• Revenue: $62.9 billion, up 20% year-over-year
• Services revenue reached an all-time high of $10 billion
• 46.9 million iPhones were sold, basically flat over last year, but revenue for the iPhone was up 29%.
• 19.7 million iPads were sold, down 6% YOY
• 5.3 million Macs were sold, down 2% YOY
• “Other products” saw 31% growth.

Remember, this quarter ended at the end of September, so it doesn’t include the iPhone XR, or any new Macs or iPads.

There are some big changes coming to future reports:

Apple says it will no longer report iPhone, iPad, and Mac unit sales starting in the December quarter. It will also be renaming its "Other Products" category to "Wearables, Home, and Accessories" — it'll still include the likes of Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomePod, AirPod, Beats…

— Joe Rossignol (@rsgnl) November 1, 2018

Jordan Kahn, writing at 9to5Mac:

Apple is introducing a new “Repair Vintage Apple Products Pilot” program that will extend the period of time customers can receive repairs for older devices, according to sources familiar with the initiative. The new program at first will include the iPhone 5 and other Apple products that are about to become obsolete, and in the coming weeks will add more products to the list for devices that previously lost repair support.

Good on Apple for this.

Update: Apparently this has been around for a while, as Joe Rossignol writes:

Now, Apple is further expanding the program to include the iPhone 5, which became vintage on Wednesday. In an internal document, Apple says Apple Stores and AASPs worldwide are authorized to continue servicing the CDMA variant of the device through October 31, 2020, and the GSM variant through December 30, 2020.

Apple’s internal document, obtained by MacRumors from multiple sources, also outlines other soon-to-be vintage iPhones and Macs that will also be added to the pilot program at various dates throughout the remainder of this year.

Maybe I had just forgotten, but I think it’s great that the program is being expanded.

Ryan Smith at AnandTech has confirmed that the MacBook Air uses the Core i5-8210Y:

The i5-8210Y is one of Intel’s new Amber Lake-Y CPUs. Launched back in August, Amber Lake is Intel’s latest-generation 5W(ish) chips and goes under the 8th Gen Core branding. Compared to the Broadwell (5th Gen Core) chips in the previous MacBook Air, these chips represent a big step up in capabilities and performance, incorporating a newer CPU core design as well as a newer GPU design. However it’s also notable that the new chips, even in cTDP Up mode, are also much lower power than the older 15W U-series chips Apple used, which means that processor power consumption should be significantly reduced – and the chips thinner as well – though the total performance gain won’t be quite as much as if Apple had stuck with U-series chips.

As best as we can tell, the Core i5-8210Y is likely to be one of Intel’s “off roadmap” chips, which is an SKU that’s made at the behest of a single or small number of customers. These aren’t always publicly documented by the company, especially if it’s not going into a consumer device. There’s nothing particularly special about the 8210Y – it’s just clocked a bit differently than Intel’s standard chips – but for that reason I’m not immediately expecting that we’ll see it anywhere else. By the numbers then, the 8210Y is essentially an Amber Lake chip that’s permanently in cTDP Up mode, giving it a de facto 7W TDP. This improves the base clock speed to 1.6GHz. Meanwhile Apple trades some CPU turbo for some GPU turbo; the 3.6GHz CPU turbo is a bit lower than Intel’s standard i5 chip, however the 1.05GHz GPU turbo is 100MHz higher as a result.

I am trying to reserve judgement here until we see how the MacBook Air benchmarks compared to the MacBook and the MacBook Escape. In theory, it should be notably quicker than the 12-inch machine, thanks to the higher clock speed.

Apple Support:

This update:

• Adds support for Group FaceTime video and audio calls, which support up to 32 participants simultaneously, are encrypted end-to-end for privacy, and can be initiated from a group Messages conversation, or joined at any time during an active call.
• Adds over 70 new emoji characters, including new characters with red hair, gray hair and curly hair, new emoji for bald people, more emotive smiley faces and additional emoji representing animals, sports and food.

Get it now, via the new Software Update pane in System Preferences.

Federico, writing from today’s Apple event:

I believe, however, that one thing is already clear: these new iPad Pros are ushering us into a new era of iPad design and functionality as a truly portable computer that can scale from couch to desk, from wireless accessories to USB-C connections, and from games and note-taking apps to Photoshop, AR, and beyond. It almost feels like Apple has taken the best aspects of the iPhone X experience and applied them to reimagine the modern portable computer in the shape of an iPad.

These new devices look great. I think I’m on the hook for a 12.9-inch model at some point soon.

Retina MacBook Air.

Retina. MacBook Air.

Retina. MacBook. Air.

It’s a thing, and it comes in silver, space gray and gold. It’s on Apple’s website and everything:

The most loved Mac is about to make you fall in love all over again. Available in silver, space gray, and gold, the new thinner and lighter MacBook Air features a brilliant Retina display, Touch ID, the latest-generation keyboard, and a Force Touch trackpad. The iconic wedge is created from 100 percent recycled aluminum, making it the greenest Mac ever. And with all-day battery life, MacBook Air is your perfectly portable, do-it-all notebook.

The formula hasn’t changed all that much. The new MacBook Air retains its iconic wedge shaped chassis, wrapped around a 13.3-inch screen. It’s still lightweight, now weighing in at just 2.75 pounds. Like the new Mac mini, it’s built from 100% recycled aluminum.

However, it’s a bit of a sleeper. The Air may look old, but if you peek under the covers, it’s a whole new machine.

It’s powered by dual-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processors. In fact, both SKUs are clocked at 1.6GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz. The machine supports up to 16 GB of RAM, and up to 1.5 TB of SSD storage, made extra speedy and secure by Apple’s T2 chip, which seems to be spreading to all new Macs.

Update: It seems that this CPU may be a 5W chipset, like found in the 12-inch MacBook. That is a bummer, and I guess it helps explain the two-port MacBook Pro sticking around.

The new internals are betrayed on the outside by a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports,¹ meaning the MacBook Air has the same IO as that weird Touch Bar-less 13-inch MacBook Pro. Unlike that machine, the new Air does have a Touch ID sensor, the first time we have seen it divorced from the Touch Bar. I like it.

The headlining feature, of course, is the Retina display. The ancient panel on the old MacBook Air was its worst feature, and now it’s gone. The Air’s display doesn’t include features like True Tone of the P3 color gamut, but most people don’t care about that sort of thing. The big news is the resolution, and it’s good news with a 2560-by-1600 native resolution, same as the 13-inch MacBook Pros.

The new Air uses the same third-generation butterfly keyboard found on the 2018 MacBook Pros. It seems like the reliability is better with these machines, but I would have liked to see a truly revised keyboard show up today. Oh well. Below it is a new, larger Force Touch Trackpad, and the keyboard is flanked by a pair of louder speakers.

The new MacBook Air starts at $1,199. In a way, Apple has made the the low end of its notebook line more confusing now:

• $1,199: 13-inch Retina MacBook Air with 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports and Touch ID
• $1,299: 12-inch Retina MacBook with 1 USB-C port and no Touch ID or Touch Bar
• $1,299: 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro with 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports and no Touch ID or Touch Bar

I think the default machine for consumers and students should be the new Air, and getting rid of that cheap MacBook Pro would help clear the air a little.

This is Tim Cook’s Apple, so the old MacBook Air is still for sale at $999, which drives me crazy. I’d rather they lose that price point than still offer such an old machine.

Pricing confusion aside, I think this machine is going to do well, and it’s a welcome addition to the line from where I sit.