Apple’s long-rumored 2020 refresh for the MacBook Air is here. The new MacBook Air’s headlining feature, as expected, is the scissor-switch keyboard — officially called Magic Keyboard — that replaces the controversial and fragile butterfly mechanism. On top of that, Apple has added a range of under-the-hood upgrades at a more affordable $999 base price.
Instead of a dual-core chip, the MacBook Air now comes (except on the base model) with Intel’s latest 10-gen quad-core processors up to the 1.2GHz quad-core Core i7 that the company claims “delivers up to two times faster performance when compared to the previous generation.” In addition, Apple is promising 80% faster graphics performance through the Intel Iris Plus GPU and now offers 256GB of onboard storage on the entry-level variant.
Other than that, the latest MacBook Air inherits its predecessor’s specifications. There’s a 13-inch Retina display, Touch ID for biometric authentication, a set of three microphones, stereo speakers, and two Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C ports. It comes preloaded with macOS Catalina and complimentary one-year access to the Apple TV+ streaming service.
Outside, you’d be hard-pressed to differentiate it from the 2019 MacBook Air. As before, its metallic unibody is made out of 100% recycled aluminum and it comes in the same three finishes: gold, silver, and space gray.
“Today we’re giving it a huge update, with two times faster performance, the new Magic Keyboard, double the storage, a new lower price of $999 and an even lower price of $899 for education. With its stunning, thin, and light design, brilliant Retina display, all-day battery life and the power and ease-of-use of macOS, MacBook Air is the world’s best consumer notebook,” wrote Tom Boger, Apple’s senior director of Mac and iPad Product Marketing in a blog post.
The new MacBook Air starts at $100 less than its predecessor: $999 but, for the first time, Apple is also offering it at a special starting cost of $899 for the education market. It’s already on sale on Apple’s online store’s website and app in the United States. Apple also says it “will be available in stores starting next week” but in this announcement it seems to have forgotten that all of its offline stores have been shuttered due to the coronavirus outbreak outside the Greater China region indefinitely.
Nearly a month after announcing the GPT-6.1 Sol model, OpenAI unveiled GPT-6.1 Terra today. The latest addition to the family focuses on computer use, visual reasoning, coding, and professional work, while costing 50% less through the API than GPT-5.6 Terra.
OpenAI says Terra can handle everything from filling out browser forms and working inside spreadsheets to interpreting technical drawings and editing videos. The company says it can also complete computer-based tasks more than three times faster than GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol.
ASUS has started selling its UGen Intel Arc Pro B70 graphics card in Europe, bringing its take on Intel’s workstation GPU to customers with a hefty €1,799 recommended price. The card is available in Germany and Austria, while ASUS lists it at CHF 1,799 in Switzerland.
Intel first introduced the Arc Pro B70 in March 2026, with its own branded model starting at $949. ASUS’s version arrives several months later with the same core GPU architecture but a different cooling design and a higher power rating. The price also places it well above Intel’s original starting point, although the two prices are not directly comparable because ASUS’s European figure includes VAT.
Anthropic has officially filed to go public, and buried inside its S-1 is a blunt warning about the technology at the center of its business. The maker of Claude AI says advanced AI could cause everything from large-scale cyberattacks and geopolitical instability to catastrophic or even existential risks for humanity.
The warnings take up a surprisingly large part of the filing. Axios notes that more than 90 pages, or roughly a third of the prospectus, focus on risk factors. Many of them warn about what could happen as AI systems become more capable and autonomous.