MacRumors had previously reported that the new NVIDIA-based MacBooks and MacBook Pros showed dramatically less CPU usage when playing back H.264 content. The conclusion was that Apple had enabled the use of hardware acceleration for H.264 video playback. H.264 is the video format that Apple encodes all iTunes video content and movie trailers in, so any improvements in playback would benefit a large segment of customers.
Click to enlarge, Left: 1st Gen, Right: 2nd Gen
Based on early testing, it appears that the 2nd generation MacBook Air also delivers performance improvements during playback of H.264 video. One important additional advantage, however, is that this also appears to dramatically decrease heat production in the thin laptop. One of the early complaints about the original MacBook Air was related to overheating during video playback.
Forum member NC MacGuy performed side-by-side H.264 playback testing of a 1st generation 1.6GHz MacBook Air and a 2nd generation 1.86GHz MacBook Air and found a 10 degree difference in temperature between the two models. The lower temperature reflects the fact that the 2nd generation MacBook Air's processor was running at a lower clock speed (800Mhz) than that of the 1st generation (1.4GHz). The new MacBook Air was presumably able to further throttle the CPU speed down since the GPU was now handling much of the H.264 playback.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has high expectations for Apple's first foldable iPhone.
In his Power On newsletter today, he said the foldable iPhone will be "the most significant overhaul in the iPhone's history."
"iPhone 4, iPhone 6 and iPhone X were clearly a big deal, but this is a whole new design," he said.
Like Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7, the foldable iPhone will reportedly open up like ...
iOS 26.5 is now available for developers, and while it doesn't include any new Siri capabilities, there are some major changes for the European Union, and smaller tweaks for features available worldwide.
Suggested Places
In the Maps app, there's a new "Suggested Places" feature that recommends locations to visit based on trending places nearby and recent searches. When Apple launches ads in ...
Tuesday March 31, 2026 10:36 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today added the MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017) to its "vintage" products list, meaning the device is now only eligible for repairs at Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers if parts remain available.
The MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017) was the final MacBook Air model released before Apple redesigned the laptop and gave it a Retina display in 2018.
Apple also added all iPad...
Wednesday March 4, 2026 6:17 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple is now accepting pre-orders for all of the new products that it announced this week. Everything can be ordered from the online Apple Store following the debut of the new low-cost MacBook earlier this morning, with deliveries starting on Wednesday, March 11.
Here's a list of what you can order now, with pricing details included.
MacBook Neo - The 13-inch MacBook Neo has an A18 Pro...
Wednesday March 4, 2026 4:55 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
None of the new MacBook Neo, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro models unveiled this week come with a charger in the UK and EU countries, such as Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. This change began with the base 14-inch MacBook Pro last year.
If you need a power adapter, you must purchase one separately during checkout or later.
In all other countries, Apple includes a charger in the box with...
We now know how much faster the new MacBook Air with the M5 chip is compared to the previous model with an M4 chip, courtesy of a Geekbench 6 result shared by TechRadar's Lance Ulanoff. However, given the 14-inch MacBook Pro and the iPad Pro were already updated with the M5 chip last year, the result is not too surprising.
Ulanoff ran Geekbench on a MacBook Air with an M5 chip, which has a...
