With a faster chip, bigger screen, new design and better webcam, this new M2 MacBook from Apple is the biggest change to the Air line since its launch.

In the 14 years since the MacBook Air line launched, I've often described it as "the most universally useful laptop you can buy." That's because the Air has always attempted to hit a delicate balance between price, portability, ease of use and features. And since 2008, Apple has succeeded in nailing that formula more often than not.

Thanks to a new design, a larger display (13.6 inches versus the previous 13.3 inches), a faster M2 chip and a long-awaited upgrade to a higher-res webcam, I feel comfortable keeping that "universally useful" title for the new 2022 version of the MacBook Air, with one caveat. At $1,199, the $200 increase over the traditional $999 MacBook Air starting price is a disappointment. Note that we're reviewing the step-up $1,499 configuration, which adds more GPU cores and more storage space (but still only includes 8GB of RAM).

The previous M1 Air, with an older design, remains available at $999, somewhat mitigating the price increase on the new version. But you're inevitably going to be drawn to the new design and features. The latest MacBook Air represents the biggest overall change to the product line, arguably since 2008, but at least since 2018. That's when the Air gained modern features like a higher-res screen and fingerprint reader. In 2020, the Air switched from Intel chips to Apple's own M1 chips, but without a physical redesign.