MACMYND

Every so often, I enjoy taking a step back and surveying the tech I use every day at my desk. This ranges from the desk itself to new Mac apps, new Apple hardware, and so much more. I’ve made quite a few changes over the last year to my setup, so read on as I share a peek at the tools I’m using to successfully work from home.

The desk: VertDesk v3 Electric Sit Stand Desk

Two years ago, I reviewed the Uplift standing desk as part of my Behind the Screens office tour for 9to5Toys. Since then, quite a bit about my setup has changed, including a cross-country move that resulted in finally being able to have a room in my house as a dedicated office, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

I’ve worked from home for years because 9to5Mac is a completely virtual company, so not much about my working habits have changed due to the pandemic, except for the fact that my girlfriend now also works from home. This quickly necessitated that we get another desk so that we could both have our own work areas.

After some research, I landed on the VertDesk v3 as the best choice. I was enticed by a few different features, including the butcher block surfacing option, Shortcuts integration, and the fact that VertDesk was the only company that wasn’t back-ordered by several months.

This meant that the Uplift Desk would be repurposed in our living room as my girlfriend’s desk, and the VertDesk V3 would be my new desk in the office/spare bedroom. I chose the 72” by 30” desk with the butcher block surface, paired with the black frame. I also added a Qi-enabled power grommet that allows me to wireless charge my iPhone or AirPods by placing them on the grommet. There are also three USB-A ports on the side of the grommet.

Building the VertDesk V3 was very easy and straightforward, thanks to excellent included instructions and additional videos on YouTube. All in all, the process took about two hours to complete. The wire management box that you can optionally add to your VertDesk is very useful, and it makes it easy to hide your wires.

The butcher block surface of the VertDesk V3 that I chose is especially gorgeous and by far my favorite feature of the desk. It’s sturdy, bright, and smooth to the touch.

There’s also a VertDesk application for iPhone that allows you to control your desk via Bluetooth. This is very neat, but in practice, the most useful aspect is integration with the Shortcuts application. This means you can add VertDesk actions for raising and lowering your desk to other Shortcuts.

One example of this is a shortcut I’ve created that automatically raises the desk to my standing height, starts a timer for 15 minutes, and starts playing a specified playlist in Apple Music – my personalized Apple Music Get Up mix. I also have a shortcut for the end of the day, which automatically raises the desk and turns off the office lights.

The VertDesk v3 isn’t perfect, but I’ve yet to find a standing desk that is perfect. I have two main gripes with the VertDesk v3. First and foremost, the crossbeam that sits beneath the desk can sometimes impede on your legroom. I’m around 6’4” tall, and there are certainly times when I whack my knee on the crossbeam.

Second, the lifting mechanism on the VertDesk v3 is louder and a touch slower than the Uplift Desk I’d been using previously. This is by no means a dealbreaker, but it’s something to keep in mind if you want the quietest solution possible. Otherwise it’s entirely stable and reliable, even at its tallest height of 47 inches.

Overall, I’m very happy with the VertDesk v3. Its ingenious cable management tray, butcher block design option, and Shortcuts integration make it a compelling option among the growing sea of standing desk choices on the market. My configuration retails for just over $1,100 and you can learn more on the VertDesk webpage.

The chair: Uplift Pursuit

One thing that is unchanged about my desk compared to my 2018 tour is the desk chair. I’m still using Uplift Pursuit Ergonomic Chair, which is available for $329 in black and white.

The Pursuit is incredibly versatile, with back angle adjustment, height options, the ability to raise and lower the arms and headrest, and much more. The versatility meant that I was able to fine-tune the chair over the course of a week or so, finding the best settings for my comfort.

16-inch MacBook Pro, 24” LG UltraFine 4K, and Mac mini

I used an iMac for several years and paired it with the 12-inch MacBook and eventually the MacBook Air for on-the-go use, but once I graduated and no longer needed a small laptop that could fit on lecture hall table tops, I ditched the iMac and MacBook Air in favor of a 16-inch MacBook Pro.

This setup provides an insane amount of versatility, which I love. The 16-inch MacBook Pro can be unplugged and taken on the go with ease, or my girlfriend can even dock her 15-inch MacBook Pro and use the UltraFine when she needs some additional screen real estate.

The 24-inch UltraFine has mixed reviews, but it’s always been rock solid for me. I greatly appreciate the two Thunderbolt 3 and three USB-C ports you find on the back, which make it easy to connect a single cable to the MacBook Pro itself. The UltraFine design is certainly nothing out of this world, but it’s practical and gets the job done.

My 16-inch MacBook Pro is docked on the Twelve South Curve so that it’s elevated to the same level as the UltraFine. Other peripherals on my desk include the Logitech MX Keys wireless keyboard, an Apple Magic Trackpad, and the Logitech MX Master 3 wireless mouse.

For my 9to5Mac Daily podcast, I use the Audio-Technica ATR2100x microphone, which I’m a huge fan of, thanks to its USB-C connectivity, with this shock mount and window screen combo. It’s mounted to the desk using the Heil Sound PL-2T boom arm that is absolutely overkill for my needs, but incredibly sturdy and reliable.

Directly beneath the UltraFine is the Nomad Base Station Stand, which is my wireless charging stand of choice. You can read my full review here for more

Finally, housed inside an unpictured entertainment center is a 2012 Mac mini that I’ve repurposed into a Plex server. It won’t win any awards for speed, but it’s an out-of-sight solution for media storage that’s accessible from anywhere. It’s hardwired directly to my Eero Pro router.

Other odds and ends

There are a few other odds and ends you’ll notice on and around my desk. Above the desk is the Nanoleaf Aurora light panels, which have been a staple of my workspace for years. The Nanoleaf light panels can be obnoxious in certain situations, but when you set them to a solid color, they’re a great way to add some light to your space.

My audio needs are satisfied two space gray HomePods on either side of my display. How the forthcoming HomePod mini will integrate into my setup remains to be seen, but ultra wideband features almost certainly mean that I’ll incorporate at least one somehow.

Mounted on the top bezel of the display itself is the BenQ ScreenBar Plus, which is a light bar that clips to you monitor and shines downwards onto your desk. It’s a pricey solution for making your workspace as bright as possible, but I’m a big fan of it.

Other knick knacks:

Mac apps

Over the last several months, I’ve also worked to integrate a variety of new and different Mac applications into my workflow.

Tabs to Links app is an app made by 9to5Mac’s own Benjamin Mayo, and it allows you to turn a browser full of tabs into a correctly formatted list of links for show notes and roundups. Fun fact: Even though I work closely with Mayo every day, I didn’t know Tabs to Links existed until a few months ago.

I use Marco Arment’s Forecast app to encode 9to5Mac Daily episodes as MP3 and add chapter marks and other metadata details. The audio itself is processed in Auphonic Leveler.

I’m a big fan of Tot, a minimalistic text editor created by the Iconfactory. It’s a great way to keep quick notes and bits of text on your Mac, with built-in constraints so it never becomes a messy collection of files. I use Tot for workshopping headlines, jotting down notes during a call, and more.

My to-do list app of choice is Things and I write all of my stories and 9to5Mac Daily scripts in Ulysses using Markdown. My RSS app of choice is NetNewsWire, which has been getting even better with every update recently. I track my time using Toggl, which makes it easy for me to see how much time I’m spending on various projects.

TextExpander is easily my most-beloved app on the Mac, and I use it for so many different things. I have TextExpander snippets for 9to5Mac Daily show notes, ad copy, email invoices, and much more. Speaking of text, I also use the app Rocket to bring Slack-style emoji shortcuts to macOS.

Soulver is my favorite calculator app for Mac, and it’s actually a sort of hybrid between calculator and notepad.

You’ll also notice both Spotify and Apple Music in my macOS dock, and I can’t really explain this one. While Apple Music is my go-to streaming music service, I also really like some of the playlists and features in Spotify as well.

Wrap-up

That’s my desk setup and a few of my favorite Mac apps. What about you? Have you made any recent changes to your setup? I’d love to hear your tips, tricks, and recommendations down in the comments!

Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

Apple’s radical update to the macOS platform will have to wait before it can take to the stage. Although Tim Cook and his team will take to the virtual stage this week, the focus will be on the iPhone finally shipping with 5G. The revolutionary MacBooks will have to wait for their moment in that spotlight… a spotlight that will ask how Tim Cook is going to solve the biggest problem facing macOS over the next few years.

This problem arises from Tim Cook’s decision to move the entire macOS platform to Apple’s own chip designed based around ARM. The presumptive MacBook and MacBook Pro releases following this decision, expected to be on sale before the end of 2020, will set the tone for the transition’s success. I’ll be carefully watching how Apple addresses the biggest issue of app compatibility both during the presentation during the launch event and beyond as they reach the market.

The silhouettes of attendees are seen in front of a display featuring the new MacBook Pro laptop … [+] computer during an event at Apple Inc. headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. Apple Inc. introduced the first overhaul of its MacBook Pro laptop in more than four years, demonstrating dedication to a product that represents a small percentage of revenue. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

© 2016 Bloomberg Finance LP

The bar is set high for Apple. It’s clear that the geekerati are expecting the new MacBook ARM machines to carry backwards compatibility for all of their key applications as well as unlocking new experiences and power with apps specifically coded for the ARM environment. This will initially be handled by Rosetta 2, built-in software which will allow x86-Intel based apps to run on the new ARM-based hardware.

Apple has suggested that, thanks to setting up each app for Rosetta 2 during the installation process rather than at runtime, users will not notice that emulation is being used. Like any technological claim, the market will decide if this statement stands up in all cases. Consumers who are looking to invest in a high-end machine – and by its suffix the MacBook Pro certainly sets itself up as such – will want a full suite of apps available at launch.

There’s a cautionary tale with Microsoft’s Surface Pro X, the Windows 10 on ARM 2-in-1 that debuted last year. The device was pitched by Microsoft as a device for a “tech forward mobile professional” and having spent time with it, the Pro X works incredibly well in the area that it was designed for.

Yet the mainstream reviews focused on its inability to run Photoshop or complicated video editing. The geekerati’s expectations were for a different kind of machine altogether; something closer to the Intel-powered Surface Pro 7 (launched at the same time) but with the inherent advantages of ARM.

The same giddy expectations around Apple’s transition of the Mac platform are growing in the forums and social groups that follow the company. If you buy the ARM-powered MacBook Pro, it’s going to do everything… isn’t it? It’s going to do everything faster, with more battery life, in an exciting slimmer design… isn’t it? It’s going to be the perfect laptop… isn’t it?

I want Apple to have found a solution to the Intel on ARM problem. I want these new MacBooks and MacBook Pros to arrive before the end of the year with seamless compatibility between the older x86 apps, the new ARM based apps, and the wider world of progressive web apps.

Not only will that benefit the macOS ecosystem, but it will also push Microsoft’s Windows 10 on ARM ecosystem to greater heights, which in turn will push Apple forwards. It would create a rising tide that would reinvigorate and lift up the desktop and laptop ecosystems from both companies. It would introduce a new virtuous cycle of development, design, and innovation.

Apple needs to immediately deliver on the expectations its dedicated fanbase has set for these first Mac machines. Yet we need to wait another month to see if Tim Cook is able to reach, or even clear, that incredibly high bar. It’s going to be an anxious wait all round.

Now read more about the challenge the new MacBooks will present Microsoft…

Taking a look back at another week of news and headlines from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop includes details on Apple’s iPhone 12 launch event, the latest iPhone 12 images, the iPhone’s sneaky price cut, the future of the iPhone SE, a dangerous MacOS exploit discovered, the House Judiciary calls out Apple’s monopoly, why track and trace apps don’t work on older phones, and Spotify catches up with Apple Music.

Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the very many discussions that have happened around Apple over the last seven days (and you can read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes).

iPhone 12 Launch Event On October 13.

Apple has confirmed that it will be hosting an online event next week, with the long-expected iPhone 12 family set to be revealed on October 13. Apple is expected to launch four iPhone 12 models using the new A14 processor, the geo-location AirTags trackers, the AirPods Studio headphones, and possibly a HomePod mini. Along with the key image, Apple has tagged the event that will celebrate the delayed launch with the phrase “Hi, Speed!”. Stephen Warwick for iMore speculates on the event artwork:

“The event logo is orange and blue, with a mix of different sized circles. There isn’t much to glean from it, except that whatever Apple plans to announce is fast! Of course, the news also confirms that Apple’s iPhone 12 event will be fighting for bandwidth with Amazon’s Prime Day event, to be held on October 13 and 14.”

The Kremlinology is strong this week, but John Gruber might have the best analysis:

“Sometimes nice looking rings are just nice looking rings.”

Touché.

One Last iPhone 12 Prediction

Ahead of the upcoming event, the teams at Let’s Go Digital and Concept Creator have taken everything we know about the new iPhones (which as it stands is pretty much everything) to put together one final render of the iPhone 12 5G, which is expected to be pitched as the ‘core’ iPhone the other models are derived from. Perhaps we’ll have a nice surprise with the screen?

 “It remains unclear whether Apple is also able to give the screens a 120Hz refresh rate, as has been used by many other smartphone manufacturers in recent months. According to the rumors, Apple would be short of driver ICs, making it necessary to choose 60Hz screens this year as well.”

More at Let’s Go Digital.

iPhone 12 5g concept render

Let’s Go Digital / Concept Creator

iPhone 12’s Sneaky Price Cut 

Will Apple see a spike in iPhone sales with the inclusion of 5G in the handsets for the first time, matching the spike when it moved to a larger screen with the iPhone 6 Plus? That’s certainly the expectation in the industry. Match that up with a lower than expected retail price on the iPhone 12 Mini and the iPhone 12 and Apple could see a big financial win with the new handsets. Just remember you’ll need to buy your own AC adaptor and headphones; these are going to be removed from the box to bring the retail price down – and I’d expect to see a rise in peripheral sales counterbalancing that price cut. Gordon Kelly reports:

“Multinational investment bank Morgan Stanley has revealed that the iPhone 12 series launch will be the “most significant iPhone event in years,” with sales skyrocketing 22% next year to 220 million units. And price is going to be a huge factor.

“…Morgan Stanley highlights the all-new iPhone 12 mini starting from $649 ($50 less than the entry-level iPhone 11 last year), and the top of the range 512GB iPhone 12 Pro Max selling for $1399 ($50 less than the 512GB iPhone 11 Pro Max).

More here on Forbes.

The iPhone SE Will Be Left Behind

The launch off the second-generation iPhone SE earlier in 2020 allowed Apple to maintain overall iPhone sales in the face of the economic whirlwind of the coronavirus pandemic. The SE was advertised as having the same power as the current iPhone 11 line-up. With the iPhone 12 launch, there’s going to be a clear performance difference between the iPhone SE and the presumptively-named iPhone 12 Mini. Will that be equalised with an iPhone SE update in 2021? The latest leaks suggest the SE is going to be left behind at the bottom of the ladder.

“The report from Mizuho Securities suggests that the latter. The next generation of the iPhone SE is not starting a new spring cycle of iPhone launches, instead those waiting for a third generation of the SE are going to have to manage their expectations for another year.”

Read more here on Forbes.

Apple Faces Dangerous Mac Security Issue

The Mac community is also facing up to security issues around the T2 chip from a team of researchers that have been hard at work examining Apple’s T2 security chip that is prevalent in the modern Mac ecosystem (an explanatory timeline is here). Lily Hay Newman takes a closer look at the exploit’s impact:

“Combined with another T2 vulnerability that was publicly disclosed in July by the Chinese security research and jailbreaking group Pangu Team, the jailbreak could also potentially be used to obtain FileVault encryption keys and to decrypt user data. The vulnerability is unpatchable, because the flaw is in low-level, unchangeable code for hardware.

“The T2 is meant to be this little secure black box in Macs—a computer inside your computer, handling things like Lost Mode enforcement, integrity checking, and other privileged duties,” says Will Strafach, a longtime iOS researcher and creator of the Guardian Firewall app for iOS. “So the significance is that this chip was supposed to be harder to compromise—but now it’s been done.”

More at Wired. Apple has been approached for comment, but Cupertino has not made an on the record statement regarding this security breech. While the security issue applies to every Mac with the T2 chip, because the attack requires physical interaction with the computer, the MacBook family is more at risk than the desk-bound Mac machines. That’s one more danger for corporate IT departments to add to the risk register.

SHANGHAI, CHINA – 2020/01/12: American multinational technology company Apple logo seen on a screen … [+] of a MacBook Pro in an Apple retail store in Shanghai. (Photo by Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Does Apple Have A Software Distribution Monopoly?

Following a 16-month investigation, the US’ House Judiciary Committee has reported on the potential ‘monopoly power’ that Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon’ have in the tech space. Kari Paul reports:

“Companies including Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple have amassed too much power and should be reined in, US lawmakers concluded in a major report resulting from a 16-month inquiry into America’s largest tech platforms. These companies “wield their dominance in ways that erode entrepreneurship, degrade Americans’ privacy online, and undermine the vibrancy of the free and diverse press”, the House judiciary committee concluded in its nearly 500-page report.

“…Apple is accused of dominating the distribution of software by controlling what apps are allowed on iOS devices. The investigation cited that Apple favors its own services by pre-installing them on to iPhones and disadvantages its competitors by charging them as much as 30% in commission fees.”

More at The Guardian.

Track And Trace, Security, And OS Updates Explained

The rise of ’Track and Trace’ applications in your smartphones has been part of public health strategies around the world during the coronavirus pandemic. The recent launch of England’s app has drawn the ire of many with its requirement for iOS 13 (or Android 6). Why can’t this app run on older phones? Which brings us back to the issue of smartphone OS updates and the shorter windows they operate on compared to the life of the phone. Kate Bevan reports:

“The news is slightly better with iPhones: Apple supports its phones for up to five years. The general rule of thumb with iPhones (and iPads) is that if you can’t install the current version of iOS, then it’s time to replace your device. For the record, the oldest iPhone that can install iOS 14 is the iPhone 6S.

“Apple does occasionally put out updates for devices it’s no longer officially supporting: the last update it put out to iOS 13 was to roll out the underlying software framework (the ‘API’) that allows the NHS Covid-19 app to work. If your phone can download and install iOS 13.5, you can run the NHS Covid-19 app.”

More at Which.

And Finally…

What happens when you have a musical lyric stuck in your head? Unlike hearing a snippet of music on the radio, you can’t use the likes of Shazam. Spotify now has the answer, although it’s one that Apple users may already be familiar with. Michael Potuck reports:

“…it’s common to search the web for the lyrics before heading to your music service to play or add the track. Now Spotify has simplified that problem as the service on both iOS and Android has added the handy option to type in lyrics to search for songs.

“The update catches Spotify up to Apple Music, as the latter gained search by lyrics back in 2018 with iOS 12.”

More at 9to5Mac.

Apple Loop brings you seven days worth of highlights every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future. Last week’s Apple Loop can be read here, or this week’s edition of Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.

Find out a tech expert’s picks for the best Mac laptop for mobile professionals, the best Mac laptop for replacing a desktop, and more.

Matching a computer’s build to its intended use isn’t a perfect science, but thankfully Apple makes it easy to customize various Mac laptop configurations. Whether you usually perform tasks that don’t typically overwhelm a computer’s CPU and graphics capabilities, or even if you do, here are the best configurations years of experience and IT consulting suggest work well as at least a baseline for most users.

Standard 13-inch MacBook Air

Image: Apple

A standard 13-inch MacBook Air, complete with a 1.1Ghz dual-core i3 CPU and Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz, offers a strong mix of portability and capability. The $999 model’s 256 GB SSD and 8 GB RAM meet the needs of most professionals, thanks in part to Apple’s intelligent architecture that maximizes performance. The laptop’s two Thunderbolt 3 ports leave room (after connecting the power cord) for an external drive or other accessory, while still delivering 13-inch portability, a Retina display, and attractive graphics that more than meet most workers’ needs for documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and email.

$999 at Apple

13-inch MacBook Air

Image credit: Apple

Mobile professionals who need more horsepower while traveling will be well served choosing the $1,299 MacBook Air with a 1.1GHz quad-core Intel i5-powered CPU that can reach 3.5Ghz speeds thanks to Turbo Boost. With 512 GB local SSD storage, road warriors will also prove less dependent upon the cloud for files and information while working in the field. With additional power and storage, the upgraded MacBook Air delivers increased performance while retaining portability in a 13-inch, lightweight package that’s still easy to pack when hitting the road, visiting clients, and traveling.

$1,299 at Apple

13-inch MacBook Pro

Image: Apple

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with 2.0GHz CPU, 16 GB RAM, and 512 GB SSD storage will provide the performance, capacity, and expandability (with four Thunderbolt 3 ports) that the majority of business professionals require. While there’s always a chance high-end engineering and video-editing tasks will require additional power, you’re typically no longer talking a laptop at that point but a desktop replacement.

$1,799 at Apple

16-inch MacBook Pro

Image: Apple

Mac professionals needing a true desktop replacement computer that still retains some portability should consider Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro. The base model boasts a 2.6GH CPU with six cores, an AMD Radeon Pro 5300M graphics card with 4 GB GDDR6 memory, four Thunderbolt 3 ports for expansion, 16 GB RAM, and 512 GB SSD storage. That’s one potent machine up to the rigors of productivity software and cloud application use, video and photo editing, and most other common tasks, while still being reasonably portable.

$2,399 at Apple

Base 13-inch MacBook Pro

Image: Apple

There’s an argument to be made that the base 13-inch MacBook Pro is, pound-for-pound, one of the best laptop computers money will buy. I’ve used such models–or Apple’s period-equivalent–for everything from editing and publishing to technical consulting and project management in the field for almost 20 years. With a 1.4GHz 8th-generation Intel Core i5 CPU with four cores, the laptop is an absolute workhorse. Apple pairs 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD with the build, meaning the machine is more than capable of handling most mobile workers and an impressive array of typically deskbound applications. At $1,299, the base MacBook Pro offers a proven compromise between performance, portability, and price.

$1,299 at Apple

A new leak claims that Apple’s new “HomePod mini” will be $99 and half the height of the original, plus details a release schedule for the whole of the “iPhone 12” range.

Apple hasn’t said much about its upcoming MacBooks since revealing the switch from Intel CPUs to custom ARM-based processors. We know the transition will take two years and that Apple plans to ship the first MacBook with Apple Silicon later this year, however, the Cupertino giant hasn’t said anything about performance.  

We now have a better idea of some of the upgrades Apple could bring to its laptops thanks to a new leak. Leaker Komiya posted on Twitter that Apple has two ARM-based chips arriving on future MacBook models, one with eight cores and another with 12 cores. They also said Apple will launch a 16-core chip sometime next year. 

8 and 12 core https://t.co/gDlKWF18KVOctober 7, 2020

This aligns with a Bloomberg report claiming the first Mac processors will have eight high-performance cores, codenamed Firestorm, and four energy-efficient cores known as Icestorm. The report also mentions Macs with more than 12 cores in the future, which could be in reference to the rumored 16-core chip.

The current entry-level MacBook Air uses Intel Y-series CPUs with only two cores. When Apple outfits its ultraslim laptop with Apple Silicon, it could double or even quadruple the processing units. 

Topping the stack of Intel’s latest 11th Gen Tiger Lake chips is the Core i7-1185G7 CPU with four cores, eight threads and a max turbo of 4.8GHz. From AMD, Apple’s custom chips will contend against the Ryzen 7 4800U, an eight-core, 16-thread processor with a max boost clock of 4.2GHz. 

Apple has yet to reveal the first laptops running on Apple Silicon, however, prolific Apple leaker and analyst Ming Cho Kuo claims the chips will debut in a 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. 

We could soon find out which laptops will usher in a new era for Apple at the upcoming iPhone 12 “Hi, Speed” event on October 13. 

ARM unveils Matterhorn and 64-bit-only Makalu Cortex-A cores scheduled for 2021 and 2022, respectively 10/08/2020

Microsoft, Qualcomm partner on App Assure to get Windows 10 on ARM PCs ready for the Apple Silicon MacBook challenge 09/23/2020

Leaker outlines possible ARM transition roadmap for Apple; ARM MacBook Pro 16 to arrive in 2021 08/14/2020

Leaker claims that Apple may not have a Special Event planned for its first ARM MacBooks 08/11/2020

Apple MacBook: First ARM MacBook may have up to 20 hours battery life, an A14X Bionic chipset and 16 GB of RAM, but also a 720p webcam and a butterfly keyboard 07/31/2020

Apple’s ARM-based MacBooks may be significantly cheaper than the current Intel-powered machines 07/28/2020

AirPods Studio, ARM MacBook and MacBook Pro 13, new iPad Pro, iPhone 12 series and HomePod refresh are all arriving between August and October 07/27/2020

MacBook Pro 13 and MacBook Air with ARM processors to enter mass production in Q4 2020; ARM-powered MacBook Pro 14 and MacBook Pro 16 joining in mid-2021 07/10/2020

Exclusive: Apple legend Tony Fadell responds to ARM-based Mac transition, will lead to longer lasting MacBooks, accelerate innovation 06/24/2020

The MacBook Air is a svelte yet capable laptop that’s truly the total package. In fact, just last week it was named the best laptop of 2020 by CNN Underscored after extensive testing. Better yet? Amazon is taking $50 off the 256GB configuration and $100 off the 512GB configuration. The end result: You end up paying either $949.99 or $1,199 for a well-rounded machine.

Both MacBook Air models are worthwhile investments, but the price difference isn’t only due to a difference in storage. Indeed, there are a lot of similarities between the two; they both have Apple’s new Magic Keyboard that’s a joy to type on, a 13.3-inch Retina display, 8GB of memory (RAM), a Touch ID fingerprint reader built into the home button and two USB-C ports.

However, the cheaper option has a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD) for storage and is powered by a 10th-generation Intel Core i3 processor, while the slightly more expensive one includes double the storage at 512GB and a 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processor.

Having double the space to store important documents, files and photos is always a welcome addition, especially since you can’t upgrade the storage in the MacBook Air on your own. And the faster processor isn’t likely to blow you away when compared to the i3 version, but it does give you more speed and will keep up with daily work tasks and light photo or video editing without any issues.

In our test, the MacBook Air’s battery life was well over 10 hours of constant video playback, which should be more than enough for you to get through a full day of school or work and still have some power left over at the end of the day.

Between the Magic Keyboard, the computer’s lightweight design and its overall performance, the MacBook Air earned top honors at its regular price. So whenever it’s discounted, as we see on Amazon right now, it’s even more attractive. At the time of writing, all three color options of gold, Space Gray and silver are available in both configurations, so shop soon before they start selling out.

For more great Apple deals, check out CNN Coupons.