It also includes Touch ID, which is one of the more handy additions to the Mac in recent years, though there's no Touch Bar (something that many might consider good news). The Touch ID sensor also includes the new T2 chip, which enables "Hey, Siri" capabilities. The T2 also interacts with the SSD, providing "on-the-fly data encryption" for everything on the drive; Apple also says this results in the most secure boot process and secure storage you can find in a laptop. The chip's "secure enclave" keeps your Touch ID data safe and also checks to make sure all the software that loads in the boot process is secure.

As you might have guessed, the new keyboard is the same butterfly-mechanism keyboard found in the recent MacBook Pro models. Apple says it's the new model it added to the 2018 MacBook Pros, which means it's quieter and (hopefully) less prone to failure.

As for the internals, there's an 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, up to 1.5TB of storage and up to 16GB of RAM. The battery capacity comes in just as good as the previous Air as well: Apple claims 12 hours of battery life and 13 hours of iTunes-movie playback. We'll have to put that to the test, as Apple's recent battery estimates for its Macs have been a bit optimistic.

With smaller bezels, the whole footprint of the computer has shrunk 17 percent, and it weighs 2.75 pounds -- a quarter of a pound less than its predecessor. Apple is also using a new metal alloy for the unibody that's made from 100 percent recycled aluminum. To match the rest of Apple's recent products, it comes in space gray, silver and gold.