School’s out! (Well, soon.) And so are student-friendly updates to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro

Poor kids. They’ve not even started their summer holidays yet, and Apple’s already banging on about back-to-school season. (C’mon, guys – it’s called summer.) Still, Apple has good reason, since it’s just upgraded its notebooks. The MacBook Air (from £1099) gets a price-cut yet gains a True Tone display that adjusts its colour temperature depending on lighting conditions. The entry-level 13in MacBook Pro (from £1299) grabs an extra 50 quid from your piggy bank; still, for that outlay you now gain a Touch Bar, Touch ID (hurrah), True Tone, a T2 chip, and fancy new 8th-gen quad-core processors Apple reckons are twice as powerful as those in the previous model. Students grabbing one in the Back to School promo net some Beats 3 headphones as well. It’s almost enough to make you wish September was here right now.

Craig Grannell Contributor

About

I’m a regular contributor to Stuff magazine and Stuff.tv, covering apps, games, Apple kit, Android, Lego, retro gaming and other interesting oddities. I also pen opinion pieces when the editor lets me, getting all serious about accessibility and predicting when sentient AI smart cookware will take over the world, in a terrifying mix of Bake Off and Terminator.

Areas of expertise

Mobile apps and games, Macs, iOS and tvOS devices, Android, retro games, crowdfunding, design, how to fight off an enraged smart saucepan with a massive stick.