This was the very last and final A1466 ‘Book, a design dating back to Mid-2012 with the release of the Ivy Bridge Intel CPUs. The base’s i5 was bumped from 1.6 to 1.8 Ghz, and the i7 option remains the same as what was available in 2015. The ’17 ‘Air comes with 8 GB of RAM standard, however Intel’s site claims both the i5/i7 can support 16 GB. This has actually been confirmed by a CustoMac listed on our website.

The Intel UHD/HD line of Integrated Graphics continue trend of “vampire video” (that’s where the video bites into system memory). The 2006 Mac mini was the first Mac in a long, long time to do this, and more Macs started doing this in the late 2000’s – early 2010’s. Apple Silicon GPUs have unified memory, changing the traditional views on how system memory is used and shared throughout the system.

What You Need to Know

• These ‘Books shipped with 8 GB of RAM which is fine for basic tasks, but is increasingly impractical these days. For a serious speed boost, chipset supports 16 GB of RAM but requires soldiering.
• This Model MacBook Air can support a Soldiered CPU upgrade up to an i7-5557u 3.1 Ghz.
• Multiple NANDs allow for parallel processing/RAID, increasing Read/Write speeds for the main boot drive.

Closed Lid Mode: All Intel ‘Books support “lid closed” (or clamshell) mode, which leaves the built-in display off and dedicates all video RAM to an external display. To used closed lid mode, your ‘Book must be plugged into the AC adapter and connected to an external display and a USB or Bluetooth mouse and keyboard (you might also want to consider external speakers). Power up your ‘Book until the desktop appears on the external display and then close the lid. Your ‘Book will go to sleep, but you can wake it by moving the mouse or using the keyboard. The built-in display will remain off, and the external monitor will become your only display.

To resume use of the internal display, you need to disconnect the external display, put the computer to sleep, and then open the lid. This will wake up your ‘Book and restore use of the built-in display.

Battery life is claimed to be 12 hours of wireless web, 12 hours iTunes movie playback, and up to 30 days of standby time.

Details

• Announced July 5th 2017
• Apple model number: A1466 (EMC 3178)
• Model ID: MacBookAir7,2
• Order: MQD32LL/A (128 GB) Discontinued July 9th 2019
  • MQD42LL/A (256 GB) Discontinued October 30th 2018

Mac OS

• Requires macOS 10.12.5 Sierra (Build 16F73) or later.

Core System

All CPU options are Dual-Core, Hyper Threaded, 14nm Broadwell i5/i7 CPUs.
Sockets supported: FCBGA1168

Legend: L1i = L1 Instruction Cache, L1d = L1 Data cache

• Intel Core i5-5350U ($999): 1.8 Ghz, 2 Cores, 4 Threads, 2.9 GHz Turbo
  15W TDP, 14nm, Per-Core: 32KB L1i/32KB L1d, 256KB L2, Shared: 3 MB L3
  Comes with: MMX, SSE 4.2, AVX 2, EIST, XD Bit, VT-x, HTT, vPro, SGX
• Intel Core i7-5650U ($1149): 2.2 Ghz, 2 Cores, 4 Threads, 3.1 GHz Turbo
  15W TDP, 14nm, Per-Core: 32KB L1i/32KB L1d, 256KB L2, Shared: 4 MB L3
  Comes with: MMX, SSE 4.2, AVX 2, EIST, XD Bit, VT-x, HTT, vPro, SGX

• Unofficial: Intel Core i7-5557u: 3.1 Ghz, 2 Cores, 4 Threads, 3.4 GHz Turbo
  28W TDP, 14nm, Per-Core: 32KB L1i/32KB L1d, 256KB L2, Shared: 4 MB L3
  Comes with: MMX, SSE 4.2, AVX 2, EIST, XD Bit, VT-x, HTT, vPro, SGX

Memory

• All models: 8 GB 1600 MHz PC3-12800s LPDDR3 SDRAM @25.6 GB/s
  • Chipset supports up to 16GB but requires soldiering.

Video

• All models shipped standard with Intel HD 6000 GPU, 300 MHz – 1 Ghz
  • 16GB Max VRAM Allocation, PCIe 3.0
• 13″ Widescreen LED-backlit LCD display, 1440 x 900 @127.6PPI
  • Support for millions of colors
  • “Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 3840-by-2160 resolution at 60Hz on an external display, both at millions of colors”

Drives

• 128 GB PCIe SSD (Base model), PCIe v3.0
  • 256GB, 512GB configurable

Expansion/Misc

• 1x Thunderbolt 2 port
• 2x USB-A style, USB 3.0 ports
• FireWire: via Thunderbolt adapter
• Ethernet: via Thunderbolt adapter
• WiFi: 802.11a/b/g/n AirPort Extreme
• Bluetooth 4.0
• SD Card slot: SDXC
• FaceTime 720p HD camera
• Dual Microphones
• Stereo Speakers
• LED Backlit Keyboard

Battery

• 12H Web / 12H iTunes Movies, 30 days standby.
• 54 W/h Li-Ion Polymer battery

Included Peripherals

• MacBook Air
• 45W Power Brick + Cord

Physical

• Size:H/W/D 0.11-0.68 x 12.8 x 2.96 in/0.3-1.7 x 32.5 x 22.7 cm
• Weight: 2.96 lb./1.35 kg