Expert’s Rating
Our Verdict
The MacBook Air has been a Cartesian product in transition . When it was introduced in 2008 , it was an crotchet : an expensive and underpowered — yet incredibly thin and light—13 - inch laptop . Last year ’s revision — which added a 2d USB port , upgraded the processor , and introduced an 11.6 - inch role model — was much more appealing .
With the raw MacBook Air mannequin introduced by Apple in July 2011 , the MacBook Air has arrived utter center in Apple ’s product line . This is the laptop computer oxygen X Lion was design for . You get the distinct stamp that it ’s only a matter of clip before all Mac laptops look like the Air . And with the addition of Intel Core i5 and i7 central processor ( the latter for the build - to - Holy Order models ) and the high - speed Thunderbolt connection engineering science , the story of the MacBook Air is no longer about make hard compromises to use a minor twinkle laptop .
If the MacBook Air is the future of the Mac laptop , the future is now .
These results are an average of 13 of our tests: Duplicate folder, Zip folder, Unzip file, Pages import, iMovie import, iTunes share, iTunes encode, Handbrake encode, Cinebench OpenGL, Cinebench CPU, Call of Duty, Portal 2, and Parallels WorldBench Multitask.
Don’t mess with success
The physical design of these new MacBook Air models is on the nose the same as the onesintroduced in October 2010 : They ’re anodized aluminium on the outside , with glossy LED - backlit displays framed by an aluminum bezel . People who hate the drinking glass - covered screen on the MacBook Pros should note that not all showy filmdom are likewise . I ’ve find the MacBook Air ’s style of glossy screen door to be less prone to public eye than the MacBook Pros . ( Unlike the MacBook Pro models , which boast a single slab of glass across the intact front of the display , the MacBook Air proceed to have an extremist - slender glass level located behind the bezel , make it less prone to public eye . ) Like every other Mac laptop , there ’s a tiny FaceTime tv camera located right away above the display , though the Air ’s cameras are n’t capable of the HD resolution offered by the cameras on the MacBook Pros and iMacs .
These laptop are wedge shaped , slender at the front and thick at the back . There ’s no way for an optical drive or a traditional surd drive — the only onboard storage utilize flash memory . At the thick terminal of the wedge , there ’s room enough for a few port : on the left side there ’s a single USB 2 port , a headphone gob , and a MagSafe mightiness socket . On the right side , there ’s another USB 2 port wine , an SD wit reader ( on the 13 - in model only ) , and taking the space of the Mini DisplayPort is the new Thunderbolt port .
The only real strong-arm variety to the outside versus previous models comes with the keyboard , which is now backlit . I ’ve always considered this feature more luxury than essential , but it ’s certainly overnice to have it back , especially if you tend to work on your laptop in the dark . Both models are also slightly heavier — the 11- and 13 - inch poser weigh 20 and 30 grams more ( the difference of an ounce , more or less ) , respectively .
Apple was smart not to change the design : this is a passably great brace of laptops . The 11.6 - in model in exceptional is fantastic — it ’s the small Apple laptop of all sentence and yet remains perfectly usable , with a full - size keyboard and a 1366 - by-768 - pixel display . The 13 - in mannequin , on the other bridge player , feels spacious in comparability , while being dramatically thin and light than the 13 - inch MacBook Pro .
Beauty and brains
Glowing keyboard except , where these new MacBook Airs radiance is on the interior . For the first time , the MacBook Air can offer speeds that are in the neighbourhood of the remainder of the Macs out there . That ’s because these laptop computer are power by radical - low - voltage editions of Intel ’s latest - multiplication Core i5 processor , known to silicon chip geeks as the “ Sandy Bridge ” family .
Though the central processor clock velocity of the new 13 - inch example is actually lower than the former generation ( 1.7GHz versus 1.8GHz ) , the Intel Core i5 family is immensely superior to the Core 2 Duo processors find in the one-time model . Thelab tests we place in late Julybear that out : In nine largely processor- and storage - pore tests , the newfangled MacBook Air was 1.5x as tight as its quicker - clocked predecessor . encode a television with HandBrake was near twice as fast on the new 13 - inch simulation .
The 13 - in MacBook Air even holds its own with the $ 1199 Core i5 13 - inch MacBook Pro . Our tests recover that the new Air was on average 1.4x as fast in that same set of tests , though much of that was buoyed by the increased speed of the Air ’s flash storage versus the slow physical hard drive on the Pro . In the processor - dominated HandBrake trial , the Pro model was 1.1x as fast as the Air . gene storage and CPU together , and it seems secure to say that the two model are like .
These results are an average of 13 of our tests: Duplicate folder, Zip folder, Unzip file, Pages import, iMovie import, iTunes share, iTunes encode, Handbrake encode, Cinebench OpenGL, Cinebench CPU, Call of Duty, Portal 2, and Parallels WorldBench Multitask.
The news on the 11 - column inch front is even brighter : The new $ 999 11 - in Air , power by a 1.6GHz Core i5 central processor , was 1.7x as fast as the previous $ 999 model on the same set of processor- and storage - focussed tests . Our HandBrake encode test was 2.4x as fast . As someone who uses the previous - theoretical account 11 - in MacBook Air regularly , I never really felt it was too slow for my daily piece of work … yet this new framework is measurably faster in almost every regard .
One way the Core i5 chips manage to be faster than Core 2 Duos at the same speed is because the Core i5 and i7 have access to two canny Intel fast one : Hyper - threading and Turbo Boost . Hyper - threading means that while these fries have two processor cores , they seem to the operating system as if they ’ve got four core . This trick allow the processor to move more efficiently when it comes to gravid - duty number crunching . In many ways , Turbo Boost produces the opposite essence : When only one processor sum is being task , the chip can close down one essence and crank up its clock focal ratio , allowing it to run for ineffective software at high speeds than an quondam chipping could .
There is one respect , however , in which these MacBook Airs are a regression from last year ’s good example . Apple ’s done to the MacBook Airs what it did with the 13 - inch MacBook Pro sooner this yr : replace the previous propagation ’s graphics mainframe — in this case , the Nvidia GeForce 320M — with Intel HD Graphics 3000 integrate graphic circuitry . The performance of the 2011 MacBook Air ’s graphics subsystem was all over the mapping .
Battery test results. Our battery tests play a movie looping in full-screen mode at full brightness, connected to a Wi-Fi network, with the backlit keyboard dimmed, and volume on 2.
When we quiz the Airs using our tried - and - true art psychometric test — Cinebench ’s OpenGL test and a Call of Duty demo — the performance was inadequate . Frame pace on the unexampled model were 65 to 70 percentage of what they were on the 2010 - model Airs . ( The 13 - column inch MacBook Pro with integrated graphics posted similarly big scores . ) When we ask Apple about what we were seeing , the company suggested the possiblity that newer game would be more decently optimise for this relatively newfangled subsystem .
So we did a novel round of examination , this time with Valve ’s Portal 2 , a cut - edge game released in April . And sure enough , the effect were much good : the current - twelvemonth MacBook Airs were capable of producing physique rates slightlyfasterthan the previous - contemporaries models .
The lesson here seems to be that while art performance on late software releases will be corresponding to the previous propagation of MacBook Air model , graphics - intensive apps such as games that have n’t been update to turn to the Air ’s novel graphics arrangement will be boring .
Batteries and heat
Apple take that these MacBooks have rough the same battery mental ability as previous model . The fellowship rates the 11 - inch model for five hours of usage via its “ wireless web ” test suite ; the 13 - in model rate at seven hours . Macworld Lab ’s battery tests , which are designed to drain the battery even more rapidly than Apple ’s test , still designate like resultant role : roughly three - and - a - one-half hours for the 11 - inch mannikin and five - and - a - half hours for the 13 - inch . Those figures were both improvement on the stamp battery life story of the previous - model Airs . ( The increased speed of the work up - to - order Core i7 processor option did n’t have a major impact on barrage life , either . )
When I talk to prospective MacBook Air buyers , two of the most coarse questions I get are about heat and fan noise . Maybe the original MacBook Air , which had some serious heat problems , had more of an impingement on the Mac - buying psyche than I think . In any upshot , here ’s what I can report : When these system zigzag up and do a circle of oeuvre — encode picture is a good example — they warm up . While the underside of the case was ardent to the touch , I did n’t find it painfully red-hot . Just warm . But most of the fourth dimension , they do n’t work that hard , and heat is not an issue .
When the processors do crank up , the fan do , too . And they ’re not silent , at least not when they ’re go full bam . Again , in most use character these laptop are nerveless and hushed — but if you make up one’s mind you need to run Final Cut Pro X and export an HD movie to iTunes , noise and warmth are what you ’re gon na get .
No longer isolated
When the MacBook Air first get in on the scene , it only had one wired connection to the remote earthly concern : a single USB 2 interface . At one point I had a seven - port hub at my desk so that I could connect Ethernet , trackball , keyboard , iPhone , and outside storage to my Air . ( It was very , very slow . ) Last year ’s aura redesign added a 2nd USB larboard , which helped , but the Air was still awfully restrict compared to any other Mac out there .
The addition of the Thunderbolt port changes everything . Yes , it ’s compatible : you could still plug away in any Mini DisplayPort transmission line and the laptop computer will expose video on an extraneous show just all right . But Thunderbolt is so much more than that . It ’s a connector applied science immensely ranking not just to USB , but toFireWireand eSATA as well . tight hard - drive transport , Gbit Ethernet , FireWire compatibility — all of these lineament are now just a Thunderbolt adapter or three by from being uncommitted to MacBook Air users . ( The catch is that Thunderbolt is a technologyin its babyhood , so there ’s not much Thunderbolt stuff out there now . But it ’s coming . )
Take Apple ’s just - announced27 - inch Thunderbolt display . It ’s got a Facetime HD camera , three USB 2.0 embrasure , a FireWire 800 port , a Gigabit Ethernet port , and a Thunderbolt port on the back . secure its Thunderbolt cable into one of these new MacBook Air example , and you ’ve converted that laptop into a Core i5 - powered desktop computer consummate with fast meshing connection , fast storage , and an raiment of elaboration ports . For laptop users who also work at a desk , it ’s a pretty compelling vision .
Factory upgrades aplenty
If the four base configurations of the MacBook Air do n’t please you , Apple has provided a few upgrade alternative . The CPU and RAM in these system are n’t upgradeable , so you ’ll involve to make up one’s mind before you buy if you want them .
Both the 11 - inch and 13 - inch models can be upgraded to an even faster C.P.U. : a 1.8GHz Core i7 . It ’s a $ 150 and $ 100 upgrade , respectively . These systems are limited to a maximum of 4 GB of RAM ; all but the $ 999 model come stock up with that amount by nonpayment , while it ’s a $ 100 upgrade option for the low - end poser . Wetested these build - to - order ( BTO ) configurations in belated Julyand found them quicker , although subtly so . The 11 - inch raise definitely seems to make a more substantial difference than the 13 - in climb .
These edition all utilize flash computer storage for their unvoiced drives . The $ 999 role model has 64 GB , the $ 1199 and $ 1399 manikin offer 128 GiB , and the $ 1,599 exemplar comes with 256 GB . If you prefer the 11 - inch constellation , you’re able to elevate the flash storehouse on the eminent - end manakin to 256 GB for an special $ 300 .
Flash storage is one area where there ’s some competition when it issue forth to climb . Other World Computing offersthe Mercury Aura Pro Express flash store upgradeat sizes up to 480 GB . They ’re not cheap — if you just want 256 GB you ’re unspoiled off going with Apple ’s manufactory upgrade — but they ’re available if money ’s no aim and you need as much flash memory board as possible .
MacBook Air (mid-2011) configurations
Lion recovery mode
These MacBook Air models were announced simultaneously with the release of OS X Lion . As a event , they only execute under Lion — if you ’re committed to Snow Leopard or bleed PowerPC - establish apps , you should n’t get one .
But by being among the first system in the Lion era , these MacBook Airs also have a major vantage over previous modelling : they can reinstate themselves after a catastrophic driving loser . It ’s all a part of theLion Recovery feature , enabled by holding down Command - roentgen when booting . If the main volume is debauch , Lion Recovery will attempt to boot a little blot out retrieval partition , from which the disk can be mend or erased and restored . That ’s a feature available on any system running Lion . These new systems , though , can even restore if the disk is completely wipe out . They comprise within them the ability to boot , plug into to the cyberspace , download Lion from Apple , and restore it to a replacement or external laborious parkway . I did n’t get a chance to render this feature with the MacBook Airs — though my co-worker Dan Frakes managed to do it with a Mac miniskirt — but it ’s pretty coolheaded to have it away that as long as you ’ve get an net connection , pass over your drive and commence afresh is a legitimate option .
Judging the 13-inch Air
If you ’re someone who needs as much laptop screen space as possible , the MacBook Air blood is n’t for you . ( At least not yet — I think it ’s inevitable that Apple will make a 15 - inch laptop computer with many of the Air ’s characteristics in the near futurity . ) But if you could get by with a 13 - inch blind , I think the MacBook Air is a better choice than the MacBook Pro .
There are always exception . If you need an opthalmic drive and do n’t have admission to another Mac for that function , you may not want to buy an Air and then yield more for an external drive . If you absolutely must pay the least amount possible for a 13 - in Mac laptop , you may save $ 100 on the 13 - inch MacBook Pro . The $ 1499 Core i7 edition of the 13 - inch MacBook Pro is faster than the 13 - inch zephyr . The MacBook Pro has more storage distance , owing to its whirl heavy driveway . If you ’re a serious gamer , you ’ll want a laptop computer with distinct graphic .
But Apple has build the MacBook Air for what it believe is the sweet spot of the laptop market : mass who are over the ocular disc , who do n’t require any more processing magnate than an Intel Core i5 central processor can provide , and who do n’t need monumental sum of disk place ( or at least do n’t need to carry it all with them ) . These people want a small , clear laptop , and the MacBook Air allow for .
Judging the 11-inch Air
Now let me make my case for the 11 - column inch MacBook Air . It ’s shockingly minor , almost iPad small . It take a shit the 13 - column inch Air seem to a fault with child and heavy , and the MacBook Pros seem like gravy holder backbone .
But while the 11 - inch Air is small and light , it does n’t feel cramped . Part of that is due to the high - resolution display , which packs a lot of pixels into its compact 11.6 - inch sloping screen . Throw in Lion ’s Mission Control and full - screen mode , which are designed to help maximize productiveness on small projection screen , and even this petite Mac is capable of large amounts of productivity .
Is the 11 - inch Air slower than Apple ’s other laptops ? Sure . It ’s also , at $ 999 , cheaper . And its Core i5 CPU make it fast enough for almost any steady user . If you ’re using the Web , write e - mail or article or novel , and other comparatively lightweight tasks , the MacBook Air is plenty fast . Even building World Wide Web art in Photoshop was fast . Now , if you ’re contrive on using it to edit out multitrack audio or complex HD video projects , you may incur yourself fight its demarcation . But most people will not attempt to use an 11 - inch laptop for such things , and justifiedly so .
Macworld’s buying advice
The MacBook Air has never been a laptop for everyone . It begin as a niche laptop computer for a tiny sliver of the universe , but in the intervening three long time there ’s been a ocean modification . Today , most people in the market for a Mac laptop computer should seriously look at the MacBook Air . Sure , there are some people for whom it ’s a poor fit — but I distrust they are increasingly the exception , not the rule . ( There ’s a reason Apple ’s marketing motto for this version of the Air is “ The ultimate everyday notebook . ” )
At just a fuzz below three pound sign , the 13 - in MacBook Air will probably gain the sweet spot for users accustomed to big computer screens . But for my money , the 11 - inch Air is the real winner here . At $ 999 , it ’s now holding down the low - price end of the Apple laptop market . It will almost certainly be the laptop of choice for students , and they ’ll have intercourse its faint weightiness and small size of it .
Then upgrade it to an i7 processor with 4 GB of RAM and a 256 GB severe cause , attach it to an external display and peripheral gadget via its Thunderbolt larboard , and you ’ve got a tiny scheme with an astonishing amount of power . The 11 - column inch MacBook Air might not be the perfect computer , but it ’s as close to hone as Apple ’s ever come .
[ Jason Snell is Macworld ’s editorial film director . ]
