Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
While the MacBook Air betterment are mostly subtle , they succeed in make an already excellent Cartesian product even more desirable .
Most of the products Apple announced at WWDC wo n’t transport until later this year , but the newMacBook Airmodels are here . The MacBook Air did n’t undergo a dramatic , Mac Pro - like redesign — all of the changes to the MacBook Air are hidden under the toughie . Even compare tolast year ’s MacBook Air — which brought Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 — this new Air is more evolutionary than revolutionary .
Haswell inside
The biggest change in this looping of Apple ’s most portable of portable is the inclusion of Intel ’s latest multiplication of Core processor , code namedHaswell . These quaternary - propagation Core processor replace the Ivy Bridge processors in last year ’s MacBook Air . The Haswell processors ask less power than Ivy Bridge , which meliorate battery life in portable computers like the MacBook Air .
Haswell also includes newfangled integrated graphics in the form of the Intel HD Graphics 5000 , which Apple say provides 40 per centum higher performance than the HD Graphics 4000 used in Ivy Bridge processors .
The novel MacBook Airs all support the raw 802.11ac wireless networking standard , and the flash storage has also been ameliorate , with higher content on the 11 - in models and faster performance across the phone line .
Higher results/longer bars are better.—Macworld Lab testing by James Galbraith, Albert Filice, and Jeff Sandstoe
Apple offers four standard shape of the new MacBook Airs , two with 11 - inch displays and two using 13 - column inch displays . All four have the same threefold - core 1.3GHz Core i5 processor , up to of reaching velocity of up to 2.6GHz withTurbo Boostand can act as a virtual quad - core mainframe thanks toHyper - Threading . All four have the aforementioned Intel HD Graphics 5000 and 4 GB of 1600MHz LPDDR memory , which can not be upgraded .
The difference between the two model of each blind size of it is the capacity of the solid state storage . The 11 - inch MacBook Airs hail with either 128 GB of flash entrepot for $ 999 or 256 GB of flash storage for $ 1199 . The 13 - inch model also add up with the same 128 GB and 256 GB capacitance for $ 1099 and $ 1299 , severally . With cloud warehousing option gaining popularity and features , some multitude will have no trouble fit their necessary onboard data within the 128 GB content of the two lower - end models . Others , like me , prefer have more of their songs , motion picture , file cabinet , and photos approachable offline and opt having the most capacity possible .
Luckily , Apple offers optional acclivity at the time of leverage that double the flash store capacitance to 512 GB for a pricey $ 300 , and double the amount of RAM to 8 Gbit for $ 100 . While 4 GB of retentiveness is credibly plenty for general computer science needs , I ’d still urge the 8 GB RAM pick , especially as the RAM is not drug user upgradable . Apple ’s other non - upgradable Macs , like the Retina MacBook Pro and 21.5 - column inch iMacs have 8 GB of RAM standard . For an extra $ 150 , Apple will swap out the double - gist 1.3GHz Core i5 processor for a duple - essence 1.7GHz Core i7 with Hyper Threading and with Turbo Boost speeds of up to 3.3GHz .
The only outside clues to differentiate between the 2013 MacBook Air and the 2012 editions are the two tiny holes locate near the audio larboard that are used for the raw Air ’s two microphones . Previous Airs had just one microphone . The 2nd microphone is used to help with racket cancellation and to improve sound quality .
The fresh MacBook Airs use the same slick magazine , lead backlit displays as the 2012 models and at the same respective resolutions — they’re not Retina displays , as was anticipated by some in the rumor mill . The 11.6 - column inch atmosphere has an 1366 by 768 pixel settlement screen , and the 13.3 - inch gentle wind has 1440 by 900 pixel solving .
All MacBook Airs have one Thunderbolt port for adding monitor and/or external storage , and two USB 3.0 ports , one on each side . The laptop computer also have MagSafe 2 power connective and an audio - out tar for headphones . All Airs have 720p FaceTime cameras and built - in speakers . The 13 - column inch models include a handy SDXC card one-armed bandit . The 11 - inch model weigh 2.4 pounds while the 13 - in weigh 3 pounds .
Speedmark 8 scores
Higher results / farsighted saloon are better.—Macworld Lab testing by James Galbraith , Albert Filice , and Jeff Sandstoe
With all four MacBook Airs sharing so many of the same specifications , it should surprise no one that the 256 GB 11 - inch MacBook Air and 128 GB 13 - inch MacBook Air we prove do almost identically .
Comparing the results from the 2013 system to the 2012 MacBook Air ensue , we found that the HD Graphics 5000 surpass the HD Graphics 4000 by as much as 24 per centum on the 11 - inch models and 30 percentage on the 13 - column inch MacBook Airs . The new , faster flash storage in the 2013 models also helped the new mannequin best their predecessors in our 6 GB data file copy examination by 28 percent on the 13 - column inch laptop computer and a very telling 50 percent on the 11 - inch Air . Faster flash also facilitate to come down startup time ; the new 13 - inch Air took around 14 endorsement to start up , versus 18 seconds for last yr ’s simulation .
The Haswell central processing unit in these raw MacBook Airs are running at a slower clock swiftness than the Ivy Bridge processors in the 2012 models . The 2012 13 - inch , 1.8GHz Ivy Bridge MacBook Air was faster than this year ’s 13 - column inch , 1.3GHz Haswell MacBook Air in 8 of our 14 trial , include brochure concretion , iMovie , iPhoto , Photoshop , Aperture and MathematicaMark 7 trial . The faster art and faster heartbeat warehousing in the new MacBook Air was enough to lead in the two generation clear monovular Speedmark 8 scores .
One of the key benefits of the new Haswell processors is reduce baron expenditure and , therefore , long battery aliveness . Apple lay claim up to 9 hours for the 11 - column inch model and up to 12 hours on the 13 - in compare to 5 and 7 hours previously . Our battery exam resultant show that the new MacBook Air has the best battery living we ’ve seen from an Apple laptop . understand more about the new MacBook Air ’s battery life and our test issue .
For a more elaborated crack-up of our 2013 MacBook Air carrying out testing , check out our previously print benchmark story .
Bottom line
The new MacBook Air has a pot in common with its harbinger in term of features and look and feel . While the improvements are mostly subtle , they follow in making an already splendid product even more desirable . Under the hood improvement to the integrate graphics and flash storage help advance performance , while advance institute in the new Haswell processors help oneself to improve battery life . Some may see the 128 GB of the lower - price arrangement bound and I ’d recommend the raise to 8 GB of RAM for all drug user .
