MacBook Air review

MacBook Air now features all-day battery life, fourth-generation Intel Core processors with faster graphics, faster flash storage, and new 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

Fourth-generation Intel Core processors.

Performance, meet endurance.

Fourth-generation Intel Core processors in MacBook Air give you more time to do more things. Add that to an array of other smart and efficient features, and you have an incredible amount of power in your hands. While carrying next to nothing.

MacBook Air is powered by the all-new fourth-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors. This ultra-efficient architecture was designed to use less power and still deliver high performance. Which means not only can you do whatever you want; you can keep doing it for longer than before. In addition, the new Intel HD Graphics 5000 offers up to 40 percent faster graphics; performance you’ll especially notice with games and other graphics-intensive tasks.

Up to 3x faster Wi-Fi.

802.11ac. The new definition of fast.

MacBook Air now supports ultrafast 802.11ac Wi-Fi. When connected to an 802.11ac base station; including the new AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule; wireless performance is up to 3x faster than with the previous generation of MacBook Air. And your Wi-Fi range improves as well. With Bluetooth technology, you can connect MacBook Air to Bluetooth-enabled devices like speakers and headphones. Even without all the wires, you’re totally connected.

Faster all-flash storage.

Ready. Set. Done.

Part of what makes MacBook Air so responsive is that it’s designed entirely around flash storage. Not only does this make MacBook Air much lighter and more portable than traditional notebooks, it also provides faster access to data. Available in capacities up to 512GB, this next-generation flash storage is up to 9x faster than a traditional 5400-rpm notebook hard drive. And it’s up to 45 percent faster than the flash storage in the previous-generation MacBook Air. So when you flip open MacBook Air, it’s ready to go right away. Even after a month in standby mode, the screen springs to life. As if this big bump in performance wasn’t enough, the 11-inch model now comes standard with double the capacity — 128GB.

Thunderbolt and USB 3.

Make some powerful connections.

With the lightning-fast Thunderbolt port, you can connect your MacBook Air to the latest devices and displays, like the Apple Thunderbolt Display. But that’s not the whole story. MacBook Air also comes equipped with two USB 3 ports, so you can connect the latest USB 3 devices and all your USB 2 devices as well. With just a few connections, MacBook Air transforms from an ultraportable notebook to a complete workstation.

Display, camera, and mics.

Impressive. In every sense.

LED-backlit display.
Millions of pixels. Millimeters thin.

Corner to corner and pixel by pixel, the MacBook Air display is both an engineering feat and a design breakthrough. The display measures a mere 4.86 millimeters (0.19 inch) thin, yet its resolution makes you feel like you’re looking at a larger screen. The 11-inch MacBook Air features a resolution of 1366 by 768 pixels, while the 13-inch model wows with a resolution of 1440 by 900 pixels. And LED backlighting makes colors bright and vibrant from edge to edge. So whether you’re editing photos, perfecting a presentation, or watching a movie, you’re going to love what you see.

720p FaceTime HD camera.
Stay sharp.

Let your friends and family see more of you with the 720p FaceTime HD camera. Every smile looks bright, even halfway around the world. And the widescreen format means everyone can fit into the picture without having to crowd around the display.

Dual mics.
They’ll hear you loud and clear.

The dual microphones in MacBook Air are great for when you want to be heard. If you’re making a FaceTime call, for example, the mics reduce background noise from behind the notebook. And when you use Dictation, they create an adaptive audio beam that intelligently adjusts to detect your voice — instead of the noise around you.

Multi-Touch trackpad.

It goes hand in hand with OS X.

The Multi-Touch gestures in OS X make everything you do on MacBook Air more intuitive, direct, and fun. And the spacious Multi-Touch trackpad is perfectly designed for them, whether it’s a three-finger swipe to activate Mission Control or a four-finger pinch to see all your apps in Launchpad. Gesture responses are smooth and realistic. So when you’re scrolling up and down a web page or swiping from one full-screen app to another, it’s almost like you’re touching what you’re seeing.

Up to 12 hours of battery life.

Power through your whole day.

Thanks to compact all-flash storage in MacBook Air, there’s plenty of room for a big battery. Working together with the new power-efficient Intel Core architecture, this battery can post some impressive numbers. Now the 11-inch model gets up to 9 hours of battery life on a single charge and the 13-inch model gets up to 12 hours. That gives you all-day power for word processing, presentations, email, and more. And if you’re watching iTunes movies, you get up to 8 hours of playback time on the 11-inch model and up to 10 hours on the 13-inch. Put MacBook Air to sleep for more than 3 hours, and it enters standby mode to conserve battery life for up to 30 days.¹ And if you enable Power Nap, you’ll continue to receive new email and calendar invitations while your computer is asleep.

PROS

·         Still thinner and lighter than many competitors

·         Improved battery life

·         Blistering speed

·         Comfortable keyboard and track-pad

CONS

·         Aluminum casing is still scratch-prone

·         Competitors offer higher-res displays

CONCLUSION

The Air remains our favorite ultra-portable, thanks to improved battery life, exceptional speed and a comfortable design.