I tested the base model 11-inch Air, which sports an unimpressive-sounding 1.3 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 (though Turbo Boost can boost this up to 2.6GHz if required), but still came away impressed by its performance.įor those interested, the Geekbench benchmarking tool places the 2013 MacBook Air somewhere in the ballpark of the 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina, and the late 2012 MacBook Pro (non Retina) performance-wise. Sure we can say it weighs 2.38 lb (1.08 kg), but when you’re using it daily, it feels more like an iPad than a laptop, while offering far more power and flexibility than the iOS-based tablet ever could.
The keyboard is excellent, and the glass trackpad is, though ever-so slightly shrunk in height compared to larger Mac notebooks, still miles ahead of the competition.Īnd the 11-inch Air is just so light, making throwing it into a bag easy. Having said that, the smaller screen, shorter battery life and lack of SD Card reader slot are really the only tradeoffs you make when choosing the 11-inch Air over the 13-inch Air, and it's a very capable computer.
However, if you’re going to be relying on the Air as your primary machine and don't have an external display, it might be worth trying the model out in store, or even considering shelling out the additional $100 premium to upgrade to the 13-inch Air, as being chained to such a small screen could potentially become tiring for long periods of time.ġ1-inch MacBook Air size, compared with 15-inch MacBook Pro (non-Retina) I use my computers mostly hooked up to an external display, and only rely on the built-in screen when traveling, or sat on the couch, so the 11-inch Air’s screen works just fine for me. Too small? Well, that depends on the role the Air will take in your life.
Size mattersĪs already noted, the display on the 11-inch Air is small. While one could argue that it's time for Apple to upgrade the screen, it does the job, looks good enough, and affords such incredible battery life that I'm willing to live with it. I found that it was one of the more pleasant non-Retina glossy screens I’ve used, especially considering its size and (relative lack of) resolution, at 1366 x 768, or 135 pixels per inch (PPI). That said, taken on its own merits, it’s still a good screen, with decent viewing angles and very nice colors. I made the mistake of checking out the MacBook Air next to the MacBook Pro Retina in a store, and the small non-Retina screen looked, frankly, terrible in comparison. The new Haswell CPU offers superb battery life This means that the new MacBook Air should prove more capable for graphically-intensive tasks than previous Air models. Haswell also brings improved graphics performance – up to 40 percent improved according to Apple – thanks to the Intel HD 5000 graphics chip that's integrated into the CPU.
Indeed, in my own completely unscientific tests, I even managed to exceed this with careful light use.įor the first time, the 11-inch Air offers the ability to do a full day's work without recharging, and this is a huge boon in its favor. Whereas we could expect roughly five hours or so of battery life from the 2012 11-inch Air, the 2013 model boasts a reported nine hours. The new generation of MacBook Air is Apple's first computer to feature Haswell, Intel's latest CPU, and the little slab of silicon brings some significant improvements to the table. One welcome change is that the base model Air (both sizes) now comes with a minimum 128 GB SSD, rather than the previous 64 GB, and the 11-inch model starts at US$999. Indeed, besides the minuscule addition of an extra microphone hole on the 2013 Air’s left-hand side, it’s otherwise essentially the same computer, physically, as the 20 models. It's still a stunning laptop, so one can't fault Apple for leaving the styling alone. The 11-inch MacBook Air still weighs 2.38 lb (1.08 kg), measures 11.8 x 7.56 x 0.11 to 0.68 inches (300 x 192 x 3 to 17 mm), and is primarily constructed from aluminum. The 2013 iteration of the MacBook Air 11-inch is almost identical to its predecessor, except for the addition of another microphone hole