Review: new 11.6-inch MacBook Air

I think I can consider myself a lucky guy, since I have again the possibility to test first hand one of the latest releases from Apple and, according to the languages ​​(and perhaps the good ones too), one of the most coveted and desired products of the moment: the new 11.6-inch MacBook Air.

11.6-inch MacBook Air

As a former user of the Apple world, I must say that, over the years, I have not lost my enthusiasm when buying a brand new product and finally being able to open the box for the first time. This is further amplified when the product is new for everyone.

This machine is my 17 Macintosh, according to my calculations, not to mention iPhones, iPods and other wonders. Even so, little has changed: opening the case of the new MacBook Air is a pleasure that reminds me of the day I bought my first colored iMac, in 1998.

Presentation

The packaging does not reserve many new features for those already using Apple products. The only thing that changed, this time, was the way that Apple found to supply the installation disc for Mac OS X and iLife: it abandoned the DVD that traditionally comes on their machines (including the previous MacBook Air model itself) and adopted a dongle 8GB USB port containing everything needed to install the operating system and additional programs.

11.6-inch MacBook Air

The good thing about this is that, especially in the case of the MacBook Air, it is no longer necessary to borrow the DVD player from some other machine or use an external USB player. In addition to this great advantage, the new idea made room for the possibility of Apple doing the same thing in the next generations of software it launches, after all Air is already with its positive absence of optical drive, and it is known that these media are doomed to disappear even. Why continue selling them, then?

The design of the new MacBook Air is much more of an evolution than a revolution. I say this because it is exactly what the Apple user expects from a portable Mac in terms of aesthetics and construction.

11.6-inch MacBook Air

The machine is beautiful and has an extremely robust set, provided by the production process known as unibody. The biggest difference in this regard is the Air cover, which is thinner than other portable Macs. It is really amazing how Apple managed to wipe even more in the execution of this machine in relation to the 13.3 ″ Air of the previous generation, and that I would like to detail below.

Size and weight

Surprise is really reserved for the body of the machine itself, which is ridiculously small and light. It is difficult to describe in words how portable this machine is!

I was under the impression that the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro was small and the previous 13.3-inch MacBook Air was light, but now the thing has gained a dimension that cannot be explained very well in a review.

11.6-inch MacBook Air

If you are already a happy iPad owner, you will easily understand what I mean, as the 11.6-inch MacBook Air is very close to an iPad in terms of size and weight, with its extra millimeters and grams compared to the brother that running iOS are not able to generate enough discomfort to want to leave it at home.

Last weekend I took a small 500km trip and obviously took my new toy with me. By putting the little prodigy in my backpack, which I have had since the time I owned a 17-inch MacBook Pro, I started to realize how much this machine was born to be taken everywhere. It fit transversely where the Pro 17 was just longitudinally!

If you already had space left in this bag when carrying a 13.3-inch MacBook Pro, it is now completely unaffordable! As a consequence I will have to buy a new bag, and the most interesting thing is that it doesn't have to be a clutter of laptop backpack, because the notebook fits in any bag of common size and weighs no more than a book. It is recommended to buy a protective glove so that other objects do not scratch the Air if they come into contact with it in the bag.

Using the machine

If the machine is a dream in terms of size, printing when using it is not much different. I bought Air thinking about making it a secondary machine. I have an iMac that I use for music editing with Logic Studio and external audio interface, and I always liked having a second machine so I could take it wherever I want, use it on the couch, on the balcony or on the street.

My second machine so far was a 13.3-inch MacBook Pro, which I passed on to my girlfriend. My intention was to acquire an iPad, but I confess that the absence of some things in it contained my impulse to buy it. Some pending issues will certainly be resolved in the next generation of the tablet, but the MacBook Air was there beautiful and available to buy, with everything a Mac user needs on a machine. I decided that I didn't have to wait for the second generation iPad.

The 11.6 MacBook Air in question is a BTO (built to order), acquired through the German Apple Store Online, with 128GB of SSD, 4GB of RAM and 1.4Ghz of Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

But why set up the machine this way and not buy the entry version, with its 64GB SSD and 2GB RAM? The answer to that is simple: this machine does not have the quality of older brothers when it comes to upgrades. It is inflexible in that sense, not allowing for further upgrades without the use of supernatural powers. I decided to buy the machine with more RAM and more SSD right away so I don't regret it later, especially when Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is bouncing on the shelves of electronics stores.

The processor upgrade did not convince me to be worth the extra euros. My experience with Macs says that 200MHz of clock it will not make the machine run any faster in real life. I am not a credulous in test numbers of benchmark in this sense, because in practice the gains are negligible with a difference in processor speed of this magnitude. If you have money left over and you don't want to spend it on beers and balls, you might want to consider the slightly faster processor.

So far I have partially installed the iLife package (without GarageBand, iWeb and iDVD), and iTunes has a lean version of my real library, as I only have 10GB of content in it. IPhoto has a mere 4GB of photos. Apart from iLife, I decided to add Office 2011, which I received free from Microsoft when I purchased the previous version in a local promotion. I used Word to write this text and I must say that I like the combination.

Right now, they are simultaneously running Word, Skype, Windows Messenger 8, iChat, Safari with five open tabs, iTunes and Mail. The performance leaves nothing to be desired compared to the MacBook Pro I used previously. The machine works in a responsive, responsive manner and with an ever lower temperature than other notebook computers I have ever had.

I think it serves to give a better impression than reciting numbers benchmark that make little sense to anyone reading them. Whoever today has a MacBook or a MacBook Pro of 13.3 and has as main use some of those things that I mentioned, not noticing significant difference in performance.

Speaking a little more about processor temperature, it did not go over 40C on the iStat nano indicator here, even when it had all these things running at the same time. the first notebook I have in years that I can really call a laptop without burning my tongue (or thighs, in this case!). Maybe this temperature fluctuates up a bit with YouTube videos or similar, but I don't use these things so much, to tell you the truth. For that I prefer my Mac mini with Plex on the TV.

His battery, according to my initial tests, easily reaches the promise of five hours of use announced by Apple in technical data. In normal use, with brightness of the display in the square, wireless navigation and mixed use, including transferring some files from other machines to it via wireless, I managed to use it for more than five hours and still had about 15% charge to toast. I believe that the thermal efficiency has a lot to do with the low consumption of this Mac.

Initialization takes about 15 seconds and returns from mode sleep opening the cover practically instantly. According to Apple, the battery charge can last about 30 days in sleep, which is really very good. I remember that Macs with PowerPC were much more efficient than Intel Macs in that sense, but with MacBook Air it all became history, because Apple developed a sleep extremely efficient for him.

In terms of hardware, the 11.6 MacBook Air missed some treats from the larger model, such as the SD card reader. The other differences are restricted to processor and storage, whose offer is not as generous as that of the larger brother (up to 256GB of SSD in the 13.3 model, for example).

In relation to the Air of the past generation, it no longer has the backlit keyboard, which can be something negative for some users. Anyone who saw the machine disassembled on the iFixit pages easily understands why these limitations, after all Steve Jobs and his engineering team have not yet managed to reverse some laws of physics, such as that two bodies do not occupy the same place in space at the same time.

Anyway, this is the price to pay for an extremely thin and light laptop, but which still has a battery autonomy worthy of respect, and which I particularly believe that the compensation is valid.

This machine also does not have an infrared receiver for remote control and neither the pulsating light of the sleep. To be honest I didn't miss any of these resources, but maybe some will. Basically, it is a matter of priority, which varies from user to user.

The bright 11.6 display and has a very good resolution, even for those who like to watch movies when traveling. The fact that the screen is smaller than the 13.3 on previous MacBooks is partially offset by the higher resolution. The reduced vertical dimension can be compensated by positioning the Dock laterally on the interface, something that makes the window of some applications like Word itself gain precious vertical space.

Other things deserve an honorable mention here are the new glass trackpad, which finally arrived on the Air after a long wait, the addition of an extra USB port and the elimination of that side door on the old MacBook Air, which was ugly and impractical.

Overall, positive and negative points

The MacBook Air is a champion, there's no denying it. His price was breathtaking for those who thought about buying an Air but didn't have the courage to spend what it cost. It is not cheap, but in this price range there are definitely many potential buyers, who will be excited by the good qualities that the small 11.6 MacBook Air offers.

11.6-inch MacBook Air

If I had bought this Mac thinking about making it a secondary computer, with each use I am more convinced that it can become the primary, leaving the iMac as the secondary machine. (If I have a car, I leave the way only for heavier loads r! Thanks, Steve!)

The performance really surprises positively, especially for those who believe that such a small machine and with a processor of less than 2GHz will not do the job.

If I had doubts and was even willing to accept a performance lower than the MacBook Pro of 13.3 at the expense of reduced size and weight, now I have no more: it is enough for the mortals who will use the machine with iLife, internet, Office and maybe even some more demanding software.

Strengths:

  • Performance comparable to larger laptops;
  • Absurdly light, thin and elegant;
  • IPad qualities (like boot fast, return from mode sleep practically instantaneous) were transplanted to him.
Negative points:

  • Lack of backlit keyboard;
  • Lack of SD card reader;
  • I was 1,240 euros poorer, thanks to him.