Which MacBook Air should you choose? MacBook Air specifications Macbook air 13 new.

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6 GHz, 4 MB L2 cache (optional: 1.8 GHz);
• Bus: 800 MHz;
• Hard drive: 80 GB, 4200 rpm, Parallel ATA (optional 64 GB SSD drive);
• RAM: 2 GB 667 MHz SDRAM;
• Dimensions: 32.5×22.7×0.4-1.94 cm;
• Weight: 1.36 kg.

History and reasons for appearance

Before the advent of the MacBook Air, Apple's line of laptops consisted of two products (having, however, different configurations) - MacBook and MacBook Pro. The MacBook is a budget (by Apple standards), fairly compact laptop with a 13-inch screen, available in black and white, aimed at home users, students and people who do not require high performance (for example, when working with video) and a big screen. The MacBook Pro is a solution more focused on professional use (working with videos and photos), it is larger and heavier, and has a 15 or 17-inch screen, depending on the configuration.

In general, these two lines complemented each other well, but there was a niche that remained unfilled. Many users have been yearning for an ultra-compact laptop from Apple that they can use, say, on a plane or in a meeting room. The MacBook Pro is not suitable for this role due to its size, and the MacBook, firstly, is still heavy and thick, and secondly, it may not be entirely suitable for the director or top manager of the company due to its budget. For such people, the cost of a laptop and its functionality are not of paramount importance; what is important to them is the image quality of the solution, ultra-compactness and, if possible, of course, good battery life.

The MacBook Air laptop, presented by Apple CEO Steve Jobs on January 15 in San Francisco and going on sale in the United States on January 30, is intended to fill this emerging market niche in Apple’s product range. We will greet it, as expected, by its appearance, and then we will delve into the consideration of the technical characteristics and other features of the new product.

Appearance, ergonomics and design features

The first thing that immediately catches your eye and what is the basis for the marketing positioning of the device is, of course, the thickness of the laptop. Unlike the MacBook and MacBook Pro, the thickness of the MacBook Air is different in different places - on the user side, in the touchpad area, its thickness is minimal and it increases as you move forward. So from all sides, and especially from the user's side, it seems super thin. Apple, by the way, even applied to register the Thinnovation trademark: the word is derived from the words “thin” and “innovation” and is actively used in Apple advertising materials.

Many people expected from Apple not a laptop, but a subnotebook - the MacBook Air is very good with a full-size keyboard and a 13.3-inch screen, so you can work on it quite comfortably, and Apple did not compromise here.

We open the laptop and immediately pay attention to the black keyboard, located in a certain recessed niche, the keys of which are made free-standing, each with its own hole. This approach to keys is used in the MacBook and the keyboard for the iMac (both wired and wireless). The keyboard is quite comfortable and ergonomic. An important plus for many is the backlit keyboard, which is quite powerful, the brightness of which can be adjusted automatically using information about the light sensor, as well as manually.

The touchpad is large, much larger than that of the MacBook and MacBook Pro, and the key is somewhat smaller. The large size, firstly, is convenient in itself, and secondly, the touchpad “understands” multitouch gestures. In addition to two-finger scrolling, which appeared in Apple laptops quite a long time ago, a whole series of new gestures have been added - reducing/enlarging an image or font (for example, in Safari) by pinching or spreading fingers (as in iPhone), changing the orientation of the image, moving to the next image, and so on.

To the right of the keyboard at the top is the on/off button.

At the top, above the screen, there is an iSight camera, a light sensor (left) and a microphone (right).

Where are the ports? From the very beginning they may not be noticed. They are located on the right side of the device in the area of ​​the Power button and slide out if necessary (the opening method reminded us of a car glove compartment). The very decision to hide the ports this way was dictated by considerations of the compactness of the laptop and its design - after all, it has a streamlined shape. But the ports themselves may disappoint some users who are accustomed to connecting a large number of peripheral devices - only one USB port is offered next to the video output and headphone output.

Where is the optical drive? In the store. For reasons of ultra-thinness, it is not inside the device. This is another aspect that can scare off a certain percentage of users who are used to watching DVDs on the road and working with discs. How then to install the operating system itself and the necessary software? There are two solutions. Firstly, Apple offers an external USB SuperDrive drive at a fairly affordable price (specifically for the MacBook Air - we tried connecting the drive to the iMac, it was not recognized). Secondly, the Remote Disk solution, which allows you to use the drive on a Mac or PC as “your own”, communicating via Wi-Fi.

Let's take a closer look at the bottom of the laptop. Noteworthy are the four black legs, so that the laptop does not slip or scratch on the table surface, the “glove compartment” with ports that we have already reviewed, as well as the grille for coolers, behind which there is a speaker (note, one is not in the center, but on the right , if viewed from the user's side - so the usual stereo sound can only be achieved with headphones. This is another disadvantage for those who like watching movies and working with music without headphones).

The battery compartment is located inside, the user of this laptop does not have to change the battery himself, and this is no longer as simple as in the MacBook and MacBook Pro - you won’t be able to replace a dead battery with a new one on the road (if you want to do without working with a screwdriver, Certainly). This is also dictated by considerations of compactness - if the user had the opportunity to independently change the battery, then Apple would have to make the mechanism of all kinds of fasteners and clamps more convenient, understandable and reliable, which would invariably lead to an increase in the size of the laptop. However, those users who often take a spare battery with them will probably prefer a MacBook or MacBook Pro - after all, the compactness of the MacBook Air will no longer be so important to them.

On the left side there is a power connector with the already familiar MagSafe technology, which protects the laptop from falling - when the cable is touched, it simply unfastens.

Specifications and capabilities

The MacBook Air is equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6 GHz processor (you can optionally purchase a 1.8 GHz configuration) and, very nicely, two gigabytes of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM RAM (don't forget that you won't be able to add memory either). But the drive has a capacity of 80 GB, which is quite a bit these days - a 1.8-inch hard drive with one platter is used. A drive with two plates, as in the case of a 160 GB iPod, cannot be installed - the thickness does not allow it.

The laptop display is glossy, with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels, a diagonal of 13.3 inches and LED backlighting (I was very pleased with its brightness). MacBook Air has an integrated Intel GMA X3100 graphics adapter, which uses part of the RAM for its needs - 144 MB.

Wireless capabilities are traditional for Apple laptops: Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n. By the way, the data transfer speed from our iMac to the MacBook Air remained at 5 MB/s almost all the time - and this is a good indicator (5 MB/s is about 40 Mbit/s).

Equipment

The MacBook Air package includes the laptop itself, a 45-watt MagSafe power adapter with an additional power extension cable, a Micro-DVI to DVI and Micro-DVI to VGA adapter, a cloth for wiping the laptop, instructions and two installation DVDs, one of which contains which have software for Remote Disk. What's interesting is that the box does not have a handle (apparently to emphasize the compactness of the laptop).

Battery life

Overall battery life was very good. To test watching the movie, we downloaded the HD movie “All The King's Men”, 720p, onto the laptop via Wi-Fi (there’s no point anymore - since the screen is not Full-HD, and it won’t handle it). When playing the movie (we used the program VLC), we set the brightness to maximum, the volume to about 70%, quite loud for a laptop. In this mode, the processor is used at almost full capacity, the cooler is actively running. The playback time was 2 hours 20 minutes.

Charging from a completely discharged state to one hundred percent took an average of four hours, and in the first two of which the battery was charged to a level of 70 percent.

Positioning and trends

MacBook Air is one hundred percent a satellite product, a companion product to the main computer, which could be, for example, an iMac or Mac Pro. It is very convenient to take it with you on the road and to a business meeting. But using it as a full-fledged work computer for home or office will be hampered by the lack of an optical drive, one USB port, and a small hard drive. And if you have a main computer, then no problem - the MacBook Air perfectly occupies the corresponding niche.

Of course, the laptop is intended for a fairly wealthy audience who are able to spend a large amount of money on a laptop because of its thickness and image, and not because of performance. The main audience is upper-middle and top managers, directors and company owners.

The decision not to equip a laptop with an optical drive may eventually turn into a trend - Apple is quite happy with this state of affairs, since abandoning the optical drive will encourage users not to watch movies on DVD, but to purchase multimedia content through the iTunes Store - Apple has been doing this for several years now is taking active steps to capture the online video market. And even now there is a significant percentage of users who use the optical drive very rarely (once every few months).

And the Remote Disk solution, which allows you to open access to the optical drive of another Mac or PC (the installation disk included with the MacBook Air allows you to “share” the disk on Windows - for a Mac it’s even easier, just allow access to the optical drive in System Preferences). After you install the desired disk in the optical drive of another computer, go to the Remote Disk item in the left panel of the Finder on the MacBook Air, select the computer, on the computer with the drive a question will appear whether to allow access, and if the answer is positive, the disk will be mounted on your desktop. Everything is convenient.

However, it will not be possible to install, for example, Windows via Boot Camp in this way - please purchase an additional external drive for $99 (in the USA).

Performance testing

In general, performance tests are unlikely to be of much interest to people purchasing this laptop. Centimeters, grams and design are much higher on the priority ladder here than Megabytes per second and the number of FPS. It’s clear that with a “player” hard drive and a compact processor, even the MacBook outperforms the MacBook Air in tests, so you’re unlikely to meet a person who is planning to buy, or has already purchased, a MacBook Air for some serious tasks like photo and video processing.

For those who like specifics, we present the results of performance measurements using the XBench test package - for comparison with the MacBook Air, we took the average MacBook of the current series (2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB of RAM). Note: in the rightmost column (where MacBook performance is indicated), only numbers are presented to save space - the units are the same as the MacBook Air performance column.

Price

In the USA, the cost of a MacBook Air in the basic configuration is $1,799, while at Russian dealers it is at the level of 65-67 thousand rubles. You shouldn't expect any significant price reduction for this laptop, or the emergence of new, more powerful configurations. It was presented quite recently, has a clear positioning and buyers who are willing to pay this amount for it.

Pros:

• Ultra-thin;
• High-quality case;
• Full-size keyboard;
• Wide touchpad with support;
• Ability to use the optical drive of another computer via Wi-Fi (Remote Disk);

Cons:

• Inability to change the battery by the user;
• There is only one USB port;
• Lack of optical drive;
• There is only one speaker;
• Small hard drive.

Bottom line

The laptop is very thin, well made and has a stylish design. Don't forget that it has no built-in optical drive, a small hard drive, one mono speaker and one USB port. If these shortcomings are not fundamental for you, then it is quite possible that the MacBook Air is your choice. The new product will especially appeal to people who are often on the road (including on an airplane), do not work with resource-intensive programs, but want to have a stylish and thin laptop that will highlight their image and make the desired impression at presentations and business meetings.

• Availability of specific product features, configurations and configurations may vary by country and/or region.

1. The recycled materials claim applies to the frame and is based on testing conducted by UL LLC.
2. Testing conducted by Apple in October 2018 using preproduction 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-based MacBook Air units with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. When testing the wireless connection, battery life was determined while browsing 25 popular websites at a display brightness level of 75% (12 clicks from minimum brightness). When testing iTunes movie playback, battery life was measured while playing 1080p HD content at 75% display brightness (12 clicks from minimum brightness). In the standby mode test, battery life was determined by allowing the system connected to a wireless network and an iCloud account to go into standby mode. At the same time, the Safari and Mail applications were open, and all system settings were left at their default values. Battery life depends on the settings and mode of use of the device. More details on the page.
3. The total greenhouse gas emissions are equivalent to 176 kg CO 2 based on a product life cycle assessment.

Apple developers tend to change something in new products only when it is necessary for better functionality. This circumstance may explain the incremental and very impressive upgrade of the 13-inch Apple MacBook Air (available for $999). While the device uses the same aluminum unibody design and many of the same components as its predecessors, the new gadget is complemented by one of the latest Intel Core i5 CPUs.

However, even with this modest improvement (and the cost of last year's base model), the Apple MacBook Air 13 is ahead of the competition in terms of performance and boasts an impressive 17-18 hours of battery life. Thus, this device is today the best choice for everyday general tasks among mid-range ultraportable laptops.

Design and characteristics

The 13-inch MacBook Air has the following dimensions: 22 cm in length and 32 cm in width, and its weight is about 1300 grams. The body tapers in thickness from 1.7 cm at the rear to 0.5 cm at the front. Other 13.3-inch laptops (such as the LenovoYoga 3 Pro are slightly thinner and lighter, but you won't have any difficulties if you intend to constantly carry the Apple MacBook Air 13 with you. The ultrabook is not only small in size and weight , but also a compact, streamlined shape, so you can easily fit it into any bag or backpack.

Resolution and screen properties

Compared to the 1920x1080 or even higher resolution found on average Windows laptops today, the MacBook Air's 1440x900 resolution seems relatively small, but that's only in theory. In fact, the screen looks contrasty and bright when using the gadget. This permission should be sufficient for everyday tasks, such as creating and editing office documents and using a web browser. If you need a higher screen resolution, but you prefer only Mac laptops, you will want to opt for more expensive devices - the Apple MacBook with a 2,304 x 1,400 screen parameters or the latest 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro with 2560 x 1600. Unfortunately, there is currently no option to achieve a high-resolution Retina Display on the Apple MacBook Air 13 - this will increase the cost and weight of the device, as well as reduce battery life. At the same time, this indicator is sufficient for watching videos and reading text documents, since what is displayed on the screen looks very clear.

Possible connections and available connectors

The built-in ports are no different from those found on the previous model. On the left side of the device there is a headset jack, two microphones, a USB 3.0 port, and a MagSafe 2 power connector. On the right side there is a compact slot for an SDXC card, a Thunderbolt 2 port and another USB 3.0 port. At first glance, such options for connecting components seem to be few, but today this is quite typical for devices in the ultraportable category, and this will be enough for many users. You'll have to use an adapter to connect an HDMI cable or other ports, but the Thunderbolt port functions at a high level with the mini-Display Port without an adapter. Wireless connection is carried out using 802.11ac Wi-Fi, as well as Bluetooth 4.0, and provides high-quality and uninterrupted communication with the Internet or other devices.

Keyboard Features

The keys on the keyboard are backlit and the rubber finish gives it a great look and makes it easy to use. Thus, typing is smooth and soft, without causing finger fatigue during long work. There is a lightweight trackpad for multi-touch capabilities. However, the trackpad lacks the additional mouse button options found in other Apple devices - the 12-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook laptops - but support for these settings can be seen in most third-party apps. Like all Mac gadgets, the Apple MacBook Air 13 lacks a touchscreen.

Specifications

Many users will agree that the Apple MacBook Air 13 Early could use more RAM, as the default 4GB is a bit low for a $1,000 Ultrabook. You can only upgrade to 8GB of RAM at the time of your initial purchase, so it's advisable to consider beforehand whether it's worth spending the extra $100 to power multitasking or multimedia projects. Flash storage is also relatively low at 128GB, but that's less of an issue these days - online cloud storage is quite inexpensive. Fortunately, the system is completely protected from viruses.

The RAM is PCIe-based, making it faster than SATA-based solid-state drives (SSDs) and flash memory found in older ultraportables. This helps boot the system and applications in just a few seconds. The MacBookAir comes with a one-year warranty, putting it on par with competing Windows devices.

Performance and multitasking

The gadget is equipped (1.6 GHz) with integrated graphics Intel HD Graphics 6000. As testing shows, the Apple MacBook Air 13 laptop works very well when opening multimedia programs. Ultimately, the device proves to be much faster when performing multimedia tasks when compared to the Apple MacBook.

Results for 3D tests are predictably mediocre given the integrated graphics. The operating system should be fast enough for simple games like Diablo III, but running the power-hungry GrandTheftAuto V at high quality settings won't work.

Battery life

Another indicator of the great performance of the Apple MacBook Air 13 i5 is its battery performance. With continuous use of the ultrabook, the battery life is 17 hours 36 minutes. This is almost two hours longer than the previous generation model. Unlike the MacBook Air, the longest-lasting portable Windows laptop - the Acer Aspire S7-393-7451 - requires only about 10 hours of charging. This way, you can watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy on this device, and the ultrabook will still have enough battery power to watch the first two films of the Dark Knight trilogy. That's an insane amount of power for a traditional laptop.

Conclusions and final verdict

In 2015, the 13-inch Apple MacBook Air 13 early laptop outperformed its main competitors on both Mac and Windows. This is primarily due to its long battery life. The classic design of its case and mountings is one of the components that manufacturers of other ultraportable devices have been trying to emulate over the past 5 years, with varying degrees of success.

Despite this, the original design still looks fresh. Its characteristics far exceed those of a standard laptop. Thus, its high cost is well worth it, especially if you need to work with various programs and access the Internet every day.

It only has 4GB of RAM, but paying an extra $100 can double that. Therefore, if you plan to multitask regularly, it makes sense for you to make the additional expense.

Given its high performance and, especially, impressive battery life, the 13-inch Apple MacBook Air 13 MD760ru can be considered a gadget that offers more than enough capabilities, quite capable of displacing its predecessor from the market. Today, this is the best choice among ultraportable laptops, despite its not at all low cost. In this case, it can be argued that you are paying for excellent product quality.

It makes no sense to compare both MacBook Airs with each other - their characteristics differ only slightly. It is clear that the 13.3-inch model is slightly better, but this difference will be almost invisible to the eye. Moreover, with a custom configuration made to order, you can achieve identical characteristics of both laptops.

If we evaluate the new MacBook Air in comparison with mobile computers based on Windows, then in terms of performance they will probably even be better than their main competitors (for example, Samsung 900X3A). The processors used by Apple are the fastest in the current family of Intel mobile chips with a heat dissipation level of 17 W.

The amount of RAM has increased noticeably. A year ago, Apple for some reason decided to save money and equipped standard versions of the MacBook Air with only two gigabytes of RAM. Now all but the cheapest 11.6-inch model comes with twice the volume. It is also the maximum. In the MacBook Pro, let us remind you, you can install up to 8 gigabytes of RAM.

The fairly successful and good built-in accelerator Intel HD Graphics 3000 is quite capable of satisfying the needs of the owner of a MacBook Air, although it is still somewhat weaker than the previous NVIDIA GeForce 320M. But the latter had to be abandoned in order to be able to install new processors.

There have been almost no changes regarding the SSD. The main thing was done a year ago, when Apple basically stopped installing hard drives in the MacBook Air. The only small innovation is that the 11.6-inch model received the optional ability to install a 256 GB solid-state drive.

Communication capabilities have remained largely unchanged. The MacBook Air still relies on a Wi-Fi controller that supports 802.11a/b/g/n standards and a Bluetooth interface. The latter was updated from version 2.1 to 4.0, bypassing 3.0, which is gradually spreading among many laptops and other mobile devices. The main difference between Bluetooth 4.0 and version 3.0 is a new profile that provides lower power consumption.

The dimensions of the updated “airs” remained the same, but the weight increased slightly - by about 40 grams for the 11.6-inch and by 20 grams for the 13.3-inch. However, the latter circumstance has not yet changed the status of the MacBook Air as one of the lightest laptops on the market.

Scope of delivery

The equipment package of the new MacBook Air has become even more sparse than before. Now in the box, besides the computer itself, all that remains is the user manual and the power supply.

The line of MacBook Air laptops is regularly updated, this time the 11- and 13-inch models received fifth-generation Intel processors (Broadwell), an Intel HD Graphics 6000 graphics chip and a Thunderbolt 2 port.

Laptop Apple MacBook Air 13 2016 – Reviews TehnObzor

The storage in the new MacBook Air has become much faster, and battery life is longer. But some elements have not been updated, so the ultrabook leaves mixed impressions.

Apple MacBook Air design

The appearance of the MacBook Air has not changed for 5 years. And in vain, the classic design would not have been harmed by thinner frames and a general reduction in area.

The Dell XPS 13 is considered too wide, the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro takes up a lot of space on your lap, but they feel compact compared to the new Air.

The one-piece aluminum construction holds the screen firmly and does not flex when pressed. The housing can be cleaned with a regular damp cloth. The coating is easily scratched, so you should think about buying a cover in advance.

MacBook Air specifications

The 13-inch MacBook Air has better hardware than the 11-inch model, thanks largely to faster flash storage than its predecessor. Our laptop version had:

• Processor: dual-core Intel Core i5 clocked at 1.6 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 2.7 GHz) with a shared 3 MB L3 cache
• Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 6000
• RAM: 8 GB, 1600 MHz DDR3
• Screen: 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit (1440 x 900)
• Storage: 256GB PCIe-based flash storage (expandable up to 512GB)
• Optical drive: no
• Ports: two USB 3.0 (up to 5 Gbps); Thunderbolt 2 port (up to 20 Gbps); MagSafe 2 power port; SDXC card slot
• Connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi; IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compliant; Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology
• Camera: 720p FaceTime HD camera
• Weight: 1.35 kg
• Size: 32.5 x 22.7 x 1.7 cm

Two ultrabook configurations:

The first, for $999 (57,000 rubles): with a Core i5 processor and a frequency of 1.6 GHz (up to 2.7 GHz in Turbo Boost mode), 128 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM.

And the second option, which we tested, for $1,199 (68,300 rubles): a processor with a frequency of 1.6 GHz (up to 2.7 GHz in Turbo Boost), 4 GB of RAM and 256 GB of flash storage. You can increase the RAM to 8 GB for an additional $124 (7,000 rubles).

Ports and updates

One of the advantages of the MacBook Air over the 12-inch MacBook is more connectors. On the left side there is a MagSafe 2 power connector, a USB 3.0 port and a headphone jack. Right: Thunderbolt 2, a second USB 3.0 port and a full-size SD card slot.

The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro has twice as many Thunderbolt ports as the Air, and adds an HDMI port.

The operating system is OS X Yosemite (version 10.10) with a new colorful style - a welcome change from the cool gray tones of Mavericks.

The upgrade to X 10.11 El Capitan will be available for free and will bring a number of performance improvements, as well as features such as Split View (split screen) and Spaces Bar (additional desktops).

Software

The MacBook Air comes pre-installed with Apple's iWork and iLife suite of applications, which include Movie, Garageband, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Safari, Mail, Messages and FaceTime. In addition to them there is Calendar, Contacts, App Store, iTunes, iBooks, Maps, Photo Booth and Time Machine.

MacBook performance

The processor of the modern 13-inch MacBook Air is built on the 14-nm Broadwell architecture, while its previous model worked on the 22-nm Haswell process technology. The upgrade made it possible to extend battery life - now the battery can last more than 13 hours when watching Full HD video via Wi-Fi.

In benchmark Geekbench 3, the Ultrabook Air scored 2,873 in the single-core test and 5,768 in the multi-core test - the latter figure is 9% more than the previous MacBook Air, but 20% less than the MacBook Pro Retina.

In Cinebench R15 OpenGL, the new MacBook Air achieved 24.91 fps. Blackmagic Disk Speed ​​Test determined the average write speed to be 612.4 MB/s, read speed to be 1302.4 MB/s.

The new Air allows you to comfortably play at low and medium settings with reduced resolution. For example, in Skyrim the frame rate was 50 fps. For gaming you will need good headphones, since the existing speakers, despite all Apple's efforts, do not produce decent sound.

The design of the MacBook Air has not changed over the years, but in the case of the keyboard, this is even good - no other laptop has such comfortable keys, and the smooth surface of the touchpad allows you to operate quickly and comfortably.

The 480p camera looked terrible on the 12-inch MacBook, but the Air's camera quality went up to HD, which is good enough for clear images on Skype and Google Hangout.

Bottom line

The new MacBook Air 13 2016 doesn't impress with its design, but it copes with most tasks. You can comfortably work on a laptop either separately or connected to an external monitor. It has the best battery among 13-inch Ultrabooks, and the same goes for the keyboard. The addition of Thunderbolt 2 will please those who have compatible devices, and the drive's 2x faster speed will be especially useful for regularly copying information.

But the body has not changed, a clear Retina display has not been added, the speakers are mediocre, and the bezels are wide. Simply put, the MacBook Air series doesn't look as cool as it used to. A much faster drive and a new processor architecture are better than previous models, but not all users need this.