Apple MacBook Air (11-inch, 2011) Review

The 11-inch MacBook Air has been on a tear ever since it first debuted back in October of 2010, combining a razor-thin design with instant-on responsiveness for an affordable price. Apple believes the latest version is so good that it has decided to let the smaller of the two Airs kill off the MacBook, making this laptop the only $999 option in the company's lineup. That's a lot of pressure for a notebook that weighs just 2.4 pounds. But the 11-inch Air is definitely up for the challenge. It now features a more powerful Core i5 processor to run the new Mac OS X Lion, a backlit keyboard, and a Thunderbolt port for blazing fast transfer speeds. (Our $1,499 configuration ups the RAM from 2GB to 4GB and adds a whopping 256GB of flash storage.) Does this machine have what it takes to be your everyday notebook?

Design

Although it's been nine months since the 11-inch Air launched, the design still looks thoroughly modern. From the sleek profile and rounded edges to the large glass touchpad and backlit logo, this notebook is iconic. Both the display enclosure and base are made of aluminum, giving the 11-inch Air a sturdy feel. While the model we reviewed last fall suffered from a display that flopped backward when you picked it up, this time around the lid didn't budge.

At 2.4 pounds, the 11-inch MacBook Air weighs a tenth of a pound more than its predecessor because it now features a backlit keyboard. However, this elegant notebook is still the lightest system in its class. The Acer Aspire One 722 (3 pounds) and HP Pavilion dm1z (3.4 pounds) are both heavier, as is the 11-inch Samsung Series 9 (2.9 pounds). Only the Samsung rivals the 11-inch Air's thickness; Apple's ultraportable still measures 0.11 to 0.68 inches at its thickest point, while the Series 9 measures 0.66 inches.

Heat

It's cool and pretty quiet. After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the 11-inch MacBook Air registered 88 degrees Fahrenheit between the G and H keys and only 78 degrees on the touchpad. We consider anything higher than 95 degrees uncomfortable. Even the underside stayed a relatively frosty 86 degrees. The only area that really warmed up was the bottom-left side by the hinge, which reached 97 degrees.
The only time the 11-inch MacBook Air's fan got loud was when we ran the demanding Cinebench benchmark, and even then the laptop was quieter than the VAIO Z.

Keyboard and Touchpad

So much for one of the few complaints we had about the original 11-inch MacBook Air. Apple has managed to add a backlit keyboard, which makes it easier to use the laptop in dim conditions. An ambient light sensor adjusts the strength of the backlight automatically, but you can also change it manually using shortcut keys on the keyboard. For such a thin design, the layout on the 11-inch Air offers a very comfortable typing experience. The keys offer plenty of travel and springy feedback. Plus, all the function keys are tied to a direct action, whether it's adjusting the brightness or activating the Launchpad (a new feature in Lion).
At this point, Apple should probably just put on a clinic for Windows laptop makers on how to make a great touchpad. The huge 4.1 x 2.5-inch glass trackpad on the 11-inch Air is by far the best in its class. And you can do more with it now, thanks to the Lion OS. We could easily double-tap with two fingers to zoom in on a specific area of a website, and we used a three-finger swipe up to launch Mission Control (where you can see everything running on your Mac).
As expected, two-finger scrolling and pinch-to-zoom both worked flawlessly. And there's a new way to scroll; Apple has added a natural scroll option under settings that lets you scroll as you would on the iPad or iPhone. So you drag down to drag up content; if this doesn't feel natural to you, you can just disable this setting.
Making selections on the 11-inch Air's trackpad is as easy as clicking down on the trackpad, though you can activate tap-to-select under the settings.

Read More

Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, 2011) Review

It's kind of hard to improve on a 4.5-star rating. And yet Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Air (starting at $1,299, $1,599 as configured) is better than its predecessor in some key ways. Just like before, this ultraporable is wonderfully thin and light and wakes up instantly when you lift the lid, but the new Air ups the ante with a backlit keyboard and a faster Core i5 processor. The notebook is also more versatile, thanks to a new Thunderbolt port that allows you to connect the laptop to a growing number of super high-speed peripherals, including Apple's new Thunderbolt display. Is there anything not to like?

Design

While the 11-inch MacBook Air has a netbook-on-steroids vibe, the 13-inch Air truly feels like a full-grown laptop. It's just one that you can take anywhere--and look damn good doing it. The sturdy unibody aluminum construction, magnetic latch, and rounded corners make this machine just as elegant and futuristic-chic now as it was nine months ago.
Because it now has a backlit keyboard, the 13-inch Air weighs just a little bit more than its predecessor (3 pounds vs. 2.9 pounds), but this is still among the lightest 13-inch notebooks available. Only the 2.6-pound Sony VAIO Z weighs less. This laptop is still amazingly thin, too, measuring 0.11 inches to 0.68 inches at its thickest point.

Heat

The 13-inch MacBook Air kept its cool when we played a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes. The touchpad registered 85 degrees, and both the area between the G and H keys and the bottom of the notebook reached 87 degrees. All of these measurements are well below what we consider uncomfortable, which is 95 degrees.

Keyboard and Touchpad

If you're bored by lots of praise, just skip to the next section. The 13-inch MacBook Air sports an excellent backlit keyboard. Both the letters and the area around the keys glow brightly, and you can easily customize the intensity using the F5 and F6 keys. The tactile feedback is springy and responsive as well, especially considering this laptop's svelte profile.

The 4.1 x 3-inch glass touchpad on the 13-inch MacBook Air is simply second to none. We easily executed two-finger scrolling and pinch-to-zoom gestures. Plus, with Mac OS X Lion, you can pull off lots of neat little shortcuts. A pinch with three fingers and your thumb automatically launches the iPad-style Launchpad menu for accessing your apps, while a three-finger swipe up launches Mission Control (which provides a birds-eye view of open programs).
As expected, clicking down on the trackpad with one or two fingers always felt sure and accurate.

Display and Audio

If you're torn between the 11-inch MacBook Air and the 13-inch model, you'll want to take a good look at this display. It's not only larger but provides more resolution (1440 x 900 vs 1366 x 768). Having this extra real estate--whether it's for surfing the web or just seeing more of a document--goes a long way toward making the 13-inch Air feel more like a primary computer.
In addition, the panel is quite bright and provides wide viewing angles. When watching the 720p trailer for Harry Potter and Deathly Hollows Part 2, we could easily make out Voldemort's eerie eyes from a couple of feet away.
The speakers located beneath the keyboard on the 13-inch Air certainly don't project booming sound, but the audio quality is better than you might expect from such a svelte design. "This is War" by 30 Seconds to Mars and other tracks certainly had enough punch to keep us entertained while writing this review. However, we kept the volume at about 80 percent to avoid harshness.

Ports and Webcam

The right side of the 13-inch MacBook Air houses a Thunderbolt port, which provides 20 times the speed of USB 2.0 and works with a new breed of peripherals. This includes Apple's new Thunderbolt display, which doubles as a docking station. The Pegasus RAID Storage device (starting at $1,000) is another option, but more affordable peripherals are also on the way.

When you're not attaching a Thunderbolt device to the Air, this connector doubles as a DisplayPort, which you can use to hook up a high-res display (duh) but also adapters for Ethernet and FireWire 800.
The right side of the 13-inch Air also includes a SD card slot--something the 11-inch model lacks--along with a USB port. We wish memory cards inserted further into the chassis, but it's not a big deal. The magnetic power connector, a second USB port, and headphone jack line the left side of the notebook.
Just as with the 11-inch Air, the 13-inch model features a high-quality VGA webcam for conducting FaceTime video chats and calling friends over Skype. The camera performed exceptionally well even in low-light conditions, and you can have lots of fun with the hardware when you fire up the PhotoBooth app and apply one of many special effects.

Read More

The most powerful Mac Ever

If you want the most powerful computer out there, the new Mac Pro that Apple came out with this week is what you want. OK ok, that may not be a fact so don’t quote me. But seriously, Apple took their most powerful computer and put it on steroids. With the ability to have up to 12 cores-it was not too long ago that I was excited to buy Intel’s 3 GHz single core processor-this machine will be able to handle any number of programs running at once. With 12 cores, I doubt anyone would be able to freeze it up with running too many programs.
What is also awesome is the expanded memory bay. It can run store up to 8 TB of hard drive space, or opt for the highest performing solid state drives that almost twice as fast as traditional hard drives. The specs of this machine absolutely blow my mind though. I’ll be adding more to this soon.

Read More

Macbook Air Review

Introduction
The New Macbook Air is out!

Check it out right here – Apple MacBook Air MC503LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop

New Macbook Air
Introduction
Apple has made an addition to its Macbook line, by not only upgrading the 13 inch Macbook Air, but making an 11-inch version with a lower starting price of $1000. This brings a whole other level of decisions to made, for the price makes it competitive with Apple’s own iPad, Macbook, and Macbook Pro. Will this new addition and upgrades broaden the Air’s fan base?

Specs
1.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
2GB RAM
64 GB Solid State Hard Drive
11.6 inch 1366 x 768 resolution
H .11-.68in W 11.8 in D 7.56 in W 2.3 lbs

Outside
It’s a Mac…ok, I’ll explain again. So it looks amazing and is extremely well made. The brushed aluminum just looks so much better than any other computer out there in my opinion. Just like its older brothers, the Macbook and Macbook Pro, the unibody design is completely seamless. It really is a feat how perfectly it is made. It is very strong taking its weight in consideration, and almost feels like an iPad because of its size and weight. Hmmmm, size and weight of an iPad, yet it is a fully functioning computer…interesting. Apple ditched the push-to-open port revealer, having something move on the outside is just not very Apple like…anyway, and decided to add a second USB port on the other side (and an SD card slot on the 13 inch model). This means there are just five ports on the 11-inch (4 ports on previous model). Because the ports don’t move, the actual hardware will last longer. Other ultra thin notebooks such as the Sony X are completely flat, so the height of the machine is consistent. While this may seem ideal, even the slightest slant in a keyboard makes it much more comfortable to type on, the Air is built this way.
Inside
Opening up the screen looks identical to the previous Macbook Air. The only noticeable difference is the higher resolution screen. Upon closer inspection, the screen actually has more resolution than the current 13inch Macbook Pro, while the 13 inch Air has the same resolution as the 15 inch Macbook Pro. This is a very surprising move by Apple, to actually have a less expensive model that has a higher resolution screen. Then again, watch Apple announce a brand new line of Macbook Pros with a huge upgrade in screen resolution; the latter is probably more likely.
Everything else is about it is identical to the rest of the Mac line: keyboard, multi touch trackpad, and web camera. The 11 inch’s keyboard appears to be identical to the 13 inch model, except the F-keys are a little smaller. My only complaint is the lack of a backlit keyboard. This is something that could actually steer me away from switching over to the Macbook Air. Business class laptops such Lenovo’s ThinkPad line and the Sony Z class have this feature standard. Aside from the aluminum and firewire port, this is the biggest difference between the Macbook and Macbook Pro. When it is necessary to do work in different lighting situations, a backlit keyboard is completely necessary. As a student I rely on my Macbook Pro’s backlight so I can see what I am typing when watching a Power Point presentation in a dark lecture hall. For the few times a year that I fly, it is so useful to be able to see the keyboard clearly no matter what the cabin lighting is. An easy but inconvenient option is to purchase a usb keyboard light.
The trackpad is about 30% smaller on the 11inch model. The multi touch technology is wonderful and works amazingly. What I often find is that the more features that are jammed into something, the more poorly it works. This is the opposite with the Macbook line’s trackpad. This thing is a work of art. The entire thing is touch sensitive, and you can click anywhere. There are over 10 gestures (all of them are optional and easily changed in a menu) that can be used, and all 10 work flawlessly. This Mac is smart enough to detect than when you swipe your fingers faster, you want to move down a page faster.
Performance
Apple completely redesigned the actual motherboard and core of the Macbook Air. Along with upgraded specs, Apple worked to make components more compact to save space for the larger battery. Apple got rid of the casings covering the flash memory ,and put the memory right onto the logic board. This saves a lot of space for typically the traditional hard drive is not on the motherboard, but with compact flash memory this is an option.
The actual performance is somewhere between a Macbook and an iPad. The processor is nothing to write home about, but it is much more powerful than the Atom processors that come in thicker netbooks. While one would not think that this processor is game worthy, in combination with a newer graphics card (identical to the one in the 13-inch Macbook Pro), an upgraded RAM module, and extremely fast flash memory, this machine can actually handle light to medium level gaming. While it does not have anything on an Alienware machine, performance pound per pounded and size, this machine can put up quite a fight. The speakers (notice how there are no apparent speakers) are actually behind the keyboard, and while it does not sound as loud of my Macbook Pro, they sound so much better than any other laptop even close to its size.
Recommendations
The original Macbook Air (only came in a 13 inch) was pretty cool because it was so thin and blah blah blah, it just was not a game changer. It was expensive, not that much smaller than a 13 inch Macbook, and had unimpressive performance. Even the current 13 inch Macbook Air is not that impressive to me. Don’t get me wrong, there is a niche for it. It is cool, but in that size there are much more impressive machines such as the Sony Z which although is thicker, is a workhouse machine (my favorite PC). It is also not that much smaller than the Macbook which will perform better for longer.
Now the 11-inch model is VERY intriguing to me. It fits in somewhere between the iPad and Macbook in size and performance. It is much easier to transport than a Macbook, yet is an actual computer unlike the iPad. For someone looking to lug around all of his or her music, photos, and videos, the hard drive may be pressed to its limit. I’d upgrade the hard drive and RAM. For a student looking for an extremely portable Mac that is a not a multimedia enthusiast, this is definitely an option. I think the targeted audience is the high end businessman looking for an ultralight laptop that can look and play the part needed to travel across the country, or across the building. It makes a big difference on the back between carrying this versus a full 15 inch laptop. The aluminum structure is extremely thin yet very strong, and will put up to abuse. If you don’t move your laptop that much, save the money (assuming you would get upgrades) and get a Macbook.

Read More