New MacBook Air 13’’ Review

So while many people got their new 15’’ MacBook Pro, I decided to try out the revamped MacBook Air. To be honest, I wanted to get the 15’’ MacBook Pro too but I couldn’t as while I was making up my mind about the two laptops, I found out that Apple lovers had already emptied the initial stock of the MacBook Pro and since I had to wait for 2-3 weeks to get the 15’’ MacBook Pro, I thought I’ll get myself the revamped MacBook Air that Apple unveiled at the WWDC event.

MacBook Air’s hype has been overshadowed by the hype 15’’ Retina Display MacBook Pro has generated. However, I am still going to discuss what I like about my new baby (yes I am talking about the MacBook Air) for those who are wondering if they should or shouldn’t get this ultrasleek machine.

I am sure everybody already knows this but Apple hasn’t changed anything in terms of design with its new MacBook Air. The 13’’ MacBook Air looks the same as its predecessor so if you were looking to update your machine from an older Apple product to a newer product, bear in mind that on the outwards, the MacBook Air 13’’ is the same as its predecessor.

However, since the previous MacBook Air was pretty looking, I have no issues with my new MacBook Air’s design and the fact that it has the same design as its predecessor.

On the new MacBook Air, you’ll find the usual power socket, USB port and the headphone socket on the left hand side of the ultrabook, while the other USB port, memory card slot and the Thunderbolt port are on the right hand side. The only difference between the MacBook Air 13’’ and 11’’ is that the latter doesn’t have an SDXC slot while the former does. The SDXC card slot, which earlier I referred to as the memory slot, is on the right side of the ultrabook.

After the MacBook Air 13’’ was first unveiled on the WWDC event, it was known that Apple has used MagSafe 2 port on the new machine and that is the change between the 11’’ model of the ultrabook and the 13’’ model of the ultrabook.

The power connector of the two is different. Apple has used MagSafe 2 ports to help the MacBook Air 13’’ achieve an even sleeker design as the new port is vertically long but horizontally short. Bear in mind that you cannot use the old power cord to charge your new MacBook Air 13’’ because it won’t fit and if you want to, you will be required to get an adapter for it.

Other than some barely noticeable changes, the MacBook Air 13’’ and 11’’ are the same but if you look at the revamped 13’’ ultrabook alone, you won’t be disappointed with its design, at ALL.

Next thing that I want to discuss here are the specifications of the ultrabook. Apple refers to its new MacBook Air 13’’ as a revamped version of its predecessor and while the revamping bit is not evident in the design, it surely is in the specs of the two. Apple has upgraded the new MacBook Air with Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors.

The Ivy Bridge processor obviously is faster than older generation processors, as the core i5 model starts with 1.8 gigahertz dualcore to a Turbo Boost capacity of 2.8 GHz. On the other hand, the older 11’’ model started with 1.7 GHz dualcore for the same core i5 model and went up to 2.6 GHz Turbo Boost.

The different isn’t that noticeable when you read it but when you use the MacBook Air 13’’ and side by side use the 11’’ model too, you’ll notice the difference. However, you can always update your older and current MacBook Airs to core i7 which will offer speedier processing.

The MacBook Air 13’’ uses an Intel HD Graphics 4000 graphic processing unit with the 3^rd generation processor. You don’t get a separate graphics option and all that I could use was the one external display.

For limited use such as on and off gaming and other light stuff, this limitation shouldn’t be a problem but those who use their ultrabooks for a lot more, some problems may arise. However, the memory on board is good as you get 4GB of 1600 megahertz DDR3L memory and if this is compared with the 11’’ model, it is the double of that.

I am using the memory the ultrabook came with but I plan on upgrading it to 8GB soon by paying only 100 dollars. On the other hand, the storage capacity of the MacBook Air 13’’ entry level model is 128 GB, while the entry level 11’’ model had storage of 64 GB. This too is quite a decent upgrade from the previous version of the MacBook Air.

However, you can again double your storage by paying extra. By looking at my options, I can update my MacBook Air’s storage by double and if I want to update it to 512GB I’ll have to pay $500 so I think I won’t be using that option.

However, for starters, I believe the initial capacity is enough. When needed, I’ll probably update it by double by paying $300 dollars and you can do the same. (Word of advice here is to get your MacBook Air 13’’ with the specs you want initially because upgrading the ultrabook won’t be that simple).

One of best features of the new Mac Air I like is the High-Definition Facetime feature. It is great and very useful. I use FaceTime a lot and with HD, it has improved for all the good reasons. The display of the laptop is also great though it doesn’t beat the Retina Display my friend has on his 15’’ MacBook Pro but it is still pretty crisp and decent for average users like me.

Other than all these things, I operated my new ultrabook under full load and faced no issues at all while switching between multiple tabs or different activities. I also tried out some games on it and they worked like a charm.

The revamped MacBook Air 13’’ by Apple is a great machine, or at least I think so. It gets extra points for being very efficient at the same time very portable. The only problem I have is that it runs on OS X Lion right now but Apple says that it will roll out an update for OS X Mountain Lion for the MacBook Air 13’’ so I believe that is also ruled out as an issue too.

All and all, if you are thinking MacBook Air 13’’ doesn’t offer much in terms of changes, you are wrong because it does. However, if you are looking for some noticeable changes on the internal and external end, you should try out MacBook Pro 15’’ that comes with the Retina Display.