Apple MacBook Air (1-inch, 2011) Review

Editor's Note: we usually do not recommend laptops that are older than two years. To find our top choices look at our Best Laptops, or answer just a few questions on our Laptop Finder for personal suggestions.

Its 11" MacBook Air has been on the rise since it was first introduced in October, 2010, featuring a slim design and rapid response and a reasonable cost. Apple believes that the new model is so great that it's chosen to let the smaller one of its two Airs eliminate the MacBook which makes this laptop the sole model priced at $999 in Apple's line-up. This is a lot in pressure to a laptop with a weight of just 2.4 kilograms. However, the 11-inch Air is certainly up to the task. It's now equipped with the latest Core i5 processor to run the latest version of Mac OS X Lion, with a backlit keyboard and an Thunderbolt port that can deliver blazing-fast transfer speeds. (Our $1,499 configuration boosts your RAM to 4GB from just 2GB, and includes 128GB of storage on flash.) Do you think this laptop has what you need to be your go-to notebook?

Design

Even though it's been nine months from the time that the 11.2-inch Air was launched, the design remains incredibly contemporary. From the sleek , modern profile and rounded edges, to the large glass touchpad as well as the backlit logo The notebook is an icon. The display enclosure as well as the base are constructed of aluminum, making the 11-inch Air the solid appearance and feel. The model we reviewed in the fall of last year had the display flipping backwards when you lifted it This time, the lid didn't move.

Heat

It's quiet and cool. After watching an Hulu video on full screen for about 15 minutes it was reported that the 11-inch MacBook Air registered 88 degrees Fahrenheit in the space between the H and G keys but only 78 degrees for the touchpad. Anything above 95 degrees to be uncomfortable. Even the bottom remained in a rather cold at 86 degrees. The only place that truly got warm was on the lower left side of the hinge that reached an elevation of 97 degrees.

The only time that the MacBook Air's 11-inch fan got very loud when running the gruelling Cinebench benchmark however, even in that case, it was quieter in comparison to VAIO Z. VAIO Z.

Keyboard and Touchpad

It's being one of the main issues we heard about the first 11.2-inch MacBook Air. Apple can include an illuminated keyboard that helps you make use of the laptop even in dim conditions. A light sensor in the ambient will adjust the strength of the backlight, however, you can also modify it manually through key shortcuts on your keyboard. With such a small size the layout of the 11-inch Air provides a pleasant typing experience. Keys offer ample travel and bouncy feedback. Additionally, all function keys can be linked to a specific action that can be adjusted, such as changing the brightness or activating or launching the Launchpad (a newly added feature that's been added to Lion).

At this time, Apple should probably just organize a workshop to Windows laptop designers on ways to create an excellent touchpad. The enormous 4.1 2.5-inch x 2.5-inch glass trackpad that comes with the 11.2-inch Air is without doubt the top of its kind. You can do even more with it thanks to it running Lion OS. It is easy to double-tap two fingers to focus on a particular part of a site as well as three fingers to open Mission Control (where you can observe everything that is operating on the Mac).

Display and Audio

When we ran the battery test with the 11.5-inch Air notebook, we noticed that we could see certain websites on the display of the notebook--at 45 degrees from about fifteen feet. It was all at 40 percent brightness. If you increase it to 100 percent brightness, you'll forget that you're watching an 11.6-inch screen. We also enjoyed the level of clarity when we watched the latest episode on The Daily Show on Hulu such as the streaks gray that Jon Stewart has in his hair as well as the reflections that reflected off his desk. However, despite having an improved resolution than the now discontinued MacBook (1366 x 768 instead of 1280 x 800 pixels) There are some who find it to be too small for a main computer.

We are still impressed by the Air's sound quality. Stereo speakers produced quite a bit of sound across over the upper part of the keyboard. Both the Muse track "Resistance" as well as Foo Fighter's "Everlong" became nice and powerful on this ultraportable after we streamed them through Slacker but only the former began to sound harsh at the maximum setting.

Ports

A brand new feature on the 11.2-inch MacBook Air is Thunderbolt, that offers 20 times the speed of transfer of USB 2.0 via the DisplayPort on the right side. We haven't seen many Thunderbolt-compatible peripherals yet, but Apple promises external storage drives for superfast backups, video capture devices, and other adapters through multiple partners. You could also utilize the DisplayPort to connect DisplayPort-equipped devices.

The USB 2.0 port also is located on the right, and the left side is home to magnet power, another port for USB 2.0 port, and a headphone connector. It is possible to live in a world without an Ethernet port however, and you could buy an adapter to plug to the DisplayPort. In contrast to that of the 13.2-inch MacBook Air, the 11-inch Air is still without an SD slot for cards. We'd prefer Apple had discovered the space this time. It's also important to note that this 11-inch Air does not have an optical drive for DVD, something that the now-defunct $199 MacBook did.

Webcam

Its VGA camera that comes with the 11.5-inch MacBook Air can be used to make FaceTime calls through the built-in app, however we tried it with Skype. The other person on the call said that we appeared clear and sharp and sharp, which was a bit surprising considering that we were in a dimly illuminated dining room. The sound was clear and in tune with our video.

Performance

Apple has withdrawn it's 1.4-GHz Core 2 Duo processor on the 11.2-inch MacBook Air in favour of the ultra-low voltage 1.6-GHz Second-generation Intel Core i5 CPU. The processor, which comes with 4GB RAM as well as 256GB flash memory for our test configuration produced 5,040 scores in Geekbench (which evaluates the performance of memory and processors). This is 2.3 times more efficient than the eleven-inch Air (2,159) as well as less than those running the Core-i7 Sony VAIO Z (5,981). But when we used the CPU-intensive portion of Cinebench to render a 3D photorealistic scene The more expensive VAIO Z scored almost twice as much (2.98 points, versus 1.58).

Graphics Performance

The most recent eleven-inch MacBook Air swaps Nvidia's GeForce 320M graphics in favor of an embedded Intel HD Graphics 3000 chip. It's a laptop that definitely holds its own when playing regular games. The laptop clocked a high 60 frames-per-second when playing World of Warcraft on native resolution, but the settings defaulted to low in autodetect. If we increased the settings to the maximum the game's performance slowed down to an unplayable 22 frames per second.

Battery Life

Evidently, the switch from the Core 2 Duo processor to the ULV Core i5 processor has caused a decline in endurance. The LAPTOP Battery Test (continuous web surfing on Wi-Fi at 40 percent brightness) The laptop lasted more than 4 hours, 46 mins. This time is significantly less than the ultraportable average of six hours and 3 mins and approximately a half-hour lower than what the original 11-inch Air clocked in (5:18). Because the battery of this model is sealed, it's not possible to connect an extended battery or connect a battery slice in the same way as in other ultraportables.

Software and Warranty

Apple offers an 11" MacBook Air with its new operating system, Mac OS X Lion. It comes with multiple apps that are now running at Full-screen (iPhoto, Mail, Safari and many more) in addition to new multitouch gestures created to help mobile computing become more user-friendly. For example, you can change between full-screen applications just by a 3-finger swipe left and right. Lion also includes an app store that is the Mac App Store standard, and once you download an app , it instantly appears on the brand new Launchpad that looks as the home screen in iOS. It is possible to start the Launchpad at any point by pressing F4 on your keyboard or performing an arcing gesture with your thumb and 3 fingers.

The other software suite remains solid. The 11-inch Apple MacBook Air has built-in support for iMessage, FaceTime, iTunes, Mail, Spotlight, and Time Machine. There's also receive Dashboard, iCal, Photo Booth as well as QuickTime. The last but not least is iLife that includes GarageBand, iMovie, and iPhoto. In contrast to the majority of Windows 7 notebooks, you do not get the starter version that comes with Microsoft Office (Excel and Word) however, at the very least Apple includes TextEdit to allow word processing.

Configuration Options

Our $1,499 configuration for the 11.5-in MacBook Air includes a 1.6-GHz Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and an 256GB flash memory. For $999, the notebook comes with the same processor however, but with 2GB of RAM and just 64GB storage for flash. If you decide to go with the model we recommend, we suggest a big backup drive, particularly one that utilizes Apple's Thunderbolt port. Other alternatives include the 1.8-GHz Core i7 processor and the choice of three adapters that connect to the DisplayPort: VGA, DVI and Ethernet.

Pros

A comfortable backlit keyboard

The faster Core i5 processor.

Very thin and lightweight

Flash memory allows machines to wake immediately

Bright display with broad viewing angles

Thunderbolt support

Cons

Battery life is below average.

The configuration that is initially set up has the capacity of 64GB.

There isn't a slot for SD cards.

Verdict

The Air excels in nearly every aspect. It has a large, bright screen with broad viewing angles, excellent sound, a cozy backlit keyboard, a huge touchscreen that is easy to use, as well as the processor is fast enough to take on the majority of tasks. While we'd like to see we had more Thunderbolt peripherals available the inclusion of that port included in the unit will make your purchase more secure for the future. One of the biggest issues with Air's 11 inch Air is the battery life. A little less than five hours is a decent amount however, it's an hour shorter than the predecessor and isn't nearly as lengthy as other laptops in the category. You could also say that the combination Mac OS X Lion and the method by which Apple makes use of flash memory puts the Air in a category all by itself.

We're just not convinced that consumers would want to have an 11-inch laptop as their primary computing device. Students and frequent travellers would prefer a larger screen, but some friends and family members said they'd prefer a 13-inch screen. Apple has that option, too however, you'll have to shell out 1199 dollars for the 13-inch MacBook Pro or $1,299 for the 13-inch MacBook Air. The MacBook Air 11 inch is a very excellent ultraportable, however some buyers might prefer the other MacBook Air models offered by Apple as a notebook for everyday use.

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