Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (2010)
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| Apple MacBook Air |
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| Apple MacBook Air Keyboard |
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Specifications:
It's as if the 13-inch MacBook Pro won The Biggest Loser. Meet the new 13-inch MacBook Air, which weighs 1.5 pounds lighter than its beefier brother and packs in enough horsepower to be your primary computer. Starting at $1,299, this ultraportable isn't cheap, but it costs $200 less than the last 13-inch Air, lasts more than three times longer on a charge, and features a higher resolution display than both its predecessor and the 13-inch Pro. Plus, like the 11-inch Air, this laptop's all flash storage enables a lightning-fast boot time and allows it to wake instantly from sleep. Yes, you can snag a Windows ultraportable with a faster processor for hundreds less, but if you want a mobile Mac this machine is almost perfect. (Click here to read our review of the 11-inch Apple MacBook Air.)
Apple achieved this weight loss by eschewing the traditional hard drive enclosure and putting the flash memory chips right on the logic board, resulting in a storage design that's 90 percent thinner and lighter. In addition, the lid now employs Apple's unibody design, which results in 80 fewer parts.
The all-aluminum design is certainly beautiful, sturdy, and a cinch to tote. However, frequent fliers (and others who work in tight quarters) might find that the 13-inch Air's height and depth make it a tight fit on an airline tray, especially when the person in front of you reclines. For example, while the Air has a 12.8 x 8.9-inch footprint, the VAIO Z measures 12.4 x 8.3 inches and the Toshiba Portege R700 is 12.4 x 8.9.
At 4.3 x 3 inches, the glass touchpad on the 13-inch MacBook Air is absolutely huge, yet it never got in our way when typing. It was highly accurate and offered smooth scrolling with two fingers. Pinch to zoom works better on this laptop than any Windows system. Other welcome multitouch gestures include a four-finger swipe downwards to minimize all apps and swiping sideways with four fingers to switch between open apps.
Design
While the 13-inch MacBook Air is as tall and wide as the 13-inch Pro, it weighs just 2.9 pounds and tapers from an astonishingly thin .11 inches to .68 inches. The last-generation 13-inch Air measured .76 inches at its thickest point and weighed 3 pounds, while the 13-inch MacBook Pro weighs 4.5 pounds and has a profile of .95 inches. Only the 13-inch Sony VAIO Z (3 pounds, 1.3 inches) and Toshiba Portege R700 (3.2 pounds, .6 to 1 inches) come close to the 13-inch MacBook Air in terms of portability, though both of those machines include an optical drive.Apple achieved this weight loss by eschewing the traditional hard drive enclosure and putting the flash memory chips right on the logic board, resulting in a storage design that's 90 percent thinner and lighter. In addition, the lid now employs Apple's unibody design, which results in 80 fewer parts.
The all-aluminum design is certainly beautiful, sturdy, and a cinch to tote. However, frequent fliers (and others who work in tight quarters) might find that the 13-inch Air's height and depth make it a tight fit on an airline tray, especially when the person in front of you reclines. For example, while the Air has a 12.8 x 8.9-inch footprint, the VAIO Z measures 12.4 x 8.3 inches and the Toshiba Portege R700 is 12.4 x 8.9.
Keyboard and Touchpad
Given its fairly large footprint, it's not much of a surprise that the 13-inch Air features a full-size keyboard. Although the keys don't offer a ton of travel, we found the chiclet-style layout to be comfortable and typed this review quickly. We also continue to appreciate the dedicated keys for adjusting volume, brightness, and activating Expose and Dashboard. Just keep in mind that you'll have to give up the MacBook Pro's backlit keyboard to have a notebook this portable.At 4.3 x 3 inches, the glass touchpad on the 13-inch MacBook Air is absolutely huge, yet it never got in our way when typing. It was highly accurate and offered smooth scrolling with two fingers. Pinch to zoom works better on this laptop than any Windows system. Other welcome multitouch gestures include a four-finger swipe downwards to minimize all apps and swiping sideways with four fingers to switch between open apps.